The faithful “Free Bradley Manning,” group met again Monday in front of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office to request that she join liberal Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich in his inquiry into the conditions of Private Bradley Manning’s confinement in the brig at Quantico, Va.
Manning has been confined in the Navy brig since July 2010 after he was accused of supplying classified documents to WikiLeaks. He has dual British-U.S. citizenship.
Manning has been allowed minimal contact with the outside world, and for 23 of 24 hours every day he sits alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he’s barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. Manning has bee denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed, though he is not and never has been on suicide watch. For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs.
Amnesty International expressed concern in January about the conditions in which he is being held, calling them harsh and punitive. It is rumored that he has been subjected to drug therapy, and questions persist about his sanity, given the treatment he’s received.
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