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). For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs. Lt. Villiard [a brig official] protested that the conditions are not "like jail movies where someone gets thrown into the hole," but confirmed that he is in solitary confinement, entirely alone in his cell except for the one hour per day he is taken out.Got that? Manning is not in a movie. What he is in are "inhumane, personality-erasing, soul-destroying, insanity-inducing conditions of isolation similar to those perfected at America's Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado: all without so much as having been convicted of anything. Greenwald goes on to remind us that solitary confinement for long periods of time "is widely viewed around the world as highly injurious, inhumane, punitive, and arguably even a form of torture." The likelihood that Manning, who has been nothing but a model prisoner, will suffer permanent psychological damage is very high."
But this is not all. Just recently Manning has been literally been forced to strip naked every night to sleep. Villiard explains that this is for Manning's "own protection," which of course is bullshit. He is being punished for making a sarcastic comment. You can read about this barbarity here.
Now, remember: Manning has not been convicted of any crime. He is merely accused of a crime. He has not been brought to trial. But reflect also that the notion of innocent until proven guilty has gone the way of the dodo bird in America. The atmosphere of terrified paranoia that we operate in in this country has turned us into animals. But this is typical military "justice." Why isn't there widespread outrage over what amounts to torture of a prisoner right here in America? Because, brothers and sisters, we don't care.
5 comments:
It's called treason, and he is lucky he wasn't just taken out and shot
Yeah, well I guess they're just going to have to shoot everybody at the NY Times and every other paper that published the stuff for millions to read. It's called telling the truth. Give me a break!
He is held to a different standard than the press, specificaly, the UCMJ. You give up a lot of your rights when you swear the oath to uphold the consititution. He knew exactly what he was doing, why it was wrong, and what the consequences would be. Especially considering we are at a time of war. Some of what he released can be justified by claiming it will keep the military and govt accountable, but it also puts us (those serving overseas) at risk, and were the ones out here with lives on the line protecting your right to have a blog that makes us all sound like animals. Theres always two sides, and from the posts I just read on this site, I suggest you start considering each one before opening your mouth. You're just as guilty as pushing propaganda as those you call out for allegedly doing the same.
I'm quite familiar with the military and the UCMJ and how it thinks. I spent more years than I ever could have wanted working for DoD. I simply point out that the man has not been found guilty of anything, and the treatment he's receiving is punitive. You are not going to tell me you seriously think it's not. You have no way of knowing what was in this guy's mind or what his motivations were. Your mind is already made up.
If you want to believe that you've been put at risk by release of diplomatic cables, be my guest. This is a standard line.
Thanks for your comments, but if you don't like the blog, don't read it. And if you think I'm accusing everyone in the military of being an animal, check your skin. It's too thin.
so glad to read this. i have a similar post on my blog, and i read more and more stuff about him. i hope there are enough of us to embarrass those ...gentlemen and ladies...who are doing this too him. [yeah, like what we said about gitmo has had a big effect]. if he did it, he's a hero, in the geneva convention sense. if he didn't do it---oh, wait, of course he did it! what was i thinking? i mean, it isn't as though youj're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty....
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