Bradley Manning Lawyer Details Prison Abuse

Insists Treatment 'Unlawful Pretrial Punishment'

Growing public concerns about the mistreatment of detainee Bradley Manning were confirmed today, when David E. Coombs, Manning’s lawyer, announced that he had filed a complaint with the Quantico brig accusing them of abusing Manning.

Manning, who is accused of being responsible for the WikiLeaks releases, was placed both under “maximum security” conditions and suicide watch. The details of Manning’s declining condition under these restrictions has been detailed in the past, and the UN is also said to be investigating.

Coombs insisted there was absolutely no legal reason for Manning’s classification, and that the treatment amounted to unlawful pretrial punishment, a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Quantico spokesmen insisted that Manning’s treatment was perfectly legal, and that he was placed in maximum security because of the threat to “national security.” They added that Manning was “being treated the same as anybody else” in the same classification, which probably wasn’t meant to sound nearly as ominous and unreassuring as it came off.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.