Assange: US War on Whistleblowers Must End

White House touts its transparency while cracking down on leaks, leakers and those who help them

"I am here because I cannot be closer to you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your resolve and your generosity of spirit.

"On Wednesday night after a threat was sent to this embassy and the police descended on the building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it and you brought the world's eyes with you.

"Inside the embassy, after dark, I could hear teams of police swarming into the building through the internal fire escape. But I knew that there would be witnesses. And that is because of you. If the UK did not throw away the Vienna Conventions the other night, it is because the world was watching. And the world was watching because you were watching.

The next time somebody tells you that it is pointless to defend the rights we hold dear, remind them of your vigil in the dark outside the Embassy of Ecuador, and how, in the morning, the sun came up on a different world, and a courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice."