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The Truth Behind Quantico Brig’s Decision to Strip PFC Manning

2011-03-05 12 comments


Written by: David E. Coombs

The Brig has stripped PFC Manning of all of his clothing for the past three nights, and they intend to continue this practice indefinitely.  Each night, Brig guards force PFC Manning to relinquish all of his clothing.  He then lies in a cold jail cell naked until the following morning, when he is required to endure the humiliation of standing naked at attention for the morning roll call.  According to Marine spokesperson, First Lieutenant Brian Villiard, the decision to strip him naked every night is for PFC Manning’s own protection.  Villiard stated that it would be “inappropriate” to explain what prompted these actions ”because to discuss the details would be a violation of PFC Manning’s privacy.”

The defense communicated with both PFC Manning and the Brig forensic psychiatrist and learned more about the decision to strip PFC Manning of his clothing every night.  On Wednesday March 2, 2011, PFC Manning was told that his Article 138 complaint requesting that he be removed from Maximum custody and Prevention of Injury (POI) Watch had been denied by the Quantico commander, Colonel Daniel J. Choike.  Understandably frustrated by this decision after enduring over seven months of unduly harsh confinement conditions, PFC Manning inquired of the Brig operations officer what he needed to do in order to be downgraded from Maximum custody and POI.  As even Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell has stated, PFC Manning has been nothing short of “exemplary” as a detainee.  Additionally, Brig forensic psychiatrists have consistently maintained that there is no mental health justification for the POI Watch imposed on PFC Manning.  In response to PFC Manning’s question, he was told that there was nothing he could do to downgrade his detainee status and that the Brig simply considered him a risk of self-harm.  PFC Manning then remarked that the POI restrictions were “absurd” and sarcastically stated that if he wanted to harm himself, he could conceivably do so with the elastic waistband of his underwear or with his flip-flops.

Without consulting any Brig mental health provider, Chief Warrant Officer Denise Barnes used PFC’s Manning’s sarcastic quip as justification to increase the restrictions imposed upon him under the guise of being concerned that PFC Manning was a suicide risk.  PFC Manning was not, however, placed under the designation of Suicide Risk Watch.  This is because Suicide Risk Watch would have required a Brig mental health provider’s recommendation, which the Brig commander did not have.  In response to this specific incident, the Brig psychiatrist assessed PFC Manning as “low risk and requiring only routine outpatient followup [with] no need for … closer clinical observation.”  In particular, he indicated that PFC Manning’s statement about the waist band of his underwear was in no way prompted by “a psychiatric condition.”

While the commander needed the Brig psychiatrist’s recommendation to place PFC Manning on Suicide Risk Watch, no such recommendation was needed in order to increase his restrictions under POI Watch.  The conditions of POI Watch require only psychiatric input, but ultimately remain the decision of the commander.

Given these circumstances, the decision to strip PFC Manning of his clothing every night for an indefinite period of time is clearly punitive in nature.  There is no mental health justification for the decision.  There is no basis in logic for this decision.  PFC Manning is under 24 hour surveillance, with guards never being more than a few feet away from his cell.  PFC Manning is permitted to have his underwear and clothing during the day, with no apparent concern that he will harm himself during this time period.  Moreover, if Brig officials were genuinely concerned about PFC Manning using either his underwear or flip-flops to harm himself (despite the recommendation of the Brig’s psychiatrist) they could undoubtedly provide him with clothing that would not, in their view, present a risk of self-harm.  Indeed, Brig officials have provided him other items such as tear-resistant blankets and a mattress with a built-in pillow due to their purported concerns.

The Brig’s treatment of PFC Manning is shameful.  It is made even more so by the Brig hiding behind concerns for “[PFC] Manning’s privacy.”  There is no justification, and there can be no justification, for treating a detainee in this degrading and humiliating manner.

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12 comments »

  • Anonymous

    Anonymous will wage a media war against those in charge at Quantico and those guilty of stabbing a knife in Bradleys back, by turning him in to the feds. We have doxed each and every of those people and will ruin their lives from now on, till the day where Bradley is given the most basic human rights.

    2011-03-05 19:14
  • Marjorie O'Loughlin

    Let us have no physical violence of any kind against any of them. But we must keep bombarding them with constant messages letting them know so many people care about what is happening to Bradley Manning and that we comdemn them for their cowardice and cruelty. They are a disgrace to humanity!

    2011-03-05 20:34
  • Alex Pyper

    Bradleys treatment is a disgrace to the USA and to humanity. I am shocked and I dont shock easily. We must take action. Obama…you approve of this??????????????

    2011-03-05 21:22
  • Tom Serino

    I am sorry, sir, that there is nothing we can do for you but offer our hopes, prayers, and best wishes. I can tell you that i wholeheartedly believe the future will absolve you, but i know that even if this message somehow reaches you, it will be, at best, a small comfort. You are this generation’s Dostoevsky. You are a true role model. You may have saved us all. God bless you, PFC Bradley Manning.

    2011-03-05 21:26
  • Pete Perry

    NO More! White house comment line: 202-456-1111

    Tell Obama Remove him from Prevention of Injury Watch and Maximum Custody IMMEDIATELY!

    2011-03-06 07:31
  • thegodof..

    i have been following this for a while now… if this happened anywhere else in the world,.. the US military would seize upon it as an excuse for regime change..should there not be regime change in the us?

    2011-03-06 09:32
  • violetwhite

    YES, INDEED; phone everyone – bombard them with calls – have phoned white house, phoned brig, too x 3; there’s loads of diff. nos. listed on their website; if you don’t get to speak leave a (firm, if you like, but not abusive; polite can be just as effective if persistent!) message.

    BRADLEY’S FATE IS OUR BUSINESS; IT IS NOT JUST THE BUSINESS OF THE US MILITARY OR EVEN THE US GOVT – and he is of INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE.

    People of countries other than the US you phone, too; he is OUR BUSINESS!! LET THEM KNOW THIS

    they have to see they can’t pontificate to the world about Human Rights in the Middle East while, at home, blatantly allow significant abuses like this – which is being splashed all over the world press. THIS IS NOT IN THEIR INTERESTS – all it does is attract support for him and utterly discredit them.

    2011-03-06 11:50
  • Spy Hater

    So now we place threats against those “in charge” at Quantico? That mekss us better than they are? Oh my lord what has become of this country. Spys and now killers.

    2011-03-06 15:02
  • Nigel Parry

    We started protesting tonight on Quantico’s Facebook page. Their admins shut it down. Here’s the story:
    http://nigelparry.com/news/quantico-facebook-censoring.shtml

    Go protest on the US Marine Facebook page. The link is at the bottom of this article.

    2011-03-06 22:34
  • Spy Hater Hater

    Wow, hater.. you have personally found the man guilty of being a “spy” and that gives you license to “hate” him? Certainly more than enough for me to hate you. This country has been dragged into the gutter by POSs proclaiming themselves to be “patriots” and everyone who dares to stand against them as “enemies” for decades. WTF ever happened to a country that once upon a time pretended to be free??

    2011-03-06 23:15
  • BLANKSTARE

    I’m ready to bust some shit up right about now. His treatment is horrible and sickening.

    2011-03-07 23:50
  • Robert C

    Just saw a great picture posted over at FDL about this. Shaming this president seems like a pretty good idea:

    http://six-pack-jack.blogspot.com

    2011-03-08 00:00

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