You may have heard a little about WikiLeaks in the news lately, and about its founder, Julian Assange. You have probably heard less about Bradley Manning, the person accused of leaking the material to Assange in the first place. If this is the first time you’ve heard of Bradley, the story’s not pretty.
Manning is an Army private, currently being held in the Marine Brig at Quantico, Virginia. A recent story by Glen Greenwald tells the story of the harsh, some say inhumane, conditions he’s being held under. They include, but are certainly not limited to, total solitary confinement with only 1 hour a day out of his cell. These conditions are typically used on violent prisoners in SuperMax facilities who have proven to be a danger to themselves or others, or on inmates who are on suicide watch. Manning has not done either.
This is not a story about harsh prison conditions. It is about a person who is accused of a crime, but WHO HAS NOT BEEN CONVICTED OF ANYTHING, and is not a danger to himself or others. He has done nothing, if we still believe in the Rule of Law, to merit this treatment. Yet he is being subjected to it in violation of our inconvenient old Constitution.
There are things you can do to help, and here’s a link to all of them. Please take the time to get acquainted with this story, and tell your friends. Contribute if you can. Whatever you do, please make your voice heard on this important issue.
UPDATED INFORMATION: Amnesty International is working to change Bradley’s conditions of imprisonment. Read about their involvement here, or read their open letter to Robert Gates here.
Manning is in jail not because he leaked information that would put American soldiers or civilians at risk, but because he leaked camera footage from an Apache helicopter attack of a group of civilians standing on a street corner. Here it is.
PBS did an in-depth report on Manning’s life and the issues surrounding his imprisonment, linked here.
Update 7/25/2012- Bradley is still being held, but at least the wheels of ‘justice’ are starting to grind. Below is a story from the Australian source news.com.au, with links below that to two other stories on his progress…
Manning treatment ‘should shock court’
EVIDENCE showing the mistreatment of WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning at a military brig should “shock the conscience” of the court, his lawyer said.
The US Army soldier accused of handing over a trove of secret documents to the WikiLeaks website was subjected to harsh, “unlawful” conditions for nine months at the brig even though psychiatrists concluded he was not at risk of committing suicide, said David Coombs, his defence counsel.
Private Manning was placed under “maximum custody” at the US Marine Corps Brig in Quantico, Virginia as “the result of a direct order” from a commanding officer, witnessed by two colonels, Mr Coombs alleged at a pre-trial hearing.
Other cases have revealed excesses but “this one should shock the conscience of this court”, the lawyer added.
After his solitary confinement from July 2010 to April 2011, which sparked outrage by rights activists, Pte Manning was transferred to a prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where he was placed under less restrictive conditions after he was evaluated by mental health professionals.
Judge Denise Lind agreed to a defense request to have the commander of the Fort Leavenworth brig at the time, Lieutenant Colonel Dawn Hilton, testify next month about how Pte Manning was evaluated and why he was not placed in solitary confinement.
Pte Manning’s lawyer said he planned to file a 100-page motion arguing his client suffered illegal detention conditions while awaiting his court-martial, and said his improved treatment at Fort Leavenworth made clear that he had endured an injustice at the Quantico brig.
“Either the water at Fort Leavenworth has amazing mental health healing properties or he was subject to unlawful pre-trial confinement (at Quantico),” Mr Coombs said.
But the judge rejected a request from Pte Manning to have UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez appear as a witness. Prosecutors had argued that Mr Mendez’s testimony was not relevant as he never visited Pte Manning during his detention at Quantico.
Mr Mendez requested a visit with Pte Manning but US military authorities would not allow him to conduct an “unmonitored” meeting with the accused, Mr Coombs said.
The judge also ruled that prosecutors have to meet a defence request to produce in court a tear-proof smock, blanket and mattress similar to those issued to Pte Manning during his detention at Quantico.
The blanket was essentially “a large piece of sand paper”, Mr Coombs said.
The trial for Manning is tentatively due to begin in September but may be pushed back as late as February next year, the judge said.
Pte Manning, 24, was a low-ranking intelligence analyst deployed in Iraq when he was arrested in May 2010 and accused of releasing hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables and military logs from Iraq and Afghanistan.
If convicted of aiding the enemy, he faces a possible life sentence.
Second anniversary of the Afghan war diaries. Take action July 25th! from the Bradley Manning Support Network
Judge Bars UN Torture Investigator From Testifying from HuffPost Politics
