Report: Bradley Manning, Alleged WikiLeaks Source, in Solitary Confinement

An undated photo of Army Spc. Bradley Manning, who, according to a recent report, spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in a military prison awaiting his trial.

/ AP

His trial is nowhere near beginning, but Bradley Manning is allegedly already being treated like a threat by his military jailers.

The Army private who told a friend he was responsible for downloading and passing on the government documents that made WikiLeaks famous is being held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day in Quantico, Va., without a pillow or blankets, according to a report from Salon.

In an interview with CBS News last week, a spokesman for his defense fund said Manning's trial is far from getting underway. The Army has to complete a psychological evaluation before pre-trial hearings can begin, and the defense and prosecutors are still in the process of haggling over who will conduct the evaluation.

Manning, 22, has been in Quantico, a high-grade military brig, for five months, and prior to that, he was being held in a military jail in Kuwait for two months, Salon reports.

"Since his arrest in May, Manning has been a model detainee, without any episodes of violence or disciplinary problems," Salon writer Glen Greenwald writes. "He nonetheless was declared from the start to be a 'Maximum Custody Detainee,' the highest and most repressive level of military detention, which then became the basis for the series of inhumane measures imposed on him."

Manning has been denied a pillow or sheets for his bed and, even during the one hour per day he is freed from his cell, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs, Greenwald writes. Additionally, the brig's medical personnel now administer regular doses of anti-depressants to Manning.

[Ned_Anderson]

So why is this story being published on the news? Should it not have been treated as top-secret classified intelligence based national security kind of material and have been kept under wraps?

[trosendal]

Those of you that are defending this detention and torture are also defending a clearly broken system. The root of the problem is that stuff is classified indefinitely without due process. Ironically, Bradley Manning is being 'classified' as well; where is his trial? Where is the governments case against him? Where is the evidence? In a democracy we must be assured that every person has the right to defend himself against charges. Bradley manning is just being held like an animal. How can any of you defend that? I don't care what he did or didn't do. If he committed a crime let's get on with the proceedings against him. 7 months later an innocent man is in solitary confinement; yes innocent because no transparent process has been used to convict him of a crime. Brutal.

[trosendal]

A sad state of affairs. Why is he being held this way? He is pretty much a boy; not a risk to anyone.

[ouchitatom]

The man can only be killed one time. Go ahead make him a martyr and see where that leads. I hope everyone of the lieing sobs on the documents and the people responsible for the billions that disappeared have to be held accountable.Until we the US quit posturing pakistan and the hide out countries . We are nothing but political cowards running in circles and killing what the enemy sacrifices to keep turmoil and the war in a unorganized state of stagnation.

[Ratakon]

He told our fellow AMERICANS, not the ENEMY period!

[blandybuchanan]

Why is CBS using a Salon "report" that's filed under opinion on their own site as news?

[emirjame]

As an information specialist/ records manager for the Dutch government I can assure all Americans that a lot of things must have been very wrong in the workplace of Mr. Bradley Manning.
1. In a democracy there is no such thing as "secret information" - all information belongs to the public. The government and its employees can be held accountable for their actions. It is possible to make information temporarily confidential - but that will happen through open and democratic procedures. These procedures will state the reasons and period of confidentiality. They will also state who has access.
In America there seem to be some rules but they are not carried out very precisely (see openthegovernment.org)
2. If your have this type of procedures in place you will never, ever, ever end up with a bulk of information (250.000 pieces!) that apparently: ranges in time from 1966 - 2009 and where 3 million people have access to!!
3. If Bradley Manning could download all of this information other people may also have: altered/falsified it, made important documents disappear, sold info. for money etc. etc.
4. It is clear that apparently a lot of American Government workers do things, and create information in the process, while it is never made clearly understood that they will be held accountable for their actions. Soldiers in Iraq shooting innocent passengers by, diplomats gossiping about the heads of state of other countries etc. etc.
5. Regarding point 3 and 4 the USA is lucky that the problem has now been shown to them by parties like Bradley and Wikileaks. Wikileaks is prepared to discuss with them, blacks names etc. out, cooperates with journalists and had so far only published 1000 documents. The info. could have fallen and maybe has fallen in the hands of much more vicious people.

6. Everything that has happened so far is the tip of the iceberg. It is clear that internally the government is not functioning as it should and that won't be solved by trying to demonize and torture (!!??!! - that IS alarming!!) the messengers.
7. Other proof of the malfunctioning is that (apparently) there was an internal system for whistleblowers inside the government - but that didn't function. It is a credit to Obama that he has now realized that and has revived the service. It is clear that Bradley did not know where to go.

Finally a quote from Ron Paul: As long as America tortures, America can never be great!!!

[akcoyote]

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

What he did was treason and he needs to be treated accordingly.

[emirjame]

If they are so sure it is treason - they should bring him in court and judge him!!
But probably that will bring so much sh*t on the table that they don't dare to proceed.
How much did America spend on these wars?? So where is the benefit on all that cash??

[YrWrongAgain]

Will you all require a semi-naked pride parade to feel better about what you do? Hold it in Manning's cell block.

[imthaid]

And, just how long did you people think it would take before our government began torturing it's own people?