Bradley Manning Acquitted of “Aiding the Enemy” Charge, Month-long Sentencing Phase Now Determines Fate

The following is a guest post by the Bradley Manning Support Network from July 30, 2013. Bradley Manning received Global Exchange’s 2012 Human Rights People’s Choice Award.

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Bradley Manning Acquitted of “Aiding the Enemy” Charge, Month-long Sentencing Phase Now Determines Fate

“We won the battle, now we need to go win the war,” shared defense attorney David Coombs following today’s verdict. “Today is a good day, but Bradley is by no means out of the fire,” he said to dozens of emotional supporters outside of the Fort Meade, Maryland military courtroom. Coombs expressed subdued optimism going into the expected month-long sentencing phase of the court martial that will determine how long Bradley Manning will remain in confinement.

Bradley Manning had previously accepted responsibility for providing classified information to WikiLeaks, actions covered by ten of the 22 charges. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind found him guilty of 20 of those 22 charges, so PFC Manning still faces the possibility of over 100 years behind bars.

Five of the more serious charges PFC Manning was convicted of today are ripe for appeal as Judge Lind altered the charges only a week ago in order to match up with Government’s evidence presented, long after the defense closed its case.

Amnesty International criticized the verdict, and the government’s refusal to investigate exposed crimes:

The government’s priorities are upside down. The US government has refused to investigate credible allegations of torture and other crimes under international law despite overwhelming evidence. Yet they decided to prosecute Manning who it seems was trying to do the right thing – reveal credible evidence of unlawful behaviour by the government.

Following sentencing, supporters will appeal to Major General Jeffery Buchanan to use his ability as Convening Authority of these proceedings to reduce any sentence handed down by Judge Lind.

Additionally, a campaign to urge President Barack Obama to pardon Bradley Manning will follow. Last week, a full page ad in The New York Times, noted, “Bradley Manning believed you, Mr. President, when you came into office promising the most transparent administration in history, and that you would protect whistle-blowers. Now would be a good time to start upholding that pledged transparency, beginning with PFC Manning.”

Bradley Manning’s family released the following reaction this afternoon:

While we are obviously disappointed in today’s verdicts, we are happy that Judge Lind agreed with us that Brad never intended to help America’s enemies in any way. Brad loves his country and was proud to wear its uniform.

We want to express our deep thanks to David Coombs, who has dedicated three years of his life to serving as lead counsel in Brad’s case. We also want to thank Brad’s Army defense team, Major Thomas Hurley and Captain Joshua Tooman, for their tireless efforts on Brad’s behalf, and Brad’s first defense counsel, Captain Paul Bouchard, who was so helpful to all of us in those early confusing days and first suggested David Coombs as Brad’s counsel.

Most of all, we would like to thank the thousands of people who rallied to Brad’s cause, providing financial and emotional support throughout this long and difficult time, especially Jeff Paterson and Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network. Their support has allowed a young army private to defend himself against the full might of not only the US army but also the US government.

TAKE ACTION!

Sign Daniel Ellsberg’s petition to free Bradley Manning!

The following post is written by Medea Benjamin, founder of CODEPINK and Global Exchange, and retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat Ann Wright.

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Leaving Truth Outside the Court House at Bradley Manning’s Trial

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who loves his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.” ~ H.L. Mencken”

It was an early morning, getting out to Ft. Meade, Maryland by 7am to join the group of hearty activists standing out (in) the rain, greeting the journalists coming into the Bradley Manning hearing with chants of “Whistleblowing is not a crime, Free Bradley Manning.” The activists, many with groups like The Bradley Manning Support Committee, Veterans for Peace, CODEPINK and Iraq Vets Against the War, had come from all over the country to show support for Manning during the upcoming weeks of the trial.

After a stint at the bullhorn, we got into the car to drive onto the base and get on line to try to get into the courtroom or the overflow room. With Ann Wright’s retired military ID, we got to bypass the long line of cars snaking around the checkpoint and breeze right in. About a dozen people were already on line, in the rain. Some were well-known characters, like professor Cornell West, author Chris Hedges, lawyer Michael Ratner and ACLU lawyer Ben Wisner; others were individuals who had come from as far away as Ireland and Mexico to support Manning.

