White House forced to respond to U.N. request to meet with Bradley Manning
WASHINGTON, DC — Supporters of PFC Bradley Manning have surpassed a 5,000 signature threshold through a new White House online petition interface. According to the website’s rules, the White House must now respond to the issues raised in the petition; including requests to allow a United Nations torture investigator to make an official visit with PFC Manning, and answering supporters’ calls for his freedom.
“Although we should never need to petition our government to respect basic human rights standards, we can now at least expect an answer to Mr. Mendez’s request to meet with PFC Manning,” said Kevin Zeese, a legal adviser with the Bradley Manning Support Network. “President Obama undermines his professed support for the work of the United Nations abroad when he prevents officials from responding to well-substantiated claims of cruel and unusual punishment at home.”
The White House petition is available at this link: http://www.wh.gov/40y
Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, has made repeated requests to the Obama administration to conduct an official meeting with PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower. Mr. Mendez is responding to evidence that PFC Manning was subjected to severe conditions of confinement while being held at a Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia. Several hundred U.S. legal scholars have signed an open letter arguing that these abuses may have amounted to torture. So far, the Department of Defense has only offered the option of a monitored meeting, which is not consistent with the U.N. investigator’s routine mandate. PFC Manning has refused this option, because anything he said while being monitored could potentially be used against him later.
“Thanks to the public encouragement of WikiLeaks and many others online, supporters of Bradley Manning surpassed the required signature threshold over two weeks ahead of the White House’s deadline,” said Jeff Paterson, a co-founder of the Bradley Manning Support Network. “We’re giving the White House the benefit of our doubts about their new Open Government Initiative. We want them to prove that this dialogue mechanism can be an effective channel of communication.”
The Obama administration will also be required to go on the record about its justification for continuing to hold PFC Manning in pre-trial confinement for over 16 months. The White House’s new “We the People” petition website was announced by President Obama during his recent visit to the United Nations. Following his unveiling of the new website, the President added:
“We’ll work to reform and expand protections for whistle-blowers who expose government waste, fraud and abuse.”
Supporters of Bradley Manning say that the President’s rhetoric does not match his record of having issued more prosecutions against whistle-blowers than all previous presidencies combined.
Okay, let’s hear the plan to protect whistleblowers. And let’s not have it expire a day after the 2012 election. If the US government respected whistleblowers, Bradley Manning would be declared a hero. And if it prioritized human rights, hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Gaza would be alive instead of murdered by US drones and weapons given to Israel by the US.
Don’t listen to Obama. He is a pathological liar.
We all must know by now that the two political parties are corporate-owned, that’s why nothing changes.the two-party system stinks and Washington needs to be taken over by independent candidates like Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders or Ralph Nader.
The presidente lies, as all presidentes of the last declades perhaps since John Kennedy, the US government lies, like all previous governments since more or less the same time. The US presidents and government have lost all cedibility and it is a joke to hear what they say when they try to lecture other countries on democracy and human rights.
Obama has been a total disapointment on so very many issues and fronts. I admit that I will be very surprised if his words on this issue mean anything at all. He has not proved himself to be on our side so far, and this would not have even happened to Bradley Manning if Obama were an honorable person who was worth our trust. I voted for, and believed in him……………..
I am so glad that despite all the obstacles put in our way we managed to get the 5000 signatures! Obama is a fraud — I am bitterly disappointed. A Nobel Peace Prize winner waging all these wars???
We have a Constitution, isn’t it sad our “elected” officials choose not to abide by it and the corporations’ Supreme Court refuses to enforce it.
NO ONE here in Europe can seriously believe in ANYTHING the US President or the US-Government says. Lies lies lies….
Even CHINA can be taken more serious!
The major difference between Obama and Bush is that Obama is black. Any other differences are minor details. They are united in their 1%-ness.
I have tried several times to sign this petition at the “White House petition link” given in this article – with no success. I received a login account and new password and still was unsuccessful. After signing in I was sent, more than once, to the “American Jobs Act” website and photos of the President. I would love to sign this petition. Do you have any other suggestions? I believe that PFC Bradley Manning is a hero, not a villain and should be freed of all charges!
Have you checked out our link for petition tech support?
I would suggest in addition to that, some people have found the WhiteHouse.gov websited worked better for them using a different internet browser. If that still doesn’t work for you then I don’t know what to suggest, but thank you for your support and persistance!
