Update 1/26/12: The UN again condemns solitary confinement
Students in Berlin stand in support of human rights and Bradley Manning.
Isolation is a Form of Torture
UN journalist Evelyn Leopold writes that, according to UN Torture Investigator Juan Mendez, solitary confinement “can cause serious mental and physical damage and be considered torture.” Mendez would know – as Leopold documents, Mendez was jailed for a year and a half and tortured in Argentina’s “Dirty War” in 1976.
Leopold’s report, with more information on prisoner abuse and the United States’ massive incarceration, is here, and more details of Mendez’s personal case are here.
Juan Mendez is still attempting to obtain an official visit with Pfc. Bradley Manning to investigate his treatment in Quantico, but the Obama Administration has refused his requests.
U.S. Intelligence Implementing Secrecy Measures
Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper said it will take five years to implement new intelligence measures that would make leaking information more difficult. One such measure is “tagging” pieces of information, to indicate who shared that information.
Clapper also says US Intelligence is working to separate data points from how that data was collected. The full CBS/AP report is here.
So the Obama Administration is working to install technical safeguards to shore up its information, but it’s doing nothing to alleviate the United States’ massive classification problem. While this new software will cost American taxpayers more, it also ignores the existing costs associated with the government’s problem of classifying many documents which should be public in the first place.
Other News
Handy for legal scholars seeking to learn about this case, WikiLeaks Central has published a chronological list explaining the order in which charges against Bradley were added.
The Baltimore Sun has published another excellent letter-to-the-editor from a Bradley Manning supporter, this time entitled “Manning leaks helped end war, saved lives.” Supporter Richard J. Ochs writes:
Why is it that people who violate the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice by torturing prisoners do not get punished (“Ex-CIA officer charged over leaks to journalists,” Jan. 24), but people who report such crimes to the press get the book thrown at them? The code specifies that it is a crime to violate the Geneva Convention, which bans torture. The convention, like all signed treaties, is considered to be “the highest law of the land” by the U.S. Constitution.
That, we feel, is an excellent question.
Whistleblowers Conference at Berkeley
In about three weeks, from Feb 17-19, a whistle-blowers conference entitled “Occupy Truth” will be held at UC Berkeley. Bradley Manning Support Network organizers plan on attending; however, the Feb 17, 7pm, panel on Bradley Manning has been cancelled.
I have an additional question. First a little background: On November 19, 2005, in Haditha, Iraq, Marines shot and killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilian men, woman and children, most dressed in their pajamas. 19 were shot in their homes and 4 students and the driver were pulled from a taxi and shot.
There was an attempt to cover-up this atrocity but it was exposed by a Time Magazine reporter and subsequently investigated. The findings were consistent with the allegations. However, of the 8 Marines, 7 had charges dropped or dismissed and the 8th was allowed to make a plea deal & plead guilty to dereliction of duty and sentenced to a reduction in rank & pay cut.
My question: How can anyone justify war crimes such as the murder of civilians be treated so cavalierly and yet a person who exposes war crimes be subjected to such harsh pre-trial conditions with the government intent on making them pay so dearly? #OccupyJustice