It’s great that court martial trials are open to the public. But it’s absurd that this epic trial is being held in a tiny courtroom that only fits a total of 50 people. “It’s a trial of the century being conducted in a shoebox,” complained attorney Michael Ratner. Only 16 spaces were allocated to the public; the rest had to go to an overflow theatre that seated about 100, or a trailer next to the courtroom with room for 35. The press had a separate room where they could bring their computers and phones, although they were not allowed to transmit anything during the trial—just during the breaks.

Going through security for the courtroom, we were not allowed to bring any electronics. And there was a bit of a dust-up around t-shirts: some people with slogans on their shirts were made to turn them inside out, while others escaped the censors. It seems that “LOVE”, “Peace” and “Stay Human” could sneak by, but “TRUTH” and “Free Bradley” didn’t make it.

Once inside, we immediately saw the back of Bradley Manning’s shaved head, and his wire-rimmed glasses jutting out from the side. “He looks just like my grandson,” said CODEPINK Barbara Briggs from Sebastapol, California. “How tragic that this 25-year-old is facing life in prison.”

It was also sad to see that almost none of Manning’s family was there—only an aunt and cousin.

Manning had requested a court-martial by judge rather than by a jury of his peers.The judge, Colonel Denise Lind, said last month she would close parts of the trial to the public to protect classified material.

The Prosecution presented its opening statement using an extensive power point that detailed the charges and specifications, and a brief synopsis that the testimony each witness will give. The Prosecution said that FPC Manning had purposefully aided and abetted the enemy through the Wikileaks documents that Manning downloaded. He concluded by saying that Osama bin Laden requested and received a copy of internal U.S. military logs of the war in Afghanistan from another member of al-Qaeda.

The Defense’s opening statement responded that Manning is young and naïve but with good intentions. Manning’s attorney David Coombs said Manning thought that the public should know what goes on in war and how one’s government operates. He was troubled by the response of the government to requests for information from the Reuters news agency concerning the deaths of their journalists from an Apache helicopter attack (the video now known as Collateral Murder), as well as the 2009 Gharani air strike that killed 150 civilians. Coombs insisted that Manning made the documents available for the public, not for the enemy, and that the documents leaked were largely publicly available information with no critical intelligence sources.

At a pretrial hearing in February, Manning admitted to 10 offenses that could land him 20 years in prison. But the government insisted on upping the ante by accusing him of “aiding the enemy”—a charge that could result in life in prison. The court-martial may take 2 or 3 months to complete the presentation of evidence for the 12 counts to which Manning has not plead guilty. Numerous secret witnesses will be testifying for the prosecution.

While the “aiding the enemy” charge is going to be very difficult to prove, Michael Ratner, the president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said the fact that the government is pursuing this charge “sends a message to every soldier and every journalist that they are literally taking their lives in their hands if they dare speak out against wrongdoing.”

Manning’s trial, which is slated to last three months, is the most stark example of the Obama administration’s relentless stance against whistleblowers. “This president has the tried to prosecute six whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, twice as many as all previous presidencies combined,” said Cornell West. “President Obama is determined to stop the public from knowing about government wrongdoing.”

In pretrial proceedings, Manning said his motivation was to “spark a domestic debate over the role of the military and our foreign policy in general.” Certainly that debate is long overdue. So is the debate about (the) right of the public to be informed about what our governments are doing in our name.

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Medea Benjamin, founder of CODEPINK and Global Exchange, is author of “Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.” Ann Wright is a retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq War. She is the co-author of “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.”

Global Exchange’s Human Rights Awards honor the achievements of groups and individuals whose work embodies the principles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: peace, justice, and equality.

We celebrated the 2013 Human Rights Awards on Thursday May 9th in San Francisco. This year’s Honorees are:

People’s Choice Award: Julian Assange and Wikileaks
Grassroots Award: Crystal Lameman
Human Rights Award: Noam Chomsky

The award to Julian Assange and Wikileaks was presented by Kiki Kapany of the Julian Assange Defense Fund and accepted by Daniel Ellsberg and Jacob Applebaum.

If you missed this special night, (or were there and want to re-visit a few moments from the program) below is Julian Assange’s acceptance speech (as read by Daniel Ellsberg), along with Kiki Kapany’s introduction.

