Bradley Manning headed to prison, those who authorized torture go free

Former secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shares a laugh with former president George W. Bush and former vice president Dick Cheney during his farewell parade at the Pentagon.

By: Matt Sledge, The Huffington Post

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/22/319865/manning-goes-to-jail-higherups-go-free/

Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for releasing 700,000 documents about the United States' worldwide diplomacy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Manning was a 25-year-old Army private first class at the time of his arrest. He saw himself as an idealist acting to end the wars, and said in online chats with hacker Adrian Lamo that he was particularly concerned about the abuse of detainees in Iraq. No political or military higher-ups have ever been prosecuted for detainee abuse or torture in Iraq, Afghanistan or at Guantanamo Bay.

"One of the serious problems with Manning's case is that it sets a chilling precedent, that people who leak information ... can be prosecuted this aggressively as a deterrent to that conduct," said Andrea Prasow, senior counterterrorism counsel and advocate in Human Rights Watch's U.S. Program. "Shouldn't we be deterring people who commit torture?"

Here are some of the individuals who have been involved since 9/11 in detainee abuse and torture, and potential war crimes, and have never been prosecuted.

George W. Bush

George W. Bush was president when the U.S. invaded Iraq based on faulty intelligence, tortured terror prisoners and conducted extraordinary renditions around the world.

"Enhanced interrogation," a Bush administration euphemism for torture, was approved at the highest level. A "principals committee" composed of Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft signed off on the methods.

"There are solid grounds to investigate Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Tenet for authorizing torture and war crimes," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, when the group released a report called "Getting Away With Torture" in 2011.

Dick Cheney

As Bush's vice president, Cheney pushed the nation over to the "dark side," as he called it, in the war on terror.

The U.S. used extraordinary renditions to swoop up terror suspects and send them to repressive regimes for torture. Cheney was the key driver in producing the faulty intelligence that led the U.S. into war in Iraq. And he steadfastly defended the CIA's use of water-boarding and other torture tactics on U.S. prisoners.

Cheney "fears being tried as a war criminal," according to Colin Powell's former chief of staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, but he never has been.

Donald Rumsfeld

One of the planners of the Iraq War, Rumsfeld steadfastly maintained while Defense Secretary under Bush that U.S. soldiers did not have an obligation to stop torture being used by their Iraqi counterparts. He also approved of "stripping prisoners naked, hooding them, exposing prisoners to extremes of heat and cold, and slamming them up against walls" at Guantanamo.

While deployed to Iraq, Manning discovered that Iraqi soldiers had arrested members of a political group for producing a pamphlet called "Where Did the Money Go?" decrying corruption in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"‘I immediately took that information and *ran* to the officer to explain what was going on," Manning wrote in the chat logs. "He didn’t want to hear any of it … he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding *MORE* detainees."

George Tenet and CIA torturers

Tenet was the CIA chief who told Bush that the case for war with Iraq was a "slam dunk." Under his watch, the CIA waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Further down the chain of command at the spy agency, lower-level officers have escaped prosecution for killing a prisoner in Iraq and one in Afghanistan in CIA custody. Attorney General Eric Holder in 2012 ruled out prosecuting anyone responsible for those deaths.

In sharp contrast, former CIA agent John Kiriakou is currently serving a 30-month sentence for revealing to reporters the names of interrogators involved in detainee abuse.

Abu Ghraib higher-ups

Although low-level soldiers like former Army Reserve Specialist Lynndie England were court-martialed for their role in detainee abuse at this notorious prison in Iraq, graphically illustrated in photos, the only officer prosecuted in the case had his conviction tossed out.

A 2009 Senate Armed Services Committee report found that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were not the result of a few unmonitored bad apples but rather the direct result of "enhanced interrogation" practices approved of by officials much higher up in the Bush administration.

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Update: 11:55 am

 

Bradley Manning In His Own Words After Being Sentenced to 35 Years

Video Source: The Real News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMtClazlfCc

 

Manning's attorney David Coombs reads American Hero Bradley Manning's statement after he is imprisoned for 35 years in a Military Prison.

 

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Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison

 

 

US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning arrives alongside military officials at a US military court facility to hear his sentence in his trial at Fort Meade, Maryland on August 21, 2013. (AFP Photo / Saul Loeb)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/manning-sentence