Speak Out Against the Inhumane Imprisonment of Bradley Manning!
Dear friends of Bradley Manning,
Please take action TODAY to speak out against the intolerable conditions of Brad’s imprisonment. A press release we sent out today detailing some of those conditions and pointing to other reporting on the topic follows.
"Caged" by Dave Nakayama, [email protected]
Contact the Quantico base commander:
COL Daniel Choike
Phone: +1-703-784-2707
3250 Catlin Avenue
Quantico, VA 22134
Contact the Marine Brig commanding officer:
CWO4 James Averhart
Fax: +1-703-784-4242
3247 Elrod Avenue
Quantico, VA 22134
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Supporters Call for End to Inhumane Treatment of Bradley Manning
Quantico, VA, December 22, 2010 – After trying other avenues of recourse, the Bradley Manning Support Network is urging supporters to engage in direct protest in order to halt the punitive conditions of the soldier’s detention. Bradley Manning, 23, has been held in solitary confinement in military jails since his arrest in late May on allegations that he passed classified material to WikiLeaks..
In the wake of an investigative report last week by Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com giving evidence that Manning was subject to “detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries”, Manning’s attorney, David Coombs, published an article at his website on Saturday entitled “A Typical Day for PFC Bradley Manning”. Coombs details the maximum custody conditions that Manning is subject to at the Quantico Confinement Facility and highlights an additional set of restrictions imposed upon him under a Prevention of Injury (POI) watch order.
Usually enforced only through a detainee’s first week at a confinement facility, the standing POI order has severely limited Manning’s access to exercise, daylight and human contact for the past five months, despite calls from military psychologists to lift the order and the extra restrictions imposed.
Despite not having been convicted of any crime or even yet formally indicted, the confinement regime Manning lives under includes pronounced social isolation and a complete lack of opportunities for meaningful exercise. Additionally, Manning’s sleep is regularly interrupted. Coombs writes: “The guards are required to check on Manning every five minutes [...] At night, if the guards cannot see PFC Manning clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure he is okay.”
Denver Nicks writes in The Daily Beast that “[Manning’s] attorney […] says the extended isolation — now more than seven months of solitary confinement — is weighing on his client’s psyche. […] Both Coombs and Manning’s psychologist, Coombs says, are sure Manning is mentally healthy, that there is no evidence he’s a threat to himself, and shouldn’t be held in such severe conditions under the artifice of his own protection.”
In an article to be published at Firedoglake.com later today, David House, a friend of Manning’s who visits him regularly at Quantico, says that Manning “has not been outside or into the brig yard for either recreation or exercise in four full weeks. He related that visits to the outdoors have been infrequent and sporadic for the past several months.”
Bradley Manning Support Network founder Mike Gogulski stated that “the Marine Brig is using injury prevention as a vehicle to inflict extreme pre-trial punishment on Bradley Manning. These conditions are not unheard-of during an inmate’s first week at a military jail, but when applied continuously for months and with no end in sight they amount to a form of torture.”
The Bradley Manning Support Network calls upon Quantico base commander COL Daniel Choike and brig commanding officer CWO4 James Averhart to put an end to these inhumane, degrading conditions. Additionally, the Network encourages supporters to phone COL Choike at +1-703-784-2707 or write to him at 3250 Catlin Avenue, Quantico, VA 22134, and to fax CWO4 Averhart at +1-703-784-4242 or write to him at 3247 Elrod Avenue, Quantico, VA 22134, to demand that Bradley Manning’s human rights be respected while he remains in custody.
# # #
References:
“The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning’s detention”, Glenn Greenwald, 15 December 2010, http://www.salon.com/news/wikileaks/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2010/12/14/manning
“A Typical Day for PFC Bradley Manning”, David E. Coombs, 18 December 2010, http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2010/12/typical-day-for-pfc-bradley-manning.html
“Bradley Manning’s Life Behind Bars”, Denver Nicks, 17 December 2010, http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-12-17/bradley-manning-wikileaks-alleged-sources-life-in-prison/
Bradley Manning Support Network, http://www.bradleymanning.org/
One wonders how far Bradley Manning must go in his plight before he becomes a true martyr. If the U.S. government “lets him [forces him to] die” in prison, he WILL certainly become a martyr. If rather, he merely goes ‘insane’ through all the various torture techniques (approved also by the American Psychiatric Association), the government will have more ‘control’ (they are calculating) on how they will (or will NOT) portray Private Manning in the media. I believe they are betting on his going insane. They’ve done it before; they are experts at this.
The government has a lot to lose if Bradley dies is confinement.
