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National call-in to Congress: Free Daniel Hale!

May 25, 2022

A group of anti-war, anti-drone and whistleblower defense organizations are coordinating efforts to free whistleblower Daniel Hale. Won’t you join us?

As Memorial Day approaches, please contact your Senators and Congresspersons this week and urge them to free Daniel Hale! Drone whistleblowers should be protected, not punished.

U.S. Air Force veteran Daniel Everette Hale has recently completed the first year of a 45-month prison sentence for exposing the realities of U.S drone warfare. He should never have been prosecuted.

Urge your Congressional representatives to please:

• Do everything they can to expedite a commutation of Daniel Hale’s sentence. PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWERS, DO NOT PUNISH THEM.
• Speak with President Biden directly, requesting clemency for Daniel Hale.
• Introduce a bill that will guarantee effective Congressional Oversight and Accountability of the entire U.S. Drone Program.
• Introduce a Drone Victims Relief Fund Act that will put management and oversight of reparations into the hands of Congress, not the Pentagon, to guarantee that reparations are paid to drone strike victims and their families.

Background About Daniel Hale:

The military documents released by Daniel Hale revealed concrete evidence supporting the high rate of civilian casualties inflicted by the US drone program. At times 90% of U.S. drone strike casualties are unintended targets or innocent bystanders. His truth-telling also exposed the guidelines for the US terror watch list, although this information was unclassified, it was kept from the public. This release enabled individuals to successfully challenge their placement on the notorious No Fly List so their names could be removed.

Daniel Hale’s whistleblowing revelations debunk the false claim that drone strikes save lives. Daniel said,

“People that defend drones and defend the way that they’re used, they always say that they protect American lives by not putting them in harm’s way, but what they really do is they embolden commanders and embolden decision makers, because there is no threat, there is no immediate consequence….” (Film: National Bird, Sonia Kennebeck, 2016)

Not a single day in prison would be just, but Daniel’s incarceration is a particularly pointed move by the federal government to silence him even further; he was placed in a “CMU” or communications management unit at USP Marion, where his communications with friends and family are monitored, surveilled and severely restricted. No other whistleblower prosecuted or convicted under the espionage act has been subjected to such treatment. This is being done to send a chilling message to others brave enough to speak the truth and follow their conscience as Daniel has done.

Find out more at StandWithDanielHale.org

Daniel acted courageously, out of conscience, and feels deep remorse for the role he played while serving as an intelligence analyst in Afghanistan. Read Daniel’s letter to Judge O’Grady explaining his motivation and the moral injury he lives with even now. To make matters worse, because Daniel is in a CMU, he has no access to treatment for his PTSD.

KNOW THE AHMADI FAMILY DRONE VICTIMS:

Last year, just one month after Daniel was sentenced, a drone strike in Kabul killed 10 members of the Ahmadi family: 7 children and 3 adults. All were civilians. (August 29, 2021)

The important truths that Daniel leaked demanded a concerted effort by government officials to correct the human rights violations and, arguably, war crimes inherent in the U.S. drone program. Had there been proper oversight and accountability the Ahmadi family would never have been targeted 6 years later! This was precisely the kind of strike Daniel was trying to expose and stop. Instead, the U.S. drone program remains veiled in secrecy, with no accountability for wrongdoing, as innocent civilian casualties continue to rise.

The Pentagon receives $3 million/yr. for reparations/payments for wrongful deaths, injuries, and damages, but very few payments have ever been made. Read about one drone victim’s efforts to raise money for urgent medical care to save his legs and his life.

Remember the Ahmadi family killed by US drones and remember Daniel Hale!

Please Stand with Daniel Hale by letting your representatives know that his sentence should be commuted immediately!

Daniel spoke at his sentencing hearing on July 27, 2021:

“I am here because I stole something that was never mine to take, precious human life. I couldn’t keep living in a world in which people pretend that things weren’t happening, that were. Please, your honor, forgive me for taking papers instead of human lives.”

Do something extra for Daniel: Daniel loves to receive letters. Please also take the time to write a letter to Daniel.
HERE’S HOW.

Co-sponsored by Ban Killer Drones, Veterans For Peace and CODEPINK