America: Torturers in Chief: the Degrading treatment of Bradley Manning

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It has been reported that Army Private Bradley Manning has been repeatedly subjected to forced nudity. This constitutes ‘cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.’ Forced nudity is the absolute debasement of a human
being, and it is intended to and does rob persons of their human dignity.

Forced nudity is emotional and psychological torture. This torture and degrading treatment of Bradley Manning is now inflicted by the Obama
administration.

Forced nudity and physical abuse were implemented as part of a torture
regime by the CIA. This evil goes straight to Dick Cheney , George Bush and D
onald Rumsfeld to name a few. Some of the tactics used beside ‘Waterboarding’
which was considered torture during the Inquisition; and that’s what it was,
and is today.

Other tactics included sleep deprivation, which allowed for a range of
between 70 and 120 hours.

Shove a detainee in a large box for up to 8 hours at a time, and for up
to 18 hours a day;
Dowsing a completely naked detainee with ice cold water;

‘Insult slaps.’ That’s where an interrogator opens up a session by slapping
a detainee across the face with the open palm, or it could be an abdominal slap;

‘Walling’ was/is a much used tactic. This is where a detainee is placed in
a harness and slammed against a wall. This could be done for as many as 20-30
times in a row.

The CIA “Background Paper on CIA’s Combined Use of Interrogation
Techniques” stated that ‘walling’ was very effective because it wore down
detainees and ‘created a sense of dread’ in them. Ya, like when a person
worries about the possibility of death. That’s torture plain and simple.

Imagine if it were revealed that the Nazis, or the Japanese, or the
Vietnamese had lawyers like John Yoo or Jay Bybee draft legal opinions to
give a fig leaf of cover to justify those techniques being used on American
POW’s. What would it be called? Torture! And, one can imagine the outrage by
the American government. They would want to hunt them down and bring them to
trial as well they should be.

And the same should be done to John Yoo, Jay Bybee, Dick Cheney , George
Bush , Donald Rumsfeld, Major General Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo Bay concentration camp before he moved on to Abu Ghraib to ‘Gitmo-ize’
it.

The treatment of Bradley Manning, who is an American citizen, and whose crime was to expose murder, torture and other evil deeds being swept under the rug by US authorities, constitutes torture, and at the very least ‘cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.’ This is prohibited by Article 1 of the ‘CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.’ The Convention mentions in its Preamble ‘the inherent dignity of the human person.’ Forcing persons to be nude for hours upon hours while they are tortured is a heinous and despicable act.

It is torture.

The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations mentions to’ the dignity
and worth of the human person.’ The conditions under which Bradley Manning is
kept is torture because they are trying to break his mind.

It is torture.

The Preamble to the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS mentions that the ‘disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which
have outraged the conscience of mankind.’ And also, it reaffirms ‘the dignity and worth of the human person.’ Article V of the Declaration states: ‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’

Bradley Manning’s forced nudity constitutes torture.

Article VII of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
states No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his
free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.’

Bradley Manning’s forced nudity constitutes to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and torture.

The ‘Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’ prohibits torture or ‘any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical
or mental, is intentionally inflicted by or at the instigation of a public official on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information
or confession, punishing him for an act he has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating him or other persons.’

Bradley Manning’s treatment constitutes torture!

All of the above international instruments require State officials to investigate and prosecute. This has not and is not being done in the United
States.

When a government does as the United States government, military and CIA
has done since 9/11, that is declared to the world that it alone can decide if
it wishes to overthrow governments and leaders, and place countries under its complete control unilaterally in violation of international norms, or
international law

When such leaders declare the right to bomb whom it likes, when it likes
and where it likes, and to conduct extrajudicial killings,

When such leaders and their intelligence agency declare the right to roam
the world and kidnap citizens anywhere at any time and transport them to places where they will be tortured, beaten mercilessly, subjected to the most barbaric forms of torture and murdered,

When such a government refuses to bring its own leaders, torturers,
military leaders to the criminal dock, then such a regime is nothing more than
a great criminal enterprise rolling along unchecked. It is no different than a
Nazi regime which before it was stopped left Europe, the Middle East and parts
of North Africa in shambles.

When such a country’s criminal justice and judicial system are unwilling, unable or refuse to bring its own war criminals to trial for all of these crimes
and more

At such times in history it is up to the countries and peoples of the world
to brings this criminal regime: the Government of the United States to a stands
till and to:
Dismantle it completely,

To put its political leaders in the criminal dock,

To put its military leaders in the criminal dock,

To put the leaders of the CIA and its other intelligence agencies in the criminal dock,

To put the leaders of the criminal war industries into the criminal dock

To put its ideologues who promoted the wars into the criminal dock,

And, above all to place those lawyers (John Yee, Jay Bybee, Albero Gonzales
et al) who
provided the legal justification for that which is criminal: wars of aggression, torture and more,
they must be put in the criminal dock!