Bradley Manning's Inhumane Detention Conditions

Salon:

Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime.  Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months -- and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait -- under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture.  Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning's detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries.

Read the whole story: Salon

Comments

[saintpeterii]

07:36 AM on 12/24/2010

The security freaks and their contractors are only doing this until they can get a confession from manning that he was raped by Assange and for whatever incidental pleasure they can derive. See Mercenaries aka Private Military Contractors at http://www.saintpeterii.com/blog/?p=417
See President Palin: The Whys and Why Nots. Find pout the truth about Palin water boarding a Moose at http://www.saintpeterii.com/blog/?p=493

[iriemeditation]

01:39 AM on 12/20/2010

FREE THE TRUTH!!

[LeBelAge]

07:49 AM on 12/19/2010

Oh good lord this debate about wikileaks is out of control people acting as if Manning is a political prisoner.

[iriemeditation]

01:39 AM on 12/20/2010

um, yea, he is. he's being held for telling the truth, that's evil. you might want to know the truth, but some of us do! just because a crooked politician calls some info "classified" does not mean we the people should not know it... that equates to living in a police state. go bury your head in the ground.

[LeBelAge]

08:00 PM on 12/18/2010

Manning knew he was breaking the law when he released that information out. Manning is not a victim. He knowingly broke the law. That is not at issue here.

Wikileaks distributing that information is a different subject altogether. The two should not be confused.

[shryock]

10:27 AM on 12/17/2010

and the UK newspaper the Independent is reporting this morning that Manning will be or is being offered a plea deal if he names Assange as a co-conspirator.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/freed-on-bail-ndash-but-us-steps-up-efforts-to-charge-assange-with-conspiracy-2162639.html

how many years will it take before there is a leak of the documents behind this deal?

[Lakmi]

04:52 PM on 12/16/2010

Bradley Manning is a guy who knows right from wrong. He is not the type to accept 30 pieces of silver. I note that some bloggers who are critical of Manning have not said a word about the video of the butchering of civilians. In which universe is that ok? If the Afghans had been the ones to invade the States and started murdering people just for the hell of it there would be uproar and quite rightly so. So how come it's ok to kill other human beings and yet demonize the person shedding light on it. Seriously, I could understand if this type of treatment was being used by a Nazi regime. What happened to the land of the free? Or does that only apply to some? The government should hang their heads in shame.

[jrb35]

07:07 PM on 12/16/2010

I've said plenty about the Apache video. There are armed insurgents in the video. US forces were in contact nearby and taking fire. The strike was entirely justified.

Watch the unedited video and see:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c1b_1270800204

1:27 Guy carrying AK-47, and other with RPG (no way it a tripod) that had previously fired on U.S. Troops. WikiLeak video distracts you with letter box about a camera Bag).

[greysells2]

11:34 AM on 12/16/2010

Has Manning been charged yet? If he has been charged, has he appeared in Court to make a plea? Has he been tried and found guilty? It would seem so far, legally we have in Manning an innocent person until proven guilty in a court of law. In a civilized country where the rule of law applies, innocent people are not held in the circumstances alleged unless....someone is trying to break Manning to get enough evidence on Assange to put him away.

[fairwayhill]

10:37 AM on 12/16/2010

Shame on Obama for Manning harsh treatment.

[vinny]

01:34 PM on 12/16/2010

no kidding. 200+ without bedding. he's one sadistic mf.

[Frances 56]

06:00 AM on 12/16/2010

The internet should not be politically censored by the US (or any other) government.

[freedomspeak]

01:58 AM on 12/16/2010

HERES A YOUNG LAD...WHO SITS IN HIS CHAIR DAILY... WITH ALLEGEANCE, HOPE AND LOYALITY TO HIS PEOPLE.... TO KEEP VILGIANCE OVER HIS BELOVED COUNTRY..

ONE DAY.....HE HAS A FLASH.... HES REALIZES HES A SMALL COG IN A GREAT WHEEL ...PART OF A SYSTEM....... THEN HES SEES ITS ALL A BIT A-MISS.... AND THAT THINGS ARE NOT REALLY LINING UP... AS HE WAS TAUGHT..!

HE HAS A PANG OF CONSCIENCE AND WANTS TO MAKE A DIFFERANCE.. IN HISTORICAL TERMS... AND AWAY HE GOES!!..... AND HERE WE ARE MAKING HIM OUR HERO!!

PRAY FOR THIS YOUNG LAD!! AND NEVER FORGET HIM!! HES OUR SPECIAL ""PVT"" PERSON!!

NEXT!!.... FIND A COUNTRY THAT THE US MARSHALLS HAVE NO RIGHT TO OPERATE IN AND MAKE HIS EXTRADITION..