How can we put pressure on the officials who have the ability to release Manning before he becomes more mentally unstable (due to various torture techniques being used on him)? How can we INSIST upon his quick release from the utter Hell he is being subjected to at this moment?? WE, THE PEOPLE can & will HELP SET BRADLEY FREE, if we have the DESIRE. We can do it. We just need to push harder somehow and be smarter.
DEMAND JUSTICE!!
FREE BRADLEY MANNING!!
P.S. Thank you Pfc. Manning for being the bravest person in the world. It’s quite ironic that on this is Christmas Day you are being held & tortured for speaking truth to power.
Bradley is on one of the greatest assets to the human race. Bradley Manning is a true hero. One of the finest soldiers ever enlisted.
Post a picture of Bradley Manning on facebook and tag all your friends with a link to collateral murder google it.This will appear to all your friend’s friends. Tell your friends to do the same. This story needs to get maximum exposure quick-time.
Bradley is one of the sovereign canditate to the Nobel Peace price. Stop the torture.
Best regards to Bradley from Thomas /Northern Norway
Well you know, the lowly patriot rots in a cold, damp, sealed cave. The villain bathes in luxury. Bradley and Bush (the Butcher).
He lives in Dallas or Crawford Texas. The Butcher. It’s a gated community in sunny Dallas. A large expensive sliding gate, better than the kind used to protect an english castle.
Bush ordered troops to seize the castles found in Iraq. A dictator was hunted down like an animal, and then hanged to death. Watch what you say, boy, or else. A patriot once threw a shoe at him (and now rots in jail). That’s as near anyone will ever get to him.
He’ll tell you he’s your hero. LOL ! His wife flew to Afghanistan, during a recession, burning thousands of gallons of fuel. She then warned us of how they treat their women, while our men (and women) bomb those women (and their children, and fetuses). That Bitch will tell you how many kids must die or lose limbs or be maimed to achieve the correct moral amount of justice.
Manning was messing with vicious, dangerous dictators (the Butcher and his Bitch). Even Obama is afraid. His two daughters will never see the military from the inside (the same for the Butcher’s daughters).
If Bush is so good, if he kept us safe, then why does he require all that security ? Why would anyone in Crawford or Dallas want to harm him (or her) ? Was Manning arrested in Texas ? More people died under Bush than under Hussein.
They’ll use Manning as an example. They can’t come for everyone of us.
@Alex May,
Though you’re glad he’s behind bars for leaking our country’s secrets (most if not all of the leaked secrets ought not to be secrets), you still should be royally pissed that they’re torturing him prior to his Article 32 Hearing*, in gross and flagrant violation of Articles 10 & 13.
Have you seen the North Baghdad “Collateral Murder” video? It turns my stomach! Pfc Bradley Manning should be commended for leaking this!
It is now Boxing Day, 26 Dec 2010. Pfc Bradley Manning is still in Quantico, in the Maximum Custody Detainee Facility. Despite the MC staff psychologist and his lawyer having determined him to be mentally healthy early on, he is STILL on a “Protection Of Injury” watch, meaning he’s denied exercise, denied sunlight, denied the ability to get restful sleep, he’s in his cell 23 hours a day, he gets 1 hour of television a day when no news is on, he is denied human contact except visitors once a week and they have to communicate with him through inch-thick glass, all the adjacent cells are empty so he has noone to communicate with other than a guard who asks him every five minutes “are you okay?” and he has to respond affirmatively. Presently he is the ONLY inmate in the brig (prison).
Two really egregious points:
1) His sleeping conditions: he sleeps on a mattress with a built-in “pillow” (a lump, really) under an extremely heavy blanket. It’s as heavy as an x-ray apron and has the surface texture of coarse industrial carpet. He’s required to strip to his boxer shorts before retiring to bed. I don’t have to tell you what the blanket does to his “junk” when he turns in his sleep. He frequently wakes up in the morning with carpet burns, even “down there.” There is a light in the hallway and his mattress is positioned so the light shines in his face so the guards can check him every five minutes. If his face is hidden in any way, they wake him up. I’m sure he frequently wakes up through the night because of the blanket, too.
2) He gets zero exercise except one hour to walk around an empty indoor room either in circles or figure eights. While in chains. He has not been let outside for more than four weeks now. they will not let him do any exercise in his cell. His lawyer says that at present he can do stretching and yoga. But how long before they say he can’t even do that? And you need exercise to sleep soundly.
This inhumane treatment is worse than the sort of treatment inflicted upon heinously violent murderers, even ones who repeatedly violate prison rules! Yet he has not been convicted for any crime; he has not stood trial in a Court Martial; he has not even received his UCMJ Article 32 Hearing* yet. And yet he is being given a cruel and unusal punishment.
