A growing number of news organizations and civil liberties groups are condemning the Department of Defense's "gratuitously harsh treatment" of Bradley Manning, a young Army intelligence specialist charged with downloading thousands of US government documents and passing them on to Wikileaks.
For the past nine months, Manning has been imprisoned in a military detention facility at Quantico, Virginia. He has not yet had a trial, or been convicted of any crime. From the New York Times editorial:
Yet the military has been treating him abusively, in a way that conjures creepy memories of how the Bush administration used to treat terror suspects. Inexplicably, it appears to have President Obama's support to do so.
His conditions in solitary confinement include being forced to strip naked and appear before military officers, presumably of either gender.
Manning's supporters plan a series of demonstrations on March 19 and 20, to protest the government's treatment of the accused whistleblower.
• Los Angeles Times: "Punishing Pfc. Manning"
• Washington Post: "Pfc. Bradley Manning doesn't deserve humiliating treatment"
• New York Times: "The Abuse of Private Manning"
- State Dept. rep: "Manning treatment ridiculous, counterproductive, stupid"
- Report: State Dept.'s Crowley out, days after criticizing Manning treatment
- Wikileaks: Bradley Manning speaks on his conditions
- Wikileaks: Manning's dad protests conditions of son's incarceration
- Lamo/Manning Wikileaks logs contain no unpublished references…
- Was Bradley Manning's crisis also one of personal identity?
- US will press criminal charges against Manning
- Wikileaks: Manning's attorney on the laws he'll use to fight inhumane treatment
- Army files new charges against Manning, potential death penalty
