BRITS tell Wikileaks to censor 1947 atomic weapons report Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 13:17:16 -0500 (CDT) Informative Correspondence with Brit. civil servant ############################## From: press@wikileaks.org Wikileaks Press Release Tue Apr 8 18:57:58 GMT 2008 BRITISH GOVERNMENT REQUESTS WIKILEAKS CENSOR ATOM BOMB REPORT The U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office has requested that Wikileaks censor a report 1947 report on how Britain should acquire an atomic bomb. The extraordinary request comes from the Head of the Counter Proliferation Department, Regional Issues, who stated in a letter to Wikileaks legal section: "I have had an initial assessment from our experts. They are extremely concerned by the drawing you have posted on your website and assess it is of serious proliferation concern, and possibly terrorism concern." Wikileaks own experts who were consulted over the material did not share this view and the British government was asked to give more detail as to why the material should be censored. However in a manner British public servants have become notorious for, the Head stated, on March 19: "I am away over Easter but if you could give me until 2 April, I'll send you something then." In response to the Holiday demands Wikileaks's Spokesman Jay Lim told the Foreign Office: "Without wanting to be uncharitable, if FCO's experts believe this particular document to be of "terrorism concern", we do not find them to be credible and may I suggest, neither will anyone else. Similarly after consultations it strikes us as extraordinary that the FCO claims the Wikileaks documents are a proliferation issue worthy of censorship, but, apparently, not worthy of assigning a staff member to address the issue during its Easter break. May I suggest that the FCO is engaging in busy work, pending some hyperthetical White Hall telephone call in response to the press attention our analysis of the document has received? The document has been available in one form or another since 2002, and on the internet since 2007. What has the FCO being doing in the mean time? Or are we meant to believe that states seeking to become atomic powers only read the popular press? While we will always keep an open mind on such an important issue, until we see some clear indication that the FCO takes its request that Wikileaks engage in an unprecedented act of self-censorship seriously, by telling us why we should censor, this request will not be acted on by Wikileaks." However as of April 8, Wikileaks had not received the promised rationale. It appears that in the British Public Service, suspected Armageddon can wait for the Easter Bunny and the long weekend. Will Pakistan, India and North Korea schedule their atomic tests accordingly? See the following correspondence and http://wikileaks.org/wiki/How_Britain_got_the_bomb From: Isabella.McRae@fco.gov.uk To: wikileaks@sunshinepress.org, legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: Nuclear bomb design information Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:07:03 +0000 (GMT) Dear Wikileaks, We have recently been alerted to the fact that you have put censored nuclear bomb designs on your website. Grateful if you could remove these as soon as possible, as I hope you agree that some censorship at least is in the public good. These designs could aid countries wishing to develop nuclear weapons, hence the desire to keep them out of the public domain. The page I am specifically referring to is: Please let me know if you agree with me, and if you have decided to remove them. Kind regards, Isabella Isabella McRae Head, Regional Issues Section Counter Proliferation Department Tel: 020 7008 2253 Fax: 020 7008 2860 Visit our blogs at http://blogs.fco.gov.uk *********************************************************************************** Visit http://www.fco.gov.uk for British foreign policy news and travel advice; and http://www.i-uk.com - the essential guide to the UK. We keep and use information in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to other UK government departments and public authorities. Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be monitored centrally. This is done to ensure the integrity of the system. ********************************************************************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jay Lim Sent: 19 March 2008 16:28 To: Isabella McRae Cc: wikileaks@sunshinepress.org; legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: Re: Nuclear bomb design information Dear Ms McRaw, We take your concerns seriously. However, the editors and a number of nuclear physicists are of the opinion, which is outlined in the article summary, that our release of the material will not contribute to the the proliferation of nuclear weapons. If our argument is in error we would be happy to be corrected by a detailed response. Kind Regards, Jay Lim -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Isabella.McRae@fco.gov.uk To: editor@sunshinepress.org Cc: wikileaks@sunshinepress.org, legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: RE: Nuclear bomb design information Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:50:09 +0000 (GMT) Dear Mr Lim, Thank you for your prompt response. I will talk to our experts here and do my best to work up a detailed explanation for you (though some of the explanation may be classified!). I am glad to read that you have at least checked this with a number of nuclear physicists before putting it on your website. I would just add that I don't see that the information furthers your aims - i.e. reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies. Therefore, I would be very grateful if you could remove the information while I work up a detailed explanation for you. I will try to do this as quickly as possible - I am away over Easter but if you could give me until 2 April, I'll send you something then. Kind regards, Isabella McRae -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jay Lim Sent: 19 March 2008 17:11 To: Isabella McRae Cc: editor@sunshinepress.org; wikileaks@sunshinepress.org; legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: Re: Nuclear bomb design information Dear Isabella. We will look into this. The response does not have to be a thesis, but it should be of similar effort to the argument we gave. The documents are a substantial piece of world history and have been released, then censored. Implicit in our core mission is preventing censorship of such documents. That said I don't want this guide to blind us to doing what is right. From our research I believe we have done the right thing, but as I said, we are happy to shown otherwise on an issue of such importance. Kind regards, Jay Lim -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Isabella.McRae@fco.gov.uk To: editor@sunshinepress.org Cc: editor@sunshinepress.org, wikileaks@sunshinepress.org, legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: RE: Nuclear bomb design information Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:30:17 +0000 (GMT) Dear Jay, Thanks for your understanding. If there is no proliferation sensitivity with this info then I can't see any problem in having it in the open domain. I need to get an expert opinion first to be confident of that. So in the mean time, to avoid doing any damage, please do remove the info. I'll email you with a full opinion (not a thesis though) on 2 April. Kind regards, Isabella -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Isabella.McRae@fco.gov.uk To: editor@sunshinepress.org Cc: editor@sunshinepress.org, wikileaks@sunshinepress.org, legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: RE: Nuclear bomb design information Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:56:04 +0000 (GMT) Jay, I have had an initial assessment from our experts. They are extremely concerned by the drawing you have posted on your website and assess it is of serious proliferation concern, and possibly terrorism concern. Please remove it as soon as possible - not to do so is deeply morally irresponsible. As requested, I will work up a longer and more detailed case by 2 April. Isabella -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jay Lim [mailto:editor@wikileaks.org] Sent: 19 March 2008 21:19 To: Isabella McRae Cc: editor@sunshinepress.org; wikileaks@sunshinepress.org; legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: Re: Nuclear bomb design information Without wanting to be uncharitable, if FCO's experts believe this particular document to be of "terrorism concern", we do not find them to be credible and may I suggest, neither will anyone else. Similarly after consultations it strikes us as extraordinary that the FCO claims the Wikileaks documents are a proliferation issue worthy of censorship, but, apparently, not worthy of assigning a staff member to address the issue during its Easter break. May I suggest that the FCO is engaging in busy work, pending some hyperthetical White Hall telephone call in response to the press attention our analysis of the document has received? The document has been available in one form or another since 2002, and on the internet since 2007. What has the FCO being doing in the mean time? Or are we meant to believe that states seeking to become atomic powers only read the popular press? While we will always keep an open mind on such an important issue, until we see some clear indication that the FCO takes its request that Wikileaks engage in an unprecedented act of self-censorship seriously, by telling us why we should censor, this request will not be acted on by Wikileaks. Jay Lim -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Isabella.McRae@fco.gov.uk To: editor@wikileaks.org Cc: editor@sunshinepress.org, wikileaks@sunshinepress.org, legal@sunshinepress.org Subject: RE: Nuclear bomb design information Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:57:49 +0000 (GMT) Jay, I'm sorry this is your view. We will be in touch in due course. Isabella -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As of Tue April 8, 2008, no further response was received. _______________________________________________ News mailing list News@lists.sunshinepress.org https://lists.wikileaks.org/mailman/listinfo/news http://wikileaks.be/wiki/Contact _______________________________________________