Criticism grows over Bradley's detainment
The list of people voicing deep concern over Bradley Manning's detainment has grown dramatically in the last week to include
nearly 300 of the top legal scholars in the US. In a
strongly worded letter published on Monday, the scholars stated that Bradley's detainment violates the 5th and 8th amendments of the constitution, and seriously questioned the Obama administrations motivations for failing to protect Bradley's rights. Among the signatories of the letter was Laurence Tribe, the Harvard professor who once taught constitutional law to Barack Obama and was a key backer of his campaign in 2008. Tribe told the
Guardian that Bradley's treatment "is not only shameful but unconstitutional."
On Wednesday the German parliament also
expressed concerns about Bradley's treatment in a letter to the White House, following a
similar move from the British government last week. There are
several petitions you can sign to let your voice be heard as well
UN torture investigator blocked from official visits to Quantico
Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has issued a formal reprimand to the US Government after being repeatedly denied unmonitored visits to Bradley Manning at Quantico. The reprimand, according to Gonzales, is normally used to pressure authoritarian regimes to allow investigations into alleged torture of political prisoners. Mendez
told reporters that "I am deeply disappointed and frustrated by the prevarication of the US government with regard to my attempts to visit Mr Manning."
Amnesty International and Congressman
Dennis Kucinich, who have also been trying to investigate Bradley's conditions by visiting Quantico have written letters as well. Amazingly, the State Department has responded to questions about the UN reprimand simply by saying "
We have nothing to hide." You can sign the petition to allow visits to Quantico
here.
Half million people join the the fight to stop the torture of Bradley Manning
We are happy to announce that the online activism site, Avaaz.org began an
online campaign last Friday, asking that the Obama administration follow the rule of law, and put an end to Bradley Manning torturous conditions. In less than a week their online
petition doubled its original goal. More than 500,000 people have already signed and you can
join them.
Artists show solidarity with Bradley Manning
April 9th and 10th was Bradley Manning Solidarity Weekend. Artists around the world rallied to create art exposing Bradley Manning's unjust detainment, and bringing him into public spaces. Some of the
art can be found on our website, as well as our
Facebook group. Thanks to efforts across the board,
Bradley is fast approaching pop-culture status and becoming a household name. He is now ranked eighth in Time's "
most influential" poll. Don't worry, you can still
vote now (closes Thursday).
Sign the Petitions
Volunteer
We currently are looking for volunteers to help organize events for Bradley Manning's upcoming pre-trial hearing i(May or June), as well as editorial help on the our website, bradleymanning.org. If you would like to pitch in, please email
emma@bradleymanning.org.
Are you a twitter aficionado? We also want to expand our team
@saveBradley -- to help provide real-time news on our campaign and about Bradley Manning in general. Direct Message us if you are interested.
