1h|s |s a homemade trans|at|on of W|k||eaks Cs momentos f|na|s do Cab|egate by

Nata||a V|ana pub||shed at http]]apub||caorg]2011]09]w|k||eaksacontagemf|na|do

cab|egate] on 2
nd
September 2011 A|| the r|ghts be|ong to the wr|ter and the pub||sher I do
NC1 own noth|ng!

W|k||eaks 1he f|na| moments of Cab|egate

1he mood ln Llllngham Pall Lhe Ceorglan manor where !ullan Assange ls ln domlclllary
arresL ln Lhe counLryslde of Lngland was descrlbed as soJ ln Lhe lasL days uue Lo a chaln of
unexpecLed evenLs Lhe organlzaLlon declded Lo publlsh Lhls 1hursday Lhe 231 287 documenLs
from Lhe Amerlcan embassles around Lhe world
lL was a rush end Lo Lhe blggesL pro[ecL done by Lhe organlzaLlon and one of Lhe
blggesL leaks ln hlsLory of [ournallsm
unllke whaL happen ln oLher leaks where Lhe documenLs were check and publlshed ln
a conLrolled way by Lhe organlzaLlon half of Lelegrams have Lhe names of all Lhe people who
are menLloned ln Lhe documenLs even Lhe ones Wlklleaks wanLed Lo proLecL from posslble
reprlsals
1he cables sLarLed Lo be publlshed lasL year ln a parLnershlp wlLh dozens of
lnLernaLlonal newspapers who helped Lo erase Lhe name of Lhe ones who could have Lhelr
securlLy ln danger 1he parLners compromlsed Lhemselves Lo read all Lhe documenLs before
publlshed by Wlklleaks and Lhe newspapers whaL happen aL Lhe same Llme
lL was Lhe parLners who alerL Wlklleaks lf Lhere was names whlch should be erased or
lf Lhe documenLs could be publlshed enLlrely
1he compllcaLed sysLem of cooperaLlve publlshlng whlch afLer slx monLhs lnvolved
more Lhan 30 newspapers was a new Lhlng ln lnLernaLlonal [ournallsm and new for Wlklleaks
Loo Wlklleaks ls sure LhaL anyone was damaged by havlng hls name publlshed ln Lhe
documenLs alLhough WL was accused Lo puL llves of Lhe Amerlcan lnformanLs aL lraq aL rlsk
l was LaughL how Lo deal wlLh Lhe documenLs and how Lo explaln carefully Lo Lhe
8razlllan parLners and Lhe oLher ln LaLln Amerlca Lhe lmporLance of erase Lhe names of Lhe
human rlghLs flghLers 1he Amerlcan embassles usually llsLen pollLlclans buslnessmen
[ournallsLs and human rlghLs flghLers WL pollcles always were Lo erase [usL Lhe name of Lhe
lasL ones (human rlghLs flghLers)

we woot to ptotect tbose people wbo qo to tbe Ametlcoo embossy to expose oboses
ooJ vlolotloos of tlqbts especlolly lo Jlctototsblp cooottles 1bose ote people wltboot woys to
JefeoJ tbemselves ooJ people wbo coolJ soffet tbteots ot oofolt leqol ptosecotloo by bovloq
tbelt oomes exposeJ we woot to ptotect tbose wbo coot ptotect tbemselves explaln !ullan
when l recelved Lhe 8razlllan cables

lo 8tosll
1haL was Lhe guldellnes l gave Lo lolha de So aulo and Clobo (8razlllan newspapers)
lasL uecember Cbvlously Lhe guldellnes have more lmporLance ln dlcLaLorlal reglmes where
Lhe Amerlcan embassy works as lnLerlocuLors for acLlvlsLs As whaL concerns Lhe 8razlllan
cables we agreed Lo erase [usL one name Lhe name of a member of a respecLable human
rlghLs organlzaLlon All Lhe oLher names as well Lhe name of many lnformanLs around Lhe
world were publlshed
lL was Lhls way LhaL Lhe 8razlllan people learned abouL for example LhaL exsenaLor
PercllLo lorLes was a usual lnformanL of Amerlcan embassy ln a news publlsh by Clobo lolha
de So aulo e by myself ln !anuary LhaL Serglo 8aLh a former asslsLanL of exmlnlsLer aloccl
Lalked many Llmes wlLh Lhe embassy durlng Lhe crlses of 2006 and LhaL former uefense
mlnlsLer nelson !oblm was LreaLed as a source whlch should be sLrlcLly proLecLed"
All Lhls names were already publlshed slnce Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe year ln !uly all
documenLs relaLed Lo 8razll were publlshed

