Bradley’s lawyers submitted a list of defense witnesses for the upcoming pretrial hearing. Witnesses of note include Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton! Neither name is shown in the published request, but Josh Gerstein writing for Politico.com states that “the names of Obama and Clinton were deleted from the version Coombs posted on the internet (and here on our site). However, their identities are evident from the explanations of why their testimony would be relevant to the case.” It is suggested that Obama is being called to the stand over statements he made at a fundraiser, where addressed supporters of Bradley Manning. In those statements he clearly stated that Bradley Manning was guilty. This unlawful declaration of guilt is considered “unlawful command influence”, and the statements are argued to have negatively affected Bradley Manning’s treatment.

Anyone, American or Foreigner, can now be detained by the military. This means that anyone, and everyone, can be detained for indefinite periods of time, just as has been the case with Bradley Manning, without ever seeing a court room. No lawyer and no law is left to protect American’s who find themselves the target of the American military. Ralph Lopez, in his article “We Are All Really Bradley Manning Now: Senate Passes Military Detention for American Citizens”, writes:

“Military detention means Americans can now be treated no differently than Iraqi or Afghan detainees when they disappear behind the wall of the military chain-of-command. It will not matter what you are guilty of or not guilty of.”

The United States government and military no longer believe in civilian courts. This should be of concern to all Americans, but for some reason the mainstream media are staying silent. The author concludes with a quote from Thomas Jefferson,

“I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

Now is the time to act. American citizens should be tried in civilian courts! Don’t give the unfair, even brutal, military court system any more power. Support whistle-blowers. Support Bradley Manning!

UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez has published a new book, “Taking a Stand: The Evolution of Human Rights” (co-written with Marjory Wentworth). Jason Leopold covers the release in his article for the FireDogLake Book Salon, stating that it is a “painful read”. “What could possibly make a human being torture another human being?” he asks. The answers he receives, in reading Mendez’s book, will shock readers to the core. Mendez writes about his experiences in Buenos Aires, where he was tortured with an electric prod. He argues that to stop this, those responsible for abuse and torture need to be prosecuted, and the same standards that are applied abroad need to be applied at home:

The same standard, Mendez said, also has to be applied to regimes that resort to torture. But human rights activists in the US and abroad have been unsuccessful, despite their best efforts, to hold Bush administration officials accountable for implementing a policy of torture against “war on terror” detainees nor have they had any success in urging President Barack Obama to exercise his responsibility as dictated by the Convention Against Torture to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the crimes of torture.

The UN has been unable to motivate the U.S. government to prosecute (or even investigate) American officials accused of torture:

“Mendez highlights the Obama administration’s hypocrisy in demanding transparency and accountability ‘from other governments in dealing with the past …,’ yet, time and again, Obama and his appointees refuse to heed calls from human rights organizations to ‘confront its own mistakes and wrongdoings’ in order to show ‘that they are, indeed, in the past.’” Read more…

It is time to act! Join us to protest the administrations crackdown on whistle-blowers, and fight against unnecessary detainment and torture. Bradley’s pretrial hearing is coming up quick, as is his birthday. Stand with us at events around the world. Find a rally near you, or host your own!