Bradley Manning treatment in 'flagrant violation' of military code –lawyer

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The harsh conditions forced upon Bradley Manning in military detention have been laid out in detail as part of a court filing in which the US army is accused of a "flagrant violation" of his right not to be punished prior to trial.

The Article 13 motion, published Friday by Manning's civilian lawyer David Coombs on his website, claims that Manning, who is accused of leaking state secrets to WikiLeaks, was held in a 6x8 ft cell for 23 to 24 hours a day. In addition, when not sleeping, Manning was banned from lying down, or even using a wall to support him.

The motion also claims that Manning was punished through "degradation and humiliation", notably by forcing him to stand outside his cell naked during a morning inspection. This, his Coombs claims, was "retaliatory punishment" for speaking out over his treatment.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/10/bradley-manning-military-code-lawyer

[jwirr]

1. At least someone is in favor of our system of justice has finally stepped forward.

[DeSwiss]

2. Of course it is.

But what does that matter? We no longer observe the rule of law in the USA. Geneva Convention and torture ring any bells? Assassinating US citizens without due process of law? Wiretapping US citizen's phones and reading their emails without benefit of a warrant? Bankers committing open fraud and only having their companies ''fined'' for it? And then turning around and ''lending'' those same companies money?

- Duh......

K&R

[center]“Politics is professional wrestling with ties.” ~Dana Gould[/center]

[MNBrewer]

3. That's what some of us here were saying all along

But the DU Vigilante Squad wouldn't hear of it. "Hang him, the traitor!" was the response.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

7. could you point me to a few posts that say that? n/t

[MNBrewer]

9. I was summarizing, and paraphrasing

and no, do your own googling.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

10. why exactly should i look for the information of your claims?

its normally those making claims and accusations that should prove it, its not for those doubting to prove your claims for you.

[midnight]

4. He was considered guilty by our President before his secret trial... So I guess they didn't want to

waste any time before they punished him....

[grahamhgreen]

5. In a nutshell, exposing war crimes is not a crime, it is a duty:

[Bodhi BloodWave]

8. releasing a ton of classified information that had nothing to do with war crimes however

is not a duty, and likely would be classified as a crime neh?

or are you of the view that revealing something bad absolves people of the wrongdoings they have done?

[JDPriestly]

13. A lot of the information he released should not have been secret

in the first place. I didn't look at all of it that carefully, but I don't see how in the world the government can object to most of it.

As for the information about war crimes? From whom is that being kept a secret. Certainly not from the victims of the crimes. It is being kept a secret from us, American citizens.

While it is wrong to break a promise to keep a secret, it is far more wrong to keep from the voters the truth about war crimes by our military. Far more wrong.

The Bradley Manning story is that of the pot calling the kettle black.

In any event, Bradley Manning should have been treated like any other prisoner. I don't think that the people who tortured Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib were humiliated and made to suffer like Bradley Manning was.

The pot calling the kettle black. The government should ease up on Bradley Manning. And they should forget about Assange. They are just making themselves look bad.

This is especially true since they snoop and watch and photograph and read and investigate and spook around about every little thing that ordinary Americans do. Cameras and surveillance everywhere. It is just plain awful. I feel sorry for my kids and grandkids. Things seem to be getting worse in this respect no matter which party we elect.

We have a national security industry that is way out of its place.

[grahamhgreen]

18. It is the sum of the info, in toto, that reveals a pattern and practice of

ongoing criminality.

There is too much information to reasonably expect a whistle blower to pick through.

[midnight]

6. Ok.... What is all this naked business... This last ten years of war everywhere we

here about Americas obsession with nakedness... Yet a mother breastfeeding her child is considered indecent...

[struggle4progress]

11. Of course, it is Coombs' job to defend his client. From Coomb's website:

... The senior officer stated that “nothing is going to happen to PFC Manning on my watch.” He also said, “nothing’s going to change. He won’t be able to hurt himself and he won’t be able to get away, and our way of making sure of this is that he will remain on this status indefinitely” ...

Horrors! Some people were worried he might kill himself, so they made sure he couldn't do that

[truedelphi]

12. Many of us see the harsh treatment Manning has received as

A deplorable thing, but to each his own.

Some people in Nazi Germany saw the concentration camps as resettlement camps.

I guess it all depends on whether you ever think the government will come fer you or not.

I tend to think I could be someone that "they" might come for. Especially given that a recent Secretary of Defense, one Rumsfeld, stated that over zealous environmentalists and religious "fanatics" could be viewed as a problem for the Federal Government.

My fatalistic mood has not brightened with word that just this week,
a protester in Philadelphia was charged with bank robbery for his holding up a sign that said "Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world."

These are very strange times we are living in. After all, those of us who understand politics and economics also understand that to have corporate control of a government is fascism. Period.

[JDPriestly]

15. Truedelphi, this story cannot be true!

a protester in Philadelphia was charged with bank robbery for his holding up a sign that said "Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world."

Do you have a link or source on that. Unbelievable . . . . and yet, I know that your posts are factually quite reliable. Please say it isn't true and that you forgot the lol.

[struggle4progress]

16. Those particular charges were quickly withdrawn

DA withdraws attempted robbery charges against bank protester
David Gorczynski arrested while wearing all black, holding 2 signs
Published On: Aug 08 2012 03:04:11 PM EDT
Updated On: Aug 08 2012 03:08:29 PM EDT
.... David Christopher Gorczynski still faces two charges each of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct, said Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli during a news conference Wednesday afternoon ... Morganelli told reporters that authorities aren't trying to put Gorczynski in jail and will likely negotiate the charges down to misdemeanors ...
http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/DA-withdraws-attempted-robbery-charges-against-bank-protester/-/132502/16018222/-/5hcsafz/-/index.html

Looks like he's still overcharged

[truedelphi]

17. Here's the link -

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2012/08/district_attorney_john_morgane.html

This occurred in a place called Easton, which I think is in PA.

[JDPriestly]

14. And the naive believe the military is telling the truth.

If there is one thing we learned from Bradley Manning's whistleblowing, it is that we can rely on the government for only three things when it comes to our military and our national security -- excessive secrecy, lying and paranoid suspicion of Americans. It's ridiculous.

Wars are won when the American people support them totally -- heart and soul, hands and feet. Wars are lost when the American people feel lied to and betrayed. That and the privatization of so much of our war efforts are why our wars have not been won -- virtually since WWII unless you count Grenada as a war. And Grenada was more of a sick joke than a war.