Erinn Clark & Debian: Justice or another Open Source vendetta?
[Article 4 years old]
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work.
In criminology research, between thirty and fifty percent of women surveyed typically indicated they have experienced sexual violence or rape.
Experience of the authorities also tells us that on average, over ninety percent of crime reports are true yet between five and ten percent of accusations are proven to be false, motivated by money, vendettas and women with mental illness.
In 2016, a small group of people came to the debian-private (leaked) gossip network to tell us what they thought about Jacob Appelbaum. Why did they choose to air stories from their friends in this way instead of going to the police to make a sincere statement under oath?
Subject: Re: Expulsion of Jacob Appelbaum <error>
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2016 12:56:58 -0400
From: Erinn Clark <erinn@debian.org>
To: debian-private@lists.debian.org
* Erinn Clark <erinn@debian.org> [2016:06:21 12:53 -0400]: > I disagree with the decision to make a public statement [...]
Should be: I disagree with the decision *NOT* to make a public statement
Why is Erinn Clark insisting on a public statement instead of making a police report? Clark disclosed in another message that she heard the story from friends, she never stated that she is either a victim or witness. Let's try paraphrasing it:
Dear Debian
Your software has a great reputation. Please use your famous name to add credibility to rape accusations. My friend doesn't want to go to the police so we are coming to debian-private for help.
This message appears to show a deliberate and malicious intention to cause the maximum amount of harm to another volunteer. Did anybody check if false accusations of rape and harassment could violate the Code of Conduct™? Clark never explains why it is necessary to make such a statement before a credible and independent trial takes place.
If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.... Joseph Gobbels
We encourage people to read the analysis by German magazine Die Zeit and think about the fact that in the last four years, not one person was willing to make a statement that they have to sign under oath. Why?
We have heard personal stories from several genuine survivors of abuse, people we believe. These people were not talking about Jacob Appelbaum. We notice that none of these people, who we consider to be a good point of reference, acted like the people running around the free software community with a vendetta, egging on leaders to publicly shame volunteers. We do not claim to be experts on abuse but we can't help noticing this enormous inconsistency between our observations of known victims and our observations of people who grandstand on social media.
While we feel these Debian vendettas have little resemblence to the behavior of known abuse victims, we find this builds on the similarities between Debian and the NXIVM sex cult. In particular, it was the pretty actress Allison Mack who convinced cult leader Keith Raniere to brand people, just as it appears a small group of feminist/anarchist women successfuly employed social engineering techniques on Debian to hack the justice system and publicly brand an innocent man as a rapist.
If Miss Clark is so concerned about helping genuine victims of rape and abuse, why doesn't she give up computing, study law and become a prosecutor?
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8: Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Why does Debian put so much effort into software licensing rights, as proclaimed in the Debian Free Software Guidelines, but ignore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? After all, even software licenses are derived from UDHR Article 22, cultural rights.
We know for a fact that at least some of the accusations spread with Debian resources are false. The case of Dr Norbert Preining, expelled for Thought Crime™ just days before Christmas 2018, is one of the most well known.
The misuse of Debian's name and resources, denouncing people in a manner that achieves maximum damage to their reputation, is the only crime that has ever been proven by visible evidence.
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Die Zeit notes a comment on the blog of Isis Agora Lovecruft
She writes in her blog that she wishes Mr. Appelbaum would go into exile, in Alaska or Siberia.
Many people feel the Debian Account Managers, Enrico Zini, Joerg Jaspert, Jonathan Wiltshire and formerly Christoph Berg have been bewitched. They set aside universal human rights that protect men and women equally. They chose one side over the other. They deceived Debian's community and the press, making misleading statements to placate a small and manipulative group of anarchist feminists.
If you have news about false accusations, vendettas and human rights violations like this, please contact the Debian Community News Team. █