Kiki Kapany, Julian Assange Defense Fund, speaking at 2013 Human Rights Awards Photo Credit: Global Exchange

Introduction delivered by Kiki Kapany:

Good evening! My name is Kiki Kapany, and I’m here on behalf of the Julian Assange Legal Defense Committee. In 2010, Global Exchange–in true grassroots spirit–decided to add the People’s Choice Award to this event to shine a spotlight on the sung – and unsung – heroes and heroines working for peace, justice and sustainability, as determined by the global community.

This year’s event is particularly important to us because it’s Global Exchange’s 25th anniversary. The response in previous years has been tremendous, and the honorees, from Mu Sochua from Northern Cambodia, to Javier Sicilia from Mexico, to Bradley Manning in prison in Kansas – are all inspiring examples both of this award and the values for which our movement stands. This year, 108 amazing activists were nominated. This year’s honoree won by an overwhelming majority.

In my mind there is no greater pursuit than defending the rights of the defenseless. But in order to right wrongs, in order to alleviate wrongdoing and defend those who need defending, we first need to know about that wrongdoing.

Today governments have unprecedented power to keep their wrongdoing secret. Julian Assange has shown the way to smash through that secrecy and to bare the face of all wrongdoing to the world. Whether exposing Ben Ali’s corruption in Tunisia or releasing secret diplomatic cables — or videos of airstrikes on innocent civilians, Assange and WikiLeaks have made it possible for the people to know about and have proof of these wrongs, and sometimes even to right them—as the Tunisians did when they drove Ben Ali out of power.

The creation of WikiLeaks is a truly revolutionary act and indeed represents a revolution in human rights. By using the internet to shatter the power of governments and large institutions to do their depredations in darkness, in secrecy, Assange has taken a giant step toward the protection of human rights.

Kofi Annan has said, “Business as usual is not an option… No nation can be prosperous without respect for human rights and law. Disruption is the wrecking ball that we must swing against inertia.” And what better exemplifies the swinging of that wrecking ball than the release of critical information?

A few years ago, Julian explained the impetus behind WikiLeaks to by saying, “I looked at something that I had seen going on with the world, which is that I thought there were too many unjust acts. And I wanted there to be more just acts, and fewer unjust acts.” Well, if you don’t imagine change – it won’t happen.

Kiki Kapany and Daniel Ellsberg at 2013 Human Rights Awards Photo Credit: Global Exchange

One person who is living proof of that axiom is here with us tonight: Daniel Ellsberg, whose release of the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and other newspapers was an act of outright bravery that changed the entire course of history.

So who better to accept Global Exchange’s 2013 Peoples Choice Award to Julian Assange and WIKILEAKS–and to read a statement by its exiled editor in chief, Julian Assange–than another hero of transparency, Daniel Ellsberg.

Julian Assange’s Acceptance Speech read by Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg speaking on behalf of Julian Assange at 2013 Human Rights Awards Photo Credit: Global Exchange

Thank you for this honor.

I am very happy to be sharing it with Noam Chomsky whose generosity and
strength of character I know personally. Noam, you are the sea; relentless and enduring. Crashing wave after wave of understanding into towering cliffs of lies, eroding them at their base. The rotten foreshore of empire has a precipitous overhang as a result. You have inspired and continue to inspire many, including me.

Thank you to the people in this room for supporting this award. I’m going to thank you and Dan in the best way I know. By keeping this speech short. Then you can go and do the important thing. Make alliances to fight for WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning and me. Don’t think you can escape just because I am not there. We have a lot more spies in this room than the FBI.

San Francisco and the Bay Area is important to us. Ideologically, personally and practically. We fought our first big court case in the San Francisco federal courts in 2008; That was no-coincidence. If we were going to have a fight, anywhere in the world, then I wanted it to be in San Francisco. I structured WikiLeaks to encourage attacks on us to be drawn to San Francisco (sorry about that). The EFF, FPF and many of our other defenders are based here. If any state of the Union is going to save the United States from itself, it will be California. Washington sees that too–that’s why we’re being prosecuted in Virginia and Maryland.

Noam’s presence in this room –useful, even if from the east coast–reflects something very special. Cross generational solidarity. From Dan and Noam to Michael Ratner, from Kiki to me, from Jacob to Bradley Manning. The issues of each demi-generation are being understood as a continuation into the present. My fight is right now. But so is Bradley Manning’s. So is Jacob’s. I want Dan, Noam and Jacob, and all of you here, together with me in this fight because I know you understand. Our conflict tests every aspect of character, but it has also brought out the best in many and I am proud of them.