AND GET HIM OVER THERE ASAP ....!! SOMEHOW, SOME WAY!!

[michaele11111]

10:02 AM on 12/17/2010

Bag the caps lock stuff. It's obnoxious and doesn't get you the extra attention you are so desperately seeking.

[freedomspeak]

01:46 AM on 12/16/2010

SO WHATS NEXT...>?? FOR OUR BRAVE AND COURAGOUS PVT!!...MANNING??

A TRIAL!! REGRETABLY!!

AND YOU THINK THE GUANTANAMO ONES WERE A FARCE WAIT TIL YOU SEE THIS ONE!!

IF ALLOWED!! BY OUR SLEZZ..ZZZ.......E...Y GOVT OFFICALS!!

[LalaSmiles]

12:04 AM on 12/16/2010

It seems PFC Manning is playing the part of scapegoat. They couldn't get to Assange, without making an international political incident out of it...so they took the "next best thing", one of their own.

IMO, Bradley Manning had no choice but to act, his conscience dictated it. At the Nuremberg trials Nazi's often used the defense of orders and military chain of command to abdicate responsibility. The court ruled they should have acted on their conscience not their orders. A war crime is a war crime even if a soldier is ordered to.

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, only available in participating areas, some restrictions may apply!

[jrb35]

12:36 AM on 12/16/2010

That's a specious analogy. The Nazis you referred to actually committed acts of genocide. Manning was never given an illegal order that he felt morally compelled to disobey. He violated numerous laws and orders regarding security and classified materials. If your analogy was in the least bit apt (which it is not) Manning would have had to have been ordered to commit a war crime and then disobey it. Nuremberg established the precedent that illegal orders could not be followed. Manning's orders were not illegal.

[LalaSmiles]

12:56 AM on 12/16/2010

hmmmmm...I guess he felt morally compelled enough to disobey when leaking the info about the Apache helicopter attack video.

Manning has stated that "he saw that the system was entirely corrupt and that Iraqi citizens were being locked up and tortured for disagreeing with their government and the American chain of command was entirely complicit in propping up a corrupt regime. If he had not acted then he was as guilty of crimes against humanity as the rest of his chain of command."

I guess we differ in our view of what is illegal and what is not, and how many people of a nation, race, political, or cultural group have to die in order to call it genocide.

A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred. And we are not finished yet!

[freedomspeak]

01:02 AM on 12/16/2010

YES!! Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, only available in participat­ing areas, some restrictio­ns may apply!

[ummm]

09:42 PM on 12/15/2010

Manning was brave to do what he did but subjectively speaking, he's a Private who stole data from his employer - sort of like a mail room employee stealing correspondence from his company - they both have to expect prosecution

[AZreb]

09:08 PM on 12/15/2010

The treatment of Manning is unconscionable - however, nothing oour government does surprises me. And that is a real shame.

[freedomspeak]

01:13 AM on 12/16/2010

LETS be more ACCURATE!!.. OUR GOVT IS VERY PATHETICALLY SHAMFULL..!!

ITS OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WHO HAS A BRAIN CELL THAT THEY HAVE BEEN CAUGHT OUT WITH THEIR PANTS DOWN..

THEIR REACTION!!. OMG!!

OFF!! WITH HIS HEAD!! AND THEN WE CAN KEEP OURS!!
AND ..........OUR CHAIRS!!
AND......... OUR POSITIONS FROM WHERE WE PROSTRATE AND DICTATE FROM... !!! TO OUR MASSES BELOW WHO PAY OUR WAYS!!.

YES ! OFF!! WITH THEIR HEADS!! (THE PVT AND JULIANS) AND KEEP COVERING OUR VERY LARGE ARSES!! MY MATES!!

WE PUSH OUR SELVES UPWARD AND SQUASH THE MASSES DOWN WARDS!!
TRA!! LA!! LA!! WHAT FOLLY AND MISERY WE DO CREATE"!"!"!

WE ARE SO PROUD OF OUR SELVES AND ANYONE WHO DARE OBJECT.. THEN WE
SICK... ERIC THE CRUSADER ON THEM!! POST HASTE!! JOLLY GOOD!!

SINCE WHEN DID THEY EVER THINK THEY EVEN HAD ONE WORD TO SAY""!(THE MASSES) ABOUT AL LOF THIS!!

[kenmei]

08:46 PM on 12/15/2010

After reading that article, I have admire Manning. He took no money, and made the leaks public domain as to avoid other countries from 'blackmailing' the US.
Amazing kid.
As far as Assange is concerned, he doesn't hold a candle to this kid. If he did, he would have been fighting for his release since day 1...or at least exposing what was happening to him.
Guess he was too busy using his leaks to make himself famous.