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Greenwald: Bradley Manning Detention Conditions Are "Torture"

Mary Slosson |
December 15, 2010 | 7:53 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

Private Bradley Manning
Private Bradley Manning
Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald published an explosive piece Wednesday on the detention conditions of Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old Army private who is suspected of leaking over 250,000 classified United States embassy cables to online whistleblowing site Wikileaks.

Greenwald, who is a Constitutional lawyer-turned-blogger/journalist, writes that Manning "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."

Manning told former hacker Adrian Lamo in an online chat that he had downloaded the cables to a CD while pretending to listen to Lady Gaga.

However, Manning has yet to be tried in court, and Greenwald argues that he is being denied his sixth amendment right to a fair and speedy trial.  Moreover:

From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement.  For 23 out of 24 hours every day -- for seven straight months and counting -- he sits completely alone in his cell.  Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he's barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions.  For reasons that appear completely punitive, he's being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch).

Greenwald argues that the unfair and punitive treatment is due to Manning's connection with WikiLeaks.  United States Attorney General Eric Holder has said the U.S. is aggressively pursuing any possible legal sanctions against the whistleblowing group and its controversial leader, Julian Assange.

To read the full story, click here.



 

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