Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dear Mr. President,

Either you’ve been misinformed about the conditions under which Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held or you’re lying, and neither bodes well for the president of the United States. I was appalled that at your press conference on Friday, you stated, “I have actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards… They assured me that they are.” The Pentagon is lying. For nine months Bradley Manning has spent 23 hour a day locked in a cell in the Marine brig at Quantico, let out to “exercise” one hour a day in a bare room where he can only walk around the room. He is without newspapers, magazines, radio, or TV, and outside contact is restricted to his lawyer and one visitor a week for one hour. Is this your definition of “basic standards?” For the past week, Private Manning has been stripped naked every night and forced to stand at attention naked during morning inspection before his clothes are returned. This is not for his safety, Mr. President – Navy psychiatrists have declared Manning, “not a suicide risk,” – this is cruel and unusual punishment, humiliation, a way to increase pressure on him to implicate Julian Assange so your Injustice Department can charge Mr. Assange with a crime and shut down WikiLeaks. This is beyond despicable. These are the tactics of a Mubarak, Hussein or Qaddafi. Private Manning has not been convicted of any crime and yet he’s been held in solitary confinement for more than nine months. So much for innocent until proven guilty. Another freedom gone. This is neither justice nor the rule of law, Mr. President, something you promised to restore, this is torture, this is against every principle of a democratic nation. This is unconscionable brutality and disregard of human rights and human dignity. Psychologists for Social Responsibility have also declared his treatment torture. None of the classified information he is accused of leaking to WikiLeaks has put anyone in harm’s way, simply exposed the hypocrisy and lies of governments around the world, including our own. If Mr. Manning is the one who leaked this information, then I would call him a patriot, for he has exposed the truth and furthered democracy. And yet, you side with injustice. Shame on you, Mr. President. The torture of Bradley Manning must end. You can stop it. Do it. Today. Do not let this injustice and brutality continue.

Free Bradley Manning!