Regardless of whether you think Bradley Manning is a traitor or not, you don’t punish someone prior to his conviction and especially not like this!
Now the most important thing: MSNBC had a friend of his from Boston, David House, on the Dylan Ratigan Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvhO9pEPzSY last week. Mr. House says Bradley Manning’s physical and mental well-being has deteriorated significantly since he first met him in September. He also wrote a blog post stating the same at firedoglake.com. No, he is NOT a journalist!
*(Grand jury Indictment Hearing in civilian life)
I had no idea of the above situation with Bradley until I arrived in the UK for my annual holiday. I do this to thank those hwo supported me during my time in exile, during the Apartheid years.
There are many similarities between the Apartheid Govt. and the tactics employed by those who will use the media or so-called experts the smear anyone who exposes injustice or corruption; (Our current South African government seems to be perfecting the worsts oppresive traits of the previous government they so much hated) Shows you just what power can do to a newly liberated democracy!!!. What I am saying here is that it took me a while to search for a more balanced reporting of Bradleys story and it is with this in mind that I am writing to offer my best wishes and support for this brave and principled young man.
Bradley you are going to need lots of self-belief and courage to survive what will be coming your way. So far you have demonstrated that the values you hold dear are more powerful than the bullying and lying of those who wield power. I urge you not to lose hope and be asured that you will not be forgotten.
This is shameful and outrageous. Americans should call upon President Obama to intervene immediately in this gross miscarriage of justice. The whole tragic episode is a festering sore on the face of the nation.
Where we live in a society that promotes democracy and freedom of speech, this truly seems absurd. There is no democracy in torture, no democracy in forced imprisonment, no democracy in silence. We cannot stand by and be silent, the passive observers. We cannot simply allow governments to own us, to strip us of our humanity. We are born free and equal, this is our birth right. the dictation of war and violence … who decides for us that this is noble truth to so called protect us. it is not to protect us, but to protect the governments that hold self interest. Bradley Manning, how you are suffering for us all. All great sages and truth spoeakers have suffered the same fate. when will we all wake to this ? SAY NO! RECLAIM YOUR RIGHTS AND FREE BRADLEY MANNING NOW!!!!!!!! protest until your mouth run dry then protest agin. we cannot let a brother rot in some hell hole for us, to be forgotten as last weeks news. keep him alive and raise your voices. the time is now. not tomorrow not yesterday. now.
They are keeping him in solitary because they are afraid he will talk!
We are doing a direct action on Wed 12/29 at Beale Air Force Base near Marysville, California to call for Manning’s release, to support GI resistance and to stop the Drone attacks. We are Code Pink and others….
I’d only told them the truth. Was that so selfish? Our integrity sells for so little, but it’s all that we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free
That quote was from V for Vendetta…check it out…suppression of rights and information by governments. We must speak out for what is right.
PLEASE release Bradly Manning!!
God bless this man
He is MY HERO!!!!
Please someone, tell me how Bradley Manning’s plight is DIFFERENT from Jesus Christ’s time on the Cross.
What I saw on the video he exposed makes me sick. I am ashamed to be an American..
Thank you Bradley.
You are a hero
What Bradley Manning did was right! The military would have covered up the crimes committed by the pilots. What Bradley did took courage. We cannot let soldiers get away with war crimes!
The military is suppose to show honor and integrity! Where is the honor in shooting unarmed innocent civilians!
The video clearly showed Americans with rifles at the end of the video. That proves that the Iraqis were not carrying AK47′s! You would have seen them if they were! The pilots made stuff up so they could have an excuse to shoot and kill people!
Bradley had to do the right thing by exsposing their actions!
His act was true heroism.
Bradley,thank’s for your courage.
I urge you not to lose hope and be asured that you will not be forgotten.
from shanghai china
Please release Bradley Manning. He has not been charged with a crime, and is suffering inhumane conditions.
Thank you Bradley, for sacrificing your freedom to protect our right to know what our government is doing.
Please do not lose hope. I still hope this saga will take a turn for the better.
Stefanie, from USA
I applaud Bradley Manning’s actions about leaking information in the name of freedom. His actions coupled with those of Julius Assange have dealt censorship a serious blow.
However, unlike Assange, I believe Manning’s actions were less noble and more for personal gain and less to fight censorship. Mannings knew what he was doing was against the law. In fact, I believe manning though of his actions as wrong, immoral, illegal and treasonous.
