Kucinich suggests Sec. of Defense Gates suborning human rights in treatment of Manning
p>Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) told MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer during an interview today that Bradley Manning’s treatment at MCB Quantico raises serious questions about the Pentagon and US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.
“This is an American soldier who’s held in an American prison, and he’s been treated in a way that clearly violates his human rights,” Kucinich began this afternoon. “And this is being done, and apparently this is okay with the Pentagon.”
Kucinich had reiterated his demand to be allowed to visit PFC Manning in the Quantico Brig on March 4, when he released responses he had received from Secretary Gates and John McHugh, Secretary of the Army, that have stonewalled his requests since February 2nd.
Kucinich considers Manning’s current prison restrictions, which force him to strip naked before bedtime and remain so until just after a five a.m. wakeup call, a violation of Section 2-22.3 (FM 34-52) of the US Army Field Manual. This section prohibits forcing detainees to be naked in conjunction with intelligence interrogations. Kucinich went on to state:
It appears they’re trying to break him. I mean, this is not defensible. There is no way, stretch of the imagination that this could be allowed or that this should be happening in America. I’d like to see any prisoner, anywhere in this country, who’s being subjected to that where there wouldn’t be cries of outrage by the public. Everyone’s presumed innocent until proven guilty.
And I just want to say one thing, if I had a chance to talk directly to Secretary Gates. He’s at the end of his career, Secretary Gates. It would be a shame to have a blot on his record which suggested that he suborned human rights violations. There will be consequences under the law for Secretary Gates for continuing to be complicit in the way this soldier is being treated.
Kucinich seemed to direct his comments to the American public at the end of his interview. “We have to start asking ourselves, why isn’t our government leveling with us about people who are trying to get the word out about what’s happening? I don’t have any position on Mr. Manning’s guilt or innocence, but the way he’s being treated raises questions about the Pentagon and about Secretary Gates.”
Congressman Kucinich believes that Bradley Manning’s current confinement conditions may be a violation of his 8th Amendment rights under the US Constitution. The US Army and the US Marine Corps is not exempt from the rule of law.
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David Edwards of The Raw Story posted this story earlier today. Visit his article to watch the full MSNBC segment with Congressman Kucinich.
Not only is it a breach of 8th Amendment rights under the US Constitution but also a breach of the Bill of Rights and the UN Declaration of Human Rights. His treatment constitutes torture and should be actioned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture which I understand is awaiting a response from the state Secretary on Manning’s case.
The United Nations would not dare do anything against the sociopaths that rule America. The United Nations is a farce and is run by America. Americans have proved to the world what dangerous creeps they are. Americans love war, steal oil, overthrow countries and rely on other creeps such as Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, Mark Arbib and Bill Shorten. These people have sold Australia out to the American government and would sign us up for any war the Americans want to pursue. Americans are not peaceful, they kill civilians, provoke and instigate war, they are a nation of war mongerers.
WOW. We have both Constitution lawyers and international lawyers on human rights on this blog. I am impressed. LOL You people are really REALLY funny. The kid did what he did. Be glad they parked his young self with the marines and not a army base. How do you think the army would treat one of their own for doing this. At least the marines dont have a ax to grind.
You are right Sharon. The US preaches about the sanctity of human rights yet defends the torture of their own citizens on US soil, and have a history of propping up the most brutal dictatorships from central America to the Middle East, anywhere where there are vested interests. Hopefully these Lawyers, international human rights groups and protest groups will continue to apply pressure to the US and at least focus the public’s attention on the US violation of human rights. The US are nothing more than posturers and I think the present and former officials need to be brought to justice for the human rights violations that occurred with their knowledge. It will never happen though.
It may be a good point that Manning is better off in the Marine Brig than with the Army, but none of this should be happening. The outrage is that the whole thing is posed as “protecting him from himself” when they’re the ones he needs protection from, the people who are punishing him before trial. This does not give me confidence in the prospects for a just trial. But anyway, the solitary confinement and lack of exercise are tactics to destroy his ability to assist with his own defense. That is why they are unconsititutional and against everything this country is supposed to stand for.
Congressman Kucinich said this:
“I’d like to see any prisoner, anywhere in this country, who’s being subjected to that where there wouldn’t be cries of outrage by the public. Everyone’s presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
He needs to know (if he doesn’t) how common this treatment is for prisoners. There is a great book by Tammy Menendez that you can find on Amazon in which she describes the total state of power the prison system has over individuals. If a person talks to the press, they get punished. Her story is really worth reading, and very well-written and even movingly told. It is a horrifying first-hand look at how prisoners are treated in the California prison system. When you consider the profit motive that is incentivizing imprisoning Americans, and also consider the huge outcry that goes up when anyone mentions releasing even nonviolent prisoners, and also consider that the US imprisons more people per capita than any country anywhere–this has some very disturbing things to tell us about the world we are living in. Many of us in the US grew up with a fairy-tale story of American history and only occasional dark clues from grownups about the “real” world–the one in which slaves were beaten and tortured and torn from their families, the one in which our government dropped A-bombs in the Japanese, who are now being retraumatized; and the one in which our corporo-government props up the economy with weapons-making. Consider the hugeness of the government contracts to make fighter jets, for example. It is an endless money hole. And the best some of us can hope for is jobs making the weapons. Anyone who speaks out against this religion of weapons and war is being shown what happens when they do. That is part of what this is.
So Manning being tortured and being told it’s for his own good is utterly debauched and wrong. It’s another sign of how sick the machine is. Anyone with eyes to see can tell this is not any kind of protection for Manning.