Remember that Bradley Manning’s trial starts on June 3. It’s scheduled to run for 12 to 16 weeks. The prosecution is bringing 141 witnesses. It is a show trial. A 12 week off-Broadway extravaganza being performed at Fort Mead. Its legal and political result will directly feed into the larger prosecution of WikiLeaks.

What is to be done? The answer is easy. It has always been easy. Stop saying “not in my name” and start saying “over my dead body”.

TAKE ACTION!

Re-visit the 2013 Human Rights Awards, check out the photos from the evening on our Facebook page.

Do you have a Human Rights Hero you want to tell the world about? Well, then you’re in the right place.

Introducing the 2013 Human Rights People’s Choice Award Contest, where people just like you nominate and vote for their Human Rights Hero.

To take part, just log on to our Human Rights Awards website to nominate and vote for your Human Rights Hero/Heroine.

Share the story of a person or organization working for human rights, whether they’re building a movement to end the Mexico drug war, empowering women, promoting local farming — tell us who inspires YOU!

You can nominate as many individuals and organizations as you like, but of course you can only vote for each nominee once. After you’ve nominated, make sure to spread the word to your networks to increase your honoree’s odds of winning.

~~The last day to nominate and vote is March 22, 2013.~~

UPDATE: The last day to nominate and vote has been extended to March 26, 2013.

Your nominations and votes help determine who will win the People’s Choice Award and take home $1,000 to support their work.

Past People’s Choice honorees include Bradley Manning, Mexican Poet/Activist Javier Sicilia and Cambodian human rights activist Mu Sochua.

Daniel Ellsberg accepting the 2012 People’s Choice Award on behalf of Bradley Manning

The power to choose this year’s People’s Choice Award winner is in your hands. Help us celebrate everyday human rights heroes and heroines.

TAKE ACTION!

Nominate and Vote: What are you waiting for? It’s easy and free! Log on to www.humanrightsaward.org to get started.
Attend the Human Rights Awards: Join us at the Human Rights Awards Gala on May 9, 2013 in San Francisco. And don’t forget to participate in our exciting online auction. Visit www.humanrightsaward.org for more details.
Follow along on Twitter: Use Twitter hashtag HRA13 to keep up to date on the 2013 People’s Choice Contest & Human Rights Awards.

Bradley Manning Support Network guests with People’s Choice Award and Carleen Pickard

After nearly 1,000 days, PFC Bradley Manning is still in jail awaiting trial. The following is a message from Nathan Fuller of the Bradley Manning Support Network about upcoming protests in solidarity with Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.

PFC Bradley Manning has been in jail awaiting trial for nearly 1,000 days for exposing war crimes, corruption, and widespread abuse. When he returns to court in Fort Meade, MD, for a pretrial hearing from February 26 to March 1, Judge Denise Lind will rule on the defense’s motion to dismiss charges for lack of a speedy trial.

As defense lawyer David Coombs said in the motion, “PFC Manning’s statutory and constitutional speedy trial rights have been trampled upon with impunity.” In court, he laid out the ways in which the government has made an “absolute mockery” of Manning’s right to a speedy trial by violating the 5th and 6th Constitutional Amendments, Rule for Court Martial 707, and Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 10. Prosecutors were supposed to arraign Manning within 120 days but took well over 600.

They’re also supposed to remain actively diligent throughout the proceedings, but Coombs has showed substantial periods of their inactivity and needless delay. Manning’s due process rights have been clearly violated, and the only legal remedy is to dismiss charges. Judge Lind could dismiss charges with prejudice, if she determines the government intentionally delayed Manning’s trial, which would set the young Army private free. She could also dismiss without prejudice, which would allow the government to simply retry the case and restart the speedy trial clock. If she dismisses the motion altogether, she will condone the government’s unconstitutional delays and the deprivation of Manning’s due process rights. Manning would then proceed to trial, currently scheduled to start June 3, 2013 — over three years after his arrest in May 2010.

We’ll also hear Manning’s updated plea offer, in which he’s expected to offer to plead guilty to several lesser-included offenses, which could carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

Map of upcoming events in support of Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.

