Queers in Solidarity for Bradley Manning
will hold a Rally in Support of Pfc. Bradley Manning on Sunday, March 20 at 2 PM at Officers Square in Fredericton. Queers in Solidarity for Bradley Manning is a local support group that is part of the Bradley Manning Support Network, which has hundreds of affiliated groups in North America and around the world. Queers in Solidarity for Bradley Manning is holding this rally as one of hundreds that will be held around the world as part of a Global Days of Action for Bradley Manning on March 19 and 20th.
Pfc. Bradley Manning is a gay U.S. soldier who has been arrested and detained at the military prison at the Quantico Marine Base in Triangle, Virginia. He is charged with 22 offences related to his alleged involvement in the so-called “Wiki-Leaks” affair. Pfc. Bradley Manning is awaiting trial and has never been convicted of any of these charges. He is subjected to solitary confinement 23 hours per day; he is forced to sleep naked without even underwear, and is inspected while naked every morning. Bradley is the only prisoner in Quantico who is receiving this abusive treatment. This is tantamount to “cruel and unusual punishment”, which is illegal under the US Constitution. The UN and Amnesty International are investigating his case as a political prisoner and victim of torture.
Pfc. Bradley Manning is a prisoner of conscience who has tried to expose war crimes that have taken place in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Queers in Solidarity for Bradley Manning stands in support of our gay brother to demand the immediate end to his torture and abuse, to demand that he receives a rigorous defence and is finally set free as a champion of truth and human rights.
contact: Shaun Bartone 506-455-2372
MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Jeff Paterson
press [at] bradleymanning [dot] org
+1-202-640-4388
Individuals and activists plan events around the world to show support for the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower on March 19-20.
Washington DC, March 14, 2011, — On March 19-20, 2011, activist organizations and individuals will take to the streets to protest the U.S. government’s treatment of accused WikiLeaks whistleblower Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. Manning, 23, has been held in isolation for nearly 300 days, charged with releasing classified documents, including a video that shows American troops shooting and killing 11 people, including two Reuters employees, in 2007.
Organizers are calling on supporters around the world to take public action to protest Manning’s inhumane treatment at the Quantico brig, which P.J. Crowley, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s former assistant for public affairs, declaimed last week as “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”
The primary rally will take place outside the brig in Quantico where Manning is being held. In addition to the Quantico rally, the Bradley Manning Support Network is pleased to announce events in cities around the world, including Minneapolis, London, Montreal, The Hague, Phoenix, San Diego, and Vienna.
“On March 2nd, Manning was stripped of his clothing and forced to spend the night naked, then stand for inspection the next morning without his clothes. This happened again the following night, and we don’t know how long this will keep going,” said Jeff Paterson, steering committee member of the Bradley Manning Support Network and project director of Courage to Resist. “This pre-trial punishment inhumane and un-American.”
Despite the recommendations of three forensic military psychiatrists, the MCB Quantico Commander refuses to lift PFC Manning’s Prevention of Injury (POI) status and change his confinement classification from MAX to Medium Custody In (MDI).
Manning’s imprisonment has resulted in an international outcry, and his conditions are the subject of an investigation by the UN special rapporteur on torture and a recent campaign by Amnesty International. Famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who will be speaking at a rally in Quantico on the 20th, has called Mr. Manning “a new hero of mine.”
The Bradley Manning Support Network is a grassroots, nonpartisan organization which works to:
- Stop the extreme, inhumane and illegal pre-trial punishment of Bradley Manning
- Ensure that Bradley Manning receives top-notch legal representation from the lawyer of his choice
- Stop any effort by the United States government to hold a secret court martial trial, unchecked by public and media oversight
- Free Bradley Manning!
FQ 
Posted on March 16, 2011 by FQ
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