Update 3/8/12: Cenk Uygur says Bradley should be free, Russian officials implore U.S. to respect Manning’s rights
Cenk Uygur discusses Manning’s treatment and demands his freedom. Uygur, of The Young Turks, reviewed Juan Mendez’s recent denouncement of Manning’s solitary confinement in Quantico. He argues Manning is a political prisoner who has “released information that has given the world so much greater access to what all of our governments are doing,” and demands the U.S. government “let him go.”
Supporters condemn Manning's abusive treatment
Russian official implores the U.S. to respect Pfc. Manning’s human rights. Citing UN torture chief Juan Mendez’s statements on Bradley Manning, Russia’s commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law, Konstantin Dolgov, criticized the U.S. for ignoring Mendez’s comments:
“Judging from the big importance Washington lays to the human rights and freedoms issues, we expect the U.S. authorities would act in a strict compliance with their international obligations toward their own citizens, including Manning,”
The U.S. still refuses to allow Mendez to visit, and has yet to comment on his recent remarks. (Read more…)
NSA whistle-blower Thomas Drake condemns Obama’s secrecy record, praises Bradley Manning. The Obama administration used the Espionage Act of 1917 to accuse Drake in 2010 of mishandling classified documents, but last summer, the government’s case collapsed and all charges against Drake were dropped. Now Drake discusses whistle-blowers, secrecy, and national security in an interview with Salon.
Drake suggested the government is aggressively pursuing WikiLeaks because it’s not an American organization:
“[WikiLeaks] is a viable internationally based alternative for getting the truth out. This is partly why [Bradley] Manning is in the hot water because he’s not going through, allegedly, an American citizen; he’s going somewhere else. And it’s not the enemy, let’s get that straight right off the bat, but he’s going to an organization that’s non-U.S.-based, non-U.S. citizen.
He also lauded Pfc. Bradley Manning’s alleged release:
“[What Manning did] took incredible courage, incredible risk. He ended up listening to his conscience. All the other stuff you hear about is a red herring. All the other stuff is personal and it’s misdirection. Remember, the government uses the court of public opinion, just as much if not more so than whistle-blowers.”
Drake concluded by arguing that regarding whistle-blowers and national security issues, President Obama is “worse than Bush,” and that he’s “expanding the secrecy regime far beyond what the Bush even intended.” (Read more…)
Peggy Curran writes about whistle-blowing, in a story entitled, “Speaking out: the heavy price of telling the truth.” In the Montreal Gazette, Curran believes whistle-blowers should be shown more respect for the courage it takes to tell the truth about secret wrongdoing. She quotes Arne Hintz, a McGill professor, on Bradley Manning:
“The Bradley Manning case also shows the severity of the repercussions,” Hintz said. “He has now been imprisoned for almost two years under conditions which have been described by the United Nations as torture. He is facing life in prison for allegedly handing over documents to which large numbers of U.S. personnel (apparently more than 2 million) had access.”
Curran also notes that harsh laws and aggressive crackdowns intimidate future potential whistle-blowers from speaking the truth. (Read more…)
We are Rowye and Denise, members of the band, Red Wound. We are Bradley Manning. Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality. -Gandhi
We have an undeclared Republican, forcing us to allow a declared Republican to get elected, at least for me; for I will not vote for a President, who behaves like a “Nazi.”
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