“This allows Bradley to accept responsibility for exposing these documents to public scrutiny, and debate the merits and impact of these releases, while fighting the most serious charges against him at court martial,” noted Jeff Paterson, project director of the Bradley Manning Support Network.

The government can still charge as planned, including using the Espionage Act and UCMJ Article 104, alleging Manning indirectly “aided the enemy” simply because he knew Al Qaeda could access WikiLeaks. By the time that pretrial hearing begins, Manning will have been in jail for over 1,000 days. In response to this historic abuse, supporters around the country and around the world are planning demonstrations, rallies, and marches on February 23. From California, to Florida, to Italy, to Germany, supporters of PFC Manning will make their protests known.

U.S. Events

Tucson, AZ Feb 23, 11am-5pm

Tempe, AZ Feb 23, 5:30-6:30pm

Guerneville, CA Feb 23, 12-1pm

Cahuenga (L.A.), CA Feb 23, 9-11am

Los Angeles, CA Feb 23, 5:30-6:30

Long Beach (L.A.), CA
Feb 23 at 1pm until Feb 24 at 2pm

Montrose (L.A.), CA Feb 23, 5:30-7pm

Studio City (L.A.), CA Feb 22, 6:30-7:30pm

San Francisco, CA Feb 23, 1-4pm

San Diego, CA Feb 23, 7-9pm

Denver, CO Feb 23, 12-3:30pm

Washington, DC Feb 24, 6:30-9pm

Ft. Lauderdale, FL Feb 23, 12-1:30pm

Pensacola, FL Feb 23, 5:30-6:30pm

Tallahassee, FL Feb 23, 12-1pm

Honolulu, HI Feb 22, 4-5:30pm

Chicago, IL Feb 23, 12-1:30pm

Ft. Leavenworth, KS Feb 23, 1-3pm

New Orleans, LA Feb 23, 2-6pm

Boston, MA Feb 23, 1-2pm

Augusta, ME Feb 23, 11:30am-12pm

Portland, ME Feb 23, 12pm

Detroit, MI Feb 23, 3-8pm

Minneapolis, MN Feb 23, 9:30am-12pm

Wilmington, NC Feb 23, 12-1:45pm

Eatentown, NJ Feb 23, 12-1:30pm

Albuquerque, NM Feb 23, 10am-12pm

New York, NY Feb 23, 2-4pm

Rochester, NY Feb 23, 10am-12pm

Toledo, OH Feb 23, 12pm

Corvallis, OR ongoing

Philadelphia, PA Feb 23, 2-4pm

Newport, RI Feb 23, 1-2pm

Austin, TX Feb 23, 10:30am

Houston, TX Feb 23, All Day

Bristol, VT Feb 23, 10am-12pm

Seattle, WA Feb 23, 12-4pm

International Events

Melbourne, Australia Feb 22, 2-4pm

Sydney, Australia Feb 23, 11am-2pm

Brussels, Belgium Feb 23, 1-2pm

Vancouver, Canada Feb 23, 1-5pm

Paris, France Feb 23, 3-5pm

Berlin, Germany Feb 23, 12:30-3pm

Kaiserslautern, Germany Feb 23, All Day

Rome, Italy Feb 23, 4-5pm

Oslo, Norway Feb 23, 10am-12pm

Oporto, Portugal Feb 23, 3-6pm

Seoul, South Korea Feb 23, 11am

Kampala, Uganda Feb 23, 10am-12pm

Dublin, Ireland Feb 23, 1-3pm

Birmingham, UK Feb 23, 2pm

London, UK Feb 23, 2pm

Peterborough, UK Feb 23, 12-2pm

Yorkshire, UK Feb 23, 11am

Fairford, UK Feb 23, 9:30am-12pm

Bangor, Wales, UK Feb 23, 11am-2pm

Cardiff, Wales, UK Feb 23, 10:30am-2:30pm

Wales/Ireland/Scotland/England ongoing

Slovakia

Global Exchange board member Ann Wright

The following guest post by Global Exchange board member Ann Wright originally appeared on MichaelMoore.com.

Bradley Manning was recently chosen as Global Exchange’s Human Rights Awards People’s Choice Winner. The award will be presented at the 2012 Human Rights Awards gala on May 10th in San Francisco and will be accepted on Bradley Manning’s behalf by special guest Daniel Ellsberg.

