America’s international standing as a fair and just country does not match its superpower status as the world's greatest democracy.
When it comes to basic human rights it is there in the gutter alongside some of the world's most toxic, tinpot dictatorships and authoritarian regimes.
So there's little surprise that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange fears being extradited to The States where some politicians and Pentagon officials have already called for his execution and Attorney General Eric Holder admits his government may invoke the US Espionage Act.
But it's not just the persecution and the prosecution Assange should fear, either - the wheels of justice can be agonisingly slow in a process which could take years. And in the case of the Guantanamo detainees there is no end in sight - the majority of them have not been charged but simply forgotten.
* 25 percent of the world’s prison population - around 2.3 million – are caged in America.
We cannot allow anyone in UK custody or under 'house arrest' like Julian Assange to be extradited to the US. You just have to look at the treatment of its own citizens to realise this.
By the time his brains are completely scrambled and he’s addicted to his medication I'm sure some sleazy, government prosecutor will offer him a plea bargain which is another disgraceful and routine feature of US justice. In exchange for dishing the dirt, real or imagine, on Julian Assange, Manning will be pressurised to cut a deal.