Manning has been
held in solitary confinement at the Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia, in
inhumane conditions. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had recently
admitted that the White House was not paying attention to Bradley Manning's
extreme confinement conditions, or the fact that pre-approved visitors of
Bradley's have been detained and interrogated by military police in order to
block their scheduled visit.
"Military
pre-trial confinement is supposed to be about ensuring a soldier's presence at
court martial, yet for eight months now Manning has been subjected to extreme
pre-trial punishment through the arbitrary use of rarely applied
regulations--specifically the "maximum security classification' and the
"prevention of injury' order. Manning is allowed no meaningful physical
exercise, he is allowed no social interaction with other inmates, he is kept in
his cell at least 23 hours per day, and he is not allowed out of his cell
without restraints"There is no allegation that Manning did anything but share
truthful information with the American public regarding the realities of our
nation's ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with absolutely no benefit to
himself, in order to spark public debate regarding foreign policy." [3]
In 2002, President Bush declared U.S.
citizen, Jose Padilla an enemy combatant and he was stripped of all rights and
detained at a Navy brig in South Carolina where he was held in solitary
isolation for 43 months and denied access to an attorney for two years.
Forensic Psychiatrist Angela Hegarty
examined Padilla [in 2006] and concluded the extreme isolation and torture had
left Padilla essentially brain damaged, "What happened at the brig was
essentially the destruction of a human being's mind."[4]
From 1986 to 2004, Israel kept Vanunu in a tomb sized windowless cell-most all of it in solitary confinement.When he was released he was forbidden to leave the state and speak to foreigners.
Mordechai Vanunu Addresses Israel's Intent RE: Solitary Confinement
On May 23, 2010, Israel sent Vanunu back to solitary confinement for 78 days-the outcome of his freedom of speech trial, which began on January 25, 2006, because he spoke to foreign media in 2004.
A Brief Background:
In the 1980's Mordechai Vanunu, was a
secular Jew who worked as a technician in Israel's seven-story underground
nuclear facility in the Negev called the Dimona. The sign out front claimed it
was a Textile Plant and all employees signed a secrecy agreement to never speak
about what they did there.
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