The tragedy of the United States is that the political power has been monopolized by two corrupt and lying political parties and the options to the electorate are to vote for “the lesser evil” all the time. The USA calls itself a “pilar of democracy” but it is becoming more and more a totalitarian police state. The real power is in the hands of bankers and the big and greedy corporations that are stealing billions of dollars from all the citizens! It’s about time these bastards are stopped!
Free Bradley Manning, an American hero! Close Guantanamo. Legalize marijuana. Allow gays to marry. Leave Roe v. Wade alone. Leave unions alone. Close dirty coal plants. Close ancient nuclear plants. We NEED JOBS and HEALTHCARE. Getting very CRANKY here. The Green Party had best be powering up. This might finally be their time.
With the political system bought and paid for the way it is, I can’t say I am surprised by Obama. To arrive to the point of seriously being considered for President of the US, you have to be part of the system.
That said, I am so disappointed and frustrated with the way things are turning out. What they’re doing to Bradley is totally wrong, and it’s obvious they’re “making an example” of him. They’re not even making the effort to pay lip service to human rights…
What do we do? How can we fight this?
In a country with a proper legal system, Bradley Manning would now be free.
Obama saying “He broke the law” completely prejudiced any chance of a fair trial.
It’s difficult to prejudice a trial more seriously than the head of state declaring the defendant guilty in advance.
Obama has said he’s not interested in meeting with those who want to talk about cannabis, he’s not going to be interested in meeting with anyone regarding these petitions. I’m thinking the White House didn’t have an inkling that this would happen (or maybe someone DID – and this has helped further the cause?) and the damage is so far out of hand (for them) that the only thing they can see is to take a couple less-difficult issues and deal with them. Watch – they won’t do a damn thing and the petitions will come down (will they claim Anonymous took them down? Why not – make MORE of an enemy of the American people!)
When my friends were getting excited about Candidate Obama I warned them that high hopes crash hard. I was very much hoping to be wrong on this point. I was right; Obama is the establishment every bit as much as Reagan, Clinton, or either Bush.
This is excellent activity. This site should host a number of petitions like – prosecute the murderers of Iraq’s and Afghanistan’s civilians – and any other Bradley Manning exposed criminals.
It’s about time.
IN USA THE LIBERTY IS JUST AN STATUE .
who expose government waste, fraud and abuse.
3 words that talk about money. Nothing hiding evidences that contradict the administration propaganda under the cover of National Security.
The White House changed the rules on October 3rd and now require 25,000 signatures to be “forced” to reply to a petition.
@someone You’ll be happy to know that the 25,000 signature rule only applies to petitions created after the threshold change. So at least according to the White House website, they’ll still honor our petition with 5,000 signatures.
I wish President Obama would adher to what he says. Unfortunately domsetically and internationaly he does the opposit of what he says. he has become a great diappointment to me. Republican candidates may become his parachute for landing him again in the White House
We must force the government to allow UN access to bradley manning.
Third Party candidate would be a waste of time, if they were elected they would have no support in either House, the Supreme Court or any of the States to get their agenda passed through. I hate to re-elect Obama especially because of his latest Bush-lite power grab. Maybe a veto and fillibuster proof Democratic Majority in both Houses and a Republican in the White House? I think the only way to go is that of the occupy movement but with enough people in DC so that we cannot be ignored and won’t get glad-handed while there and forgotten after we leave. We need to put on the politicians on notice and get rid of the “Party of No” and the open bribing of our elected officials. And make sure they know we have to “look back” to correct all the wrongs of the past 10 years so that it does not keep happening. And to stop the “War on Terror”, you cannot wage war on a tactic without making more followers of that tactic.We have to put the Mayors that use their “armies” against unarmed, peaceful protestors on notice that those things are things will not stand any more, if the cops want to fight send them and their mayors to Afghanistan and bring home our troops that do not want to be there.
This place is longer the USA. It’s the USE, the United States of Embarrassment. Once somebody gets elected to office, all accountability stops in the name of secrecy. Ask your representative about their vote on the NDAA and watch them run like chickens. We need people, ‘whistle blowers’, to tell the truth. If you said something embarrassing you should be embarrassed. Secrecy has become synonymous with the word cover-up.