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The Government’s Warning to Bradley Manning and Others: “Tell on us, and we will put you behind bars for the rest of your life”

The pre-trial hearings for alleged Wikileaks whistleblower US Army PFC Bradley Manning hold some lessons for us all.

One of the issues discussed in Manning’s April 25 pre-trial hearing has relevance for all of us. If soldiers or other government employees expose on the internet or in interviews with journalists government malfeasance, should that person be charged with “aiding and abetting the enemy?” Even if a soldier has no intent to give information to an “enemy,” no “evil intent,” but the enemy could possibly have access to the interview by buying a newspaper that contains the interview, or accesses it on the internet, should the government employee be prosecuted for “aiding and abetting the enemy?”

What if the government is more fearful of its citizens than of al Qaeda and the Taliban and attempts to silence the whistleblowers in the government who alert the citizens of the wrongdoings of its government?

What if the government does not want to hold accountable those in government who are violating regulations and laws?

The prosecution in the Bradley Manning trial is arguing that soldiers should know that the “enemy” uses the internet and can easily find derogatory or negative comments from military personnel and use them to find weaknesses in military units, strategies, policies.

Does that mean that a soldier, government employee, or for that matter, anyone not even in government who talks about the monstrously high levels of post-traumatic stress in our military or talks about 18 military and veterans committing suicide a day, or anyone who identifies cost overruns in virtually every government program is subject to the charge of “aiding and abetting the enemy.”

I recently inadvertently and fortuitously ended up at a meeting with a US State Department sponsored group of young professionals from the Middle East who were brought to the United States to learn more about our country. I mentioned that I was attending the hearings for the alleged Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.

The reaction of the group was stunning. Immediately hands for questions went up—the questions began with a comment—“Without Wikileaks, I would never have learned what my own governments was doing, its complicity in secret prisons and torture, in extraordinary rendition, in cooperation in the US wars in the region. Wikileaks exposed what our politicians and elected officials are doing. Without Wikileaks, we would never have known!”

And that is what Bradley Manning’s trial is all about and what the charges against six other government employees who face espionage allegations for providing information the government classified to protect its own wrongdoings -to silence other potential government whistleblowers.

Only two persons in our government have had the courage to risk life imprisonment to leak massive amounts of government documents. Daniel Ellsberg leaked thousands of documents that revealed the sordid history of the US involvement in Vietnam and who President Nixon labeled for his actions “the most dangerous man in America.”

And now, Bradley Manning who is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of documents that reveal war crimes in the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and questionable US diplomatic policies and duplicity with governments around the world.

The charges of “aiding and abetting the enemy” and of espionage are meant to threaten any others who might find the evidence of government criminal actions and alert the American public.

The unmistakable warning is “don’t tell on us, or we will put you behind bars for the rest of your life.”

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About the Blogger: Global Exchange board member Ann Wright is a retired US Army Colonel who spent 29 years in the US Army and Army Reserves. She resigned from the State Department on March 19, 2003 in protest of the invasion of Iraq. Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. Ann has been on delegations to Iran, was in Gaza three times in 2009, and was an organizer for the Gaza Freedom March. She was on the 2010 Gaza flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli military and on the Audacity of Hope boat which was part of the Freedom Flotilla in 2011. She lives in Honolulu.

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Attend the 2012 Human Rights Awards gala: Global Exchange is proud to honor Bradley Manning as its 2012 Human Rights Awards People’s Choice recipient.

Find out all about this exciting awards event here and purchase tickets here.

May 10th is an evening you won’t want to miss! We’ll be shining a spotlight on 2012 Human Rights Award Honoree Annie Leonard and People’s Choice Winner PFC Bradley Manning, and this just in…Bradley Manning’s award will be accepted by special guest Daniel Ellsberg.

Daniel Ellsberg Photo Credit: www.ellsberg.net

Daniel Ellsberg is a lecturer, writer and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful U.S. interventions and the urgent need for patriotic whistleblowing with an interesting background of his own. From Daniel Ellsberg’s website:

In 1967 Ellsberg worked on the top secret McNamara study of U.S. Decision-making in Vietnam, 1945-68, which later came to be known as the Pentagon Papers. In 1969, he photocopied the 7,000 page study and gave it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; in 1971 he gave it to the New York Times, the Washington Post and 17 other newspapers. His trial, on twelve felony counts posing a possible sentence of 115 years, was dismissed in 1973 on grounds of governmental misconduct against him, which led to the convictions of several White House aides and figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.

