Bradley Manning case sparks UN criticism of US government

April 11th, 2011. By Ewen MacAskill, the Guardian. A senior United Nations representative on torture, Juan Mendez, issued a rare reprimand to the US government on Monday for failing to allow him to meet in private Bradley Manning, the American soldier held in a military prison accused of being the WikiLeaks source. It is the kind of censure that the UN normally reserves for authoritarian regimes around the world.

Top US law scholars: Manning’s detention violates 5th and 8th amendments

April, 11th, 2011. Nearly 300 of the top law scholars in the United States have just called on the Obama administration to end the torturous treatment of Bradley Manning.

The strongly worded open letter, published in the New York Times Review of Books on Monday, called the condition’s of Manning’s detention a violation Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment and the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee against punishment without trial.

Guardian editor expresses concern over Manning’s detention, says Wikileaks stories fueled Arab revolts

April 6, 2011, by Domonic Ponsford, Press Gazette. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said his paper’s coverage of leaked US embassy cables helped stir revolution in the Middle East and North Africa as he picked up the newspaper of the year prize at the Press Awards last night. He went on to urge Obama to reconsider his Adminstration’s treatment of Bradley Manning

Half million people join effort to stop the torture of Bradley Manning

April 8, 2011. Sign the Avaaz petition. The online action site whose subscribers number over 7 million, has joined us in calling for President Obama to end Bradley’s inhumane treatment at Quantico. Their online petition has already collected a half million signatures in less than a week.

Brig fails its own rules, denies “official visits”

April 7, 2011. Disregarding its on rules, the Quantico brig has formally blocked an official visit for Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Mr. Juan Mendez (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture), and a representative from Amnesty International, to investigate Bradley Manning’s situation.

Press release: Artists kick off effort to elevate alleged whistle-blower

April 7, 2011, by the Bradley Manning Support Network. Socially conscious artists and organizers in dozens of locations around the globe are holding rallies and creating pop art in an attempt to elevate the alleged Wikileaks whistleblower to icon status on April 9-10.

Britain reasserts worries over Manning’s treatment

April 5, 2011, by Karla Adam, The Washington Post. British diplomats said Tuesday that they will restate to the State Department their concerns about the U.S. military’s treatment of Pfc. Bradley E. Manning.

Wikileaks, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, and Revolution Truth

April 6, 2011, by Micaela Ward, Revolution Truth. When I saw the Collateral Murder video, taken from an Apache helicopter manned by US troops in Iraq, in which innocent journalists and Iraqi civilians were killed, clearly without cause, I was appalled but hardly surprised. In light of what we saw from Abu Ghraib, it was further proof that some members of our armed forces have no business wearing the uniform…

Featured art: Collateral Murder and the human cost of war

April 5, 2011. As we lead up to the Bradley Manning Solidarity Weekend for artists and organizers, here are some images from C.T. Brown. These paintings depict the human cost of the Iraq war, a reality that was brought first-hand to the public by the release of the Collateral Murder video.

Rally and Press Conference for Information Freedom

April 7th — Featuring a dozen speakers including Penley, author and Project PM founder Barrett Brown, key Anonymous activist and Chanology co-instigator Gregg Housh, former civil litigator and author/blogger Glenn Greenwald, and National Lawyer’s Guild executive director Heidi Boghosian. Messages from other figures in the pro-transparency movement will also be presented in lieu of their ability to attend.