EL PAÍS among publications condemning WikiLeaks

In response to WikiLeaks' announcement that it will publish the entirety of the 250,000 US State Department cables at its disposal without concealing the identities of sources, five international publications - The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El PAÍS - have issued a joint statement condemning the decision.

"We deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted state department cables, which may put sources at risk," the organizations said.

"Our previous dealings with WikiLeaks were on the clear basis that we would only publish cables which had been subjected to a thorough joint editing and clearance process. We will continue to defend our previous collaborative publishing endeavor. We cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data - indeed, we are united in condemning it."

The statement further clarified that, "The decision to publish by [WikiLeaks leader] Julian Assange was his, and his alone."

Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom group that had been maintaining a backup version of the WikiLeaks site, has also decided to temporarily withdraw its support following news of the impending release.

The new files are considered "strictly protected," a designation Washington reserves for documents whose publication could endanger the people involved, and contain the names of activists and individuals persecuted by their governments.

WikiLeaks' November 2010 publication of the US embassy documents was the largest ever leak of classified information. They were published in partnership with major international publications, including EL PAÍS. It was agreed then that the cables would be edited to protect sources' identities.