Assange is the real hero here. Assange did what he did in name of freedom, against censorship, oppression and control. I don’t think Assage believed what he was doing was wrong, imoral or illegal in any way, shape or form.
yes his treatment is inhumane. Yes that is wrong. What pfc manning did was also wrong. No, his crimes do not justify his treatment now. Neither does the the crimes the pilots committed justifiy what he did. If it werejust about what the pilots did, then release the video. He did more than that though, didnlt he? I truly believe this _____________ (world, country, government….. You decide how to fill in the blank) has too many secrets. Some are wrong and some are not. Case in point, should Valarie Plame’s secret been shared and the lives of her and those around her been put in jeopardy? Does anyone know with absolute certainty that none of the leaked documents will harm any Americans? If not then he committed the worst crime any soldier could given the oath he took.
I agree with most comments on this site. He deserves more humane treatment and he deserves swift justice by a jury of his peers whether that be favorable to him or not. He deserves every right entitled to him bought and paid for in blood and sacrifice by the men and women in our military, including him.
Wow, it seems that some people didn’t learn a thing from the 20th century. Let’s recap: Nazism is not a viable system of governing, Fascist behavior is hazardous to the innocent, and the Nuremberg defense is NOT a defense. Manning did the appropriate thing: he reported crimes that were committed in YOUR(OUR) NAME, crimes YOU(We) FINANCED AND THUS OSTENSIBLY APPROVE OF: the MURDER of innocent civilians. Now the rationalizations for the actions of this remote control, game console like-death is not worthy the effort of contemplation. Grow a pair and take a stand. Live free or die.
Well Said Jon Jacobs.
I also feel we have a repeat of Mccarthyism tactics going on today. It scares me.
Happy New Year Bradley!!
My son and I had a very dark holiday season because of all that you and Julian are going through. As a personal protest we had no tree, no lights, just a few gifts. I got pretty ill from the stress, all the reading, writing and hoping, wishing I could do more than that.
Hang in there! Every hero goes through dark, it’s in the job description. Every new sun rises, so take your Kryptonite with a smile, and know you’ll be glorious in the outcome! You have too many people behind you. You have the World behind you, buddy! There is safety in numbers!!! It’s a new year, and new hope.
We love you and are all with you 100%!!
This soldier should be given a medal of freedom instead of court martialed. America does not stand for freedom anymore but spying on citizens for decades-starting ILLEGAL WARS STARTED BY LIES FROM CORRUPT LYING MURDERING POLITICIANS.
Bush should be in jail not this truthful soldier.And if you don’t let him out Obama-YOU belong in jail.
Where were these “watchdogs” who were following Bradley Manning’s so called leak prior to 9/11?
If our govt. spent half its efforts looking at the important stuff rather than harmless “leaked” info, we’d be better off. Seems like a case of distorted priorities.
The video of those awful murders of civilians was aired tonight (9/01/11) on Flemish television.
I praise the man who had the courage to leak these to the press.
He is a hero of humanity.
I wish we had more like him.
I sincerely hope that Bradley Manning will eventually walk free – a true citizen and an example to us all.
PFC Manning is being tortured, isolated
Bradley is the Winston Smith of the 21st century. Never realized that the 1984 “Thought Police’ would become our reality.
I’m attending a Save Bradley Manning/ Wikileaks Support Rally today in Seattle. I hope we get big numbers attending…
Sadly, I somehow doubt that it will get much media attention though.
Release him now!!!! It is a shame that he should be in prison.
Pingback: Bradley Manning Support Network » Archive » WikiLeaks fulfills pledge to support accused whistle-blower Bradley Manning
Nance
Such a strong and admirable young man, Bradley stands for truth and justice for our country and the world. He can and will in his darkest hour find the strength to remain strong and know and believe that what he did was the right thing to do. He has renewed my faith in the human spirit. And at a time when corruption has seeped into every fragment of our daily lives there is among us a true hero, who represents the truth…Bradley Manning. I ask that Power that is greater than all humankind be with him now and throughout his life as he is faces unspeakable challenges.
May I add my own prayers & good wishes for Bradley, from Ireland.
We can set him free. The more of us that support him, and Julian Assange, the sooner he will have to be freed. We have the strength of numbers! In our hearts we all know what is truth, and what is lies.
I would like to see all the other soldiers coming forward & supporting him, & refusing to carry on this charade.
Guilty until proven innocent. This is the new American way. And no evidence is necessary to order someone killed. Just the say-so of the man with the gun.
Everything Americans have worked for over the past 227 years, to establish the rule of law over the emotions of the mob and the predations of the aristocracy, has been nullified by fake terror, insincere legislators and endless bribery.