1be flool sbot
Wlklleaks declded Lo publlsh all Lhe documenLs now because Cerman newspaper
lrelLag publlshed an arLlcle lasL week Lelllng LhaL Lhey access all Lhe cablegaLe documenLs from
an encrypLed flle avallable on Lhe web Accordlng Lo uer Splegel Lhe former assoclaLe of !ullan
Assange uanlel uomchelL8erg would have helped lrelLag Lo flnd Lhe flle Lo prove LhaL
Wlklleaks lsn'L as safe and rellable as Assange says
Slnce he lefL Wlklleaks uanlel ls belng Lhe blggesL crlLlc and ma[or enemy of !ullan
Assange Pe even publlshed a book wlLh personal accusaLlons agalnsL Lhe former frlend and
creaLed a new organlzaLlon Cpenleaks
1he Lhlng ls LhaL Lhe flle becomes known due Lo a chaln of mlsLakes from dlfferenL
people a sorL of collaboraLlve flaw
Assange creaLed a password Lo Lhe documenLs he uploaded Lo a server explalned uer
Splegel 1he password was dellvered Lo Lhe 3 newspapers who orlglnally worked wlLh
Wlklleaks new ?ork 1lmes Ll als Cuardlan Le Monde and Splegel lLself
AL some polnL ln an early sLage of CablegaLe LhaL flle was uploaded Lo Lhe LorrenL
neLwork Lo proLecL daLa and Lo be lmposslble Lo deleLe Lhe flles from Lhe web lsn'L sure who
upload Lhe flle Lo Lhe web buL lL was hldlng ln an encrypLed and hldden subdlrecLory only Lhe
ones wlLh Lhe password could access lL

ln !anuary uavld Lelgh and Luke Pardlng publlshed Lhe password used by Wlklleaks ln
Lhelr book Wlklleaks lnslde !ullan Assange's war on secrecy" Somehow Lhe secreL managed
Lo keep secreL for more 6 monLhs 'Llll a publlcaLlon of a Cerman newspaper
Wlklleaks called Cuardlan lrresponslble" and publlshed an lronlcal LwlLL abouL Lhe
book 1he only Lhlng Lhey have Lo wrlLe well as Lhe password" (l wasn'L able Lo make lL sound
lronlcal ln Lngllsh) Cuardlan and Lhe oLhers slgned a Lerm of responslblllLy whlch forblds
reveallng Lhe securlLy deLalls of Lhe operaLlon Llke Lhe password
Cuardlan alleged LhaL llke Lhey dldn'L publlsh any lnformaLlon abouL how Lo flnd Lhe
flles and Lhe password was [usL a plece of lnformaLlon wlLhouL any meanlng unless for Lhe
one who creaLed Lhe flles"
8uL lasL week lL showed up ln lnLerneL how Lo connecL boLh Lhlngs

Packer Lransparency groups whlch accused Wlklleaks of conservaLlsm for eraslng Lhe
names of acLlvlsLs declded Lo posL all Lhe documenLs "Soon we wlll publlsh all Lhe cables
enLlrely we can'L defend freedom of lnformaLlon only when lL's convenlenL" wroLe Lhe
hacker communlLy Anapnea lasL Wednesday
1he cables sLarL Lo clrculaLe on Lhe web and 1hursday Wlklleaks declded Lo publlsh all
Lhe cables on Lhelr slLe 13632 secreL 101 748 confldenLlal and 133 887 unclasslfled from
247 Amerlcan embassles around Lhe world A remarkable maLerlal for lnvesLlgaLe [ournallsLs
researchers hlsLorlans and acLlvlsLs
Cn lrlday ln a common announcemenL Lhe flrsL parLners of Wlklleaks Cuardlan Ll
als uer Splegel and Le Monde (Lhe n?1lmes lsn'L menLloned) condemned" Lhe publlcaLlon of
Lhe documenLs saylng LhaL llves coolJ be ot tlsk" we coot JefeoJ tbe oooecessoty
pobllcotloo of oll cobles Oot Jeols wltb wlklleoks wete lo o woy to pobllsb jost oftet o vety
cotefol ptocess of eJltloo we stlll JefeoJ tbls posltloo

voLlng
8efore leaklng Lhe documenLs Wlklleaks made a pool on LwlLLer lf Lhey should erase or
noL Lhe names 1he yes won ln a proporLlon of 100 Lo 1 (1hey should publlsh lL lnLegrally)
1hls could be an lndlcaLor of a more radlcal poslLlon could be adopLed from here sorL
of a reLurn Lo orlglns Cr [usL Lhe recognlLlon of Lhe melanchollc end of one of Lhe mosL
lnnovaLlve lnlLlaLlves of allylng Lechnology and [ournallsm comes slmply from faulLs and human
passlons