Hope to see you! So, if you find yourself in the California Bay Area on May 10th, we hope you join us at the historic Green Room (401 Van Ness) in San Francisco from 6PM – 8:30PM for this fabulous Human Rights Awards Gala. Awaiting you will be drinks, passed appetizers, and the opportunity to mingle with awardees, Global Exchange staff, and other progressives.

And there’s a silent auction? Yep, for the cherry on top of this delicious evening, there will also be a silent auction featuring lots of incredible items up for auction at great prices during the awards gala. Last year’s auction included fine artwork, Fair Trade gift baskets, getaways and more. I wonder what tempting auction items there will be this year. Come out on May 10th to find out. I look forward to meeting some of you there.

That's me with a few of my personal heroes Ben & Jerry and Kevin Danaher at the 2011 Human Rights Awards

TAKE ACTION!

With over 2,900 votes, the people have chosen PFC Bradley Manning as the 2012 People’s Choice Award winner. Global Exchange is proud to honor Bradley Manning, and we hope you’ll take a moment to read more about this year’s winner.

It takes great courage to stand for what you know is right. Bradley Manning, a 24-year-old Army intelligence analyst, joined the army at age 19. Before deploying to Iraq, when a friend asked that he “stay safe,” Bradley replied, “I’m more concerned about making sure that everyone: soldiers, marines, contractors, even the local nationals, get home to their families.”

Bradley is accused of leaking a video showing the killing of civilians, including two Reuters journalists, by a US Apache helicopter crew in Iraq. He is also charged with sharing the documents known as the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, and embarrassing U.S. diplomatic cables, with the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. The video and documents have exposed the true number and cause of civilian casualties in Iraq, human rights abuses by U.S. funded contractors and foreign militaries, and the influence that corporate interests have on U.S. foreign policy. Journalists have credited the release of these documents with helping to motivate the democratic revolution in Tunisia as well as the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

In chat logs attributed to Bradley by the FBI, he explains what motivated him to act:

“I can’t separate myself from others…I feel connected to everybody…like they were distant family…I…care? I prefer a painful truth over any blissful fantasy. I think I’ve been traumatized too much by reality, to care about consequences of shattering the fantasy…God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussions, debates, and reforms…I want people to see the truth…regardless of who they are…because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.”

Although Bradley has not yet been tried, he was held in solitary confinement for the first 10 months of his incarceration. During this time he was denied meaningful exercise, social interaction, sunlight, and was occasionally kept completely naked. In one week in April 2011, over a half million people signed a petition to end his illegal treatment, as those conditions serve as “a chilling deterrent to other potential whistleblowers committed to public integrity.” His supporters include famous whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, over 300 top legal scholars, veterans, and civilians around the world.

If the military continues refusing to acknowledge Bradley as a whistleblower, he may become the first person in U.S. history to be convicted of “Aiding the enemy through indirect means,” a crime punishable by life in prison or the death penalty, for telling the public the truth.

To learn more about how to support Bradley Manning, please visit the website of the Bradley Manning Support Committee: bradleymanning.org

Join us on Thursday, May 10, 2012 as we honor Human Rights Award Honorees Bradley Manning and Annie Leonard at the Tenth Annual Human Rights Awards in San Francisco. (Note that Bradley’s award will be accepted by a representative)

For more information about the Human Rights Awards, and to purchase tickets, please visit humanrightsaward.org.

This opinion piece was also posted on Al Jazeera English and The Huffington Post.

By Medea Benjamin and Charles Davis.

Bradley Manning is accused of humiliating the political establishment by revealing the complicity of top US officials in carrying out and covering up war crimes. In return for his act of conscience, the US government is torturing him, humiliating him and trying to keep him behind bars for life.

The lesson is clear, and soldiers take note: You’re better off committing a war crime than exposing one.

An Army intelligence officer stationed in Kuwait, the 23-year-old Manning – outraged at what he saw – allegedly leaked tens of thousands of State Department cables to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. These cables – cables that show US officials covering up everything from child rape in Afghanistan to an illegal, unauthorised bombing in Yemen.