Vigilante justice is the new order of the day in this frightening 2003 edition of the United States of America. Due process, the right to a fair trial, the right to be safe and secure in one’s home ” these are all things of the past, things we used to defend as the best traits of American freedom in those happy days before the “War on Terror.”
Now we are defending the right of the president to order people killed because he says they are bad guys. He doesn’t need any evidence because he’s the president, according to Ari Fleischer, his sycophantic press secretary. This is what we are presenting to our children as the actions of a democracy.
Mark,
You’ve really summed it all up in a nutshell. Scary, isn’t it?
The ‘land of the free’? Hardly.
Mark,
You are exactly right! And now the US government are now openly fascist, telliong corporations who and what other economic entities they can and cannot associate with. And they are trying to project their delusions of absolute power worldwide!
Bradley Manning is a true hero. He provides a contrast to the evil of the methods used to torment him.
No one, even a convicted criminal, should be tortured like this. To do this to a young man who was only doing his duty and who has not been charged is a a great travesty of justice. That the Commander-in-Chief is a Constitutional scholar only adds to the irony of the situation.
In a real democracy or any healthy society, telling and exposing the truth would not ever be a crime. Hiding the truth and keeping secrets are a key component in lies, sickness & disease. Knowing the truth allows psychological integration.
Today I saw in Truthout that Dennis Kucinich has gotten involved with finding out why Bradley Manng is not being released. I hope that this increases the pressure on the U.S. government to a positive outcome for Pfc. Manning.
I applaud Mr. Kucinich. At least one member of Congress understands due process, although, let us be clear, the military has its own definition. Why is that?
A man has died in Gunatanimo: was he guilty? I don’t know, no one knows; he was never charged nor was he brought to trial. They are sending him home in a box. Nine years, no charge, no trial.
Bradley Manning’s friends were delayed and harassed when trying to see him. These soldiers harassed them for so long that they missed the meeting time. Yes, the mllitary seems to have its own rules. Why is that?
Bradley Manning, I am thinking positive thoughts for you, and negative thoughts of a justice system that is so UNJust. Why is that?
@L.M. Marshall, Yesterday I saw at The Daily Paul that libertarian-minded conservatives are taking note of Bradley Manning’s mistreatment and speaking out against it. Including Judge Napolitano at Fox!
Truly, this will take a left-right coalition against the authoritarian “centre.”
@Ed M:
Thank you very much for informing me of these developments concerning Bradley Manning. It seems like quite a positive and hopeful turn of events. Perhaps more ‘consevatives’ could be made aware of Pfc. Manning’s situation in order to speed up his release.
Yes, L.M. Marshall, I hope you’re right. I’ve been following Manning’s situation for some months now and just hope and pray that it improves soon. The latest we’ve heard is that his has been in a catatonic state of late. I just hope now permanent psychological damage has been done. He is truly a hero, and will hopefully get to see the positive outcome of his actions one of these days (hopefully sooner than later).
What concerns me quite a bit is that Private Manning is being forced to take a number of psych meds. These could do him as much or more psychological harm conceivably than the time he’s spent in slitary confinement at the prison. Some meds can act like a horrible, internal ‘straightjacket’ once taken.
Susan Lindauer’s recently published book: ‘Extreme Prejudice’ (2010)contains terrifying insights into the use of psychiatric abuse in the pre-trial legal system, especially re. political prisoners; it reads just like Soviet ‘re-programming’ – see Wikipedia ‘Punitive Psychiatry in the Soviet Union’. WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS HORROR
They act like the Nazi’s : Befehl ist Befehl.
They are not better.
Let justice win.
With Mubarik’s recent ouster by the Egyptian People, it must give other world ‘leaders’ pause. Perhaps this new tide of grass-roots (desert-sand) democracy will spread the world over. (Gosh, I hope so…).
We owe it to Bradley Manning to lift him up onto our collective shoulders and spread the knowledge of his courage and present confinement and punishments. It seems that only by more people the world over becoming aware of the positive stand Bradley Manning has taken for the (former American) ideals of justice, as well as his present incarceration without trial or conviction will perhaps come the pressure needed on our U.S. Government to free him.
Change is in the air right now. A fresh look at democracy for all peoples is being examined; including the rights of political prisoners, like Brad Manning. Help Bradley ride the wave of freedom
that’s coming.
If you can all spare a few dollars,pounds etc….get T-shirts printed up with a picture of Bradley Manning…make as many people aware as you can…make packs of playing cards with his face on the back…I hope to God these evil @ucks get a taste of their own medicine…peace to you all.