US military officials have admitted that Quantico Marine Brig Commander James Averhart violated procedures regarding detainee treatment related to Pfc. Bradley Manning, saying Averhart summarily declared Manning a “suicide risk” without any standing to make that call.
Once declared a “suicide risk,” officials confiscated most of Manning’s clothing and his prescription eyeglasses, insisting they might be used to harm him. Officials insisted that nothing done to him rose to the level of torture, and was apparently retaliation for him failing to follow some orders from the guards.
The information from the US military appears to support the claims of abuse by Manning’s lawyer, David E. Coombs, who late last week said Manning was facing “unlawful pretrial punishment” in Quantico. Publicly, officials have denied that this is the case.
But Quantico’s claims to the public that Manning was being treated “the same as anybody else” appear to have been untrue, and efforts to harshen up the conditions of his detention before he has even been to trial clearly violate the military’s rules.
Used to be military members were taught respect for the laws they were "protecting." Used to be one could look up to a Marine with pride and KNOW that they would respect the laws of this country in performing their duties. Used to be… Makes one proud to be an American.
And since he has been mistreated- and this admitted to by "US military officials"- when can we expect those responsible to be put up on charges? To put it mildly, I'm not going to hold my breath on this one- and I'll wager if anyone IS ever charged over this, it will be someone at or below the rank of Sergeant and they will be described as 'psychologically unbalanced' for some reason. I'll further wager that not one officer of any rank will be charged. Typical.
I am still wondering WHY a PFC from the United States ARMY is being held in a MARINE Corps Brig.
Anyone whom thinks that the USA isn't a military dictatorship at some level is a fool. The military/Judicial coup in the state of florida in 2000.
The don't need to torture you directly. However, they do it indirectly by using their inmates to instigate a fight which is always unfair when you have to fight with two bulls who weigh double your weight. The Feds used this method with me during my pretrial when I was held in Wayne Country. I ended up with broken nose which took two surgeries to correct, two broken ribs which wil never heal and 7" Laceration on the back of my head. Why ?. I was charged with terrorism which never stood. Theie false belief was I am hiding too much information from them. Five HELL of years with 455 days in the SHU like Mr. Maning. Thirt one years I lived in the US with clean driving record then I ended up as Muslim Terrorist. I will never return to this Police State again.
I was an Army MP desk sergeant and I was in control of holding cells and I would have refused to support/condone or participate in anything that appeared to be mistreatment of a prisoner in my custody. I just can't believe how far the military has sunk.
Of course if you look at the "advisors" who are assisting the us military in places like abu greib, ahem, israelis, ahem the picture starts to become clearer.
"Officials insisted that nothing done to him rose to the level of torture…" Hahahahahaha. We all know that they've redefined that word to the point it's meaningless. Their denials mean literally nothing in this instance.
1- “We the People” not dealing with a peoples government but rather with a militarism regime.., that is to say from the time of Vietnam war (19960s) or before to present time and date in 2011.., over 50 years. There are many people to be prosecuted in implementing the idea from the time in “New World order” ordered by Bush in 1990s to Bill Clinton Balkan wars and then George W. Bush Afghanistan and Iraq war to the present time. So the meaning in “democracy” in reality is a democracy based on a militarism regime controlling the “democracy” for what the regime sees viable to its existence.
2- US has 1.8 million uniformed employed paid solders to its disposal.., and close to 250.000 mercenaries’ employed by State departments and other.., many of these solders are stationed out side the US.., if they were to brought home then “we the people” would see millions more in unemployment and homeless.., that is one of the reasons they are not brought back home.., but for the regime rather to start another war just to keep its “employees” to be occupied.., forget Obamas or for that matter Senator Lieberman and or Senator Boxers or Rockefellers “democratic“ mambo jambo, what we the people need to look at is the backbone of the regime.., MILITARISM.
I think this article is a little behind. This is the latest update from DemocracyNow!
Attorney: Manning Abuse Worsens; 2 Visitors Detained at Base
The attorney for alleged army whistleblower Bradley Manning is accusing the military of intensifying their harsh treatment of Manning as he remains behind bars. The lawyer, David Coombs, says Manning was placed on a stricter suicide watch last week despite psychiatric reviews showing he is not a suicide risk and should even be taken off a less restrictive "prevention of injury watch." According to Coombs, the military revoked Manning’s lone hour of exercise and stripped him of all his clothing except for his underwear. Manning was ultimately returned to "prevention of injury" status after Coombs complained. The military is also cracking down on Manning’s visitors. On Sunday, Manning’s friend David House and progressive blogger Jane Hamsher were detained and prevented from visiting him at the Quantico military base in Virginia. They had brought with them a 42,000-signature petition protesting Manning’s prison conditions. House has publicly alleged that Manning’s mental and physical health has declined under 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement. The pair were detained for two hours and released only after Manning’s allotted visitation period had expired.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/24/headlines#1
"Military rules"? That's a contradiction in terms. To the Pentagon, no rules apply. Everything goes, including the deliberate torture of one of their own – to break him mentally. Pretty sickening stuff. Some military personnel deserve some very long prison sentences for this sordid affair.
Okay, so this doesn't "rise to the level of torture"? Perhaps not, in the traditional sense, but let's see how it plays out when one of our enemies captures a few of our soldiers and does exactly the same to them. You think there won't be howls of indignation from the Washington Warriors and Keyboard Kommandos? When we do it, is 'pretrial detention', but oh when someone else does it we can expect a dog-and-pony show of epic proportions.
It is quite pervert that they would torture detainees while having them on "prevention of injury watch", and they would have detainees on "prevention of suicide watch" so that they could be properly executed.. But maybe it's just me.