Manning is also accused of leaking video evidence of US pilots gunning down more than a dozen Iraqis in Baghdad, including two Reuters journalists – and then killing a man who stopped to help them. The two young children of the passerby were also severely wounded.

“Well, it’s their fault for bringing kids into a battle,” a not-terribly-remorseful US pilot can be heard remarking in the July 2007 “Collateral Murder” video.

Walking free

None of the soldiers who carried out that war crime have been punished, nor have any of the high-ranking officials who authorised it. And that’s par for the course. Indeed, committing war crimes is more likely to get a soldier a medal than a prison term. And authorising them? Well, that’ll get you a book deal and a six-digit speaking fee. Just ask George W Bush. Or Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld or Condoleezza Rice. Or the inexplicably “respectable” Colin Powell.

In fact, the record indicates Manning would today be far better off if he’d killed those men in Baghdad himself – and on the lecture circuit, rather than in solitary confinement.

Hyperbole? Consider what happened to the US soldiers who, over a period of hours – not minutes – went house to house in the Iraqi town of Haditha and executed 24 men, women and children in retaliation for a roadside bombing.

“I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head,” said one of the two surviving eyewitnesses to the massacre, nine-year-old Eman Waleed.

“Then they killed my granny.”

The relative value of life

Almost five years later, not one of the men involved in the incident is behind bars. And despite an Army investigation revealing that statements made by the chain of command suggest they “believe Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as US lives”, with the murder of brown-skinned innocents considered “just the cost of doing business” – a direct quote from Maj Gen Eldon Bargewell’s 2006 investigation into the killings – none of their superiors are behind bars either.

Now consider the treatment of Bradley Manning. On March 1, 2011, the military charged Manning with 22 additional offenses – on top of the original charges of improperly leaking classified information, disobeying an order and general misconduct. One of the new charges, “aiding the enemy”, is punishable by death. That means Manning faces the prospect of being executed or spending his life in prison for exposing the ugly truth about the US empire.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has decided to make Manning’s pre-trial existence as torturous as possible, holding him in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day since his arrested ten months ago – treatment which Psychologists for Social Responsibility notes is, “at the very least, a form of cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment in violation of US law”.

In addition to the horror of long-term solitary confinement, Manning is barred from exercising in his cell and is denied bed sheets or a pillow. And every five minutes, he must respond in the affirmative when asked by a guard if he’s “okay”.

Presumably he lies.

While others sleep soundly

It gets worse. On his blog, Manning’s military lawyer, Lt Col David Coombs, reveals his client is now stripped of his clothing at night, left naked under careful surveillance for seven hours, and, when the 5:00am wake-up call comes, he’s then “forced to stand naked at the front of the cell”.

If you point out that the emperor has no clothes, it seems the empire will make sure you have none either.

Officials at the Quantico Marine Base where Manning is being held claim the move is “not punitive”, according to Coombs. Rather, it is for Manning’s own good – a “precautionary measure” intended to prevent him from harming himself. Do they really think Manning is going to strangle himself with his underwear – and that he could do so while under 24-hour surveillance?

“Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib?” asked US Representative Dennis Kucinich. Good question, congressman. Like the men imprisoned in former President Bush’s Iraqi torture chamber, Manning is being abused and humiliated – despite having not so much as been tried in a military tribunal, much less convicted of an actual crime.

So much for the presidential term of the candidate of hope and change.

Administrations change, much remains the same

Remember back when Obama campaigned against such Bush-league torture tactics? Recall when candidate Obama said “government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal”? It appears his opposition to torture and support for whistleblowers was mere rhetoric. And then he took office.

Indeed, despite the grand promises and soaring oratory, Obama’s treatment of Manning is starkly reminiscent of none other than Richard Nixon.

Like Obama – who has prosecuted more whistleblowers than any president in history – Nixon had no sympathy for “snitches”, and no interest in the US public learning the truth about their government. And he likewise argued that Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers, had given “aid and comfort to the enemy” for revealing the facts about the war in Vietnam.

But there’s a difference. Richard Nixon never had the heroic whistleblower of his day thrown in solitary confinement and tortured. If only the same could be said for Barack Obama.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace. Charles Davis is an independent journalist. On March 20 CODEPINK and others will be traveling to the Quantico Marine Base to rally in support of Bradley Manning. You can sign our petition here asking President Obama to pardon Bradley Manning.