Does the UN not realise that Julian Assange has detained himself?

Even by the high standards of the UN, its report on Julian Assange is ridiculous bordering on comic. The BBC is reporting that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will find that he has been ‘unlawfully detained’. This is patently absurd as the only person detaining Assange is Assange himself. He is free to leave the Ecuadorian embassy at any time.

Now, if he did so, he would be arrested. But staying in hiding to avoid arrest is completely different from being detained by the state. But the UN panel seems to have missed this.

The Assange spin machine has been in full operation today, with the BBC blasting out that he would accept arrest if the UN report found against him. But seeing as the decision was taken months ago, as the BBC itself reports, there are strong grounds to suspect that Assange knew that he was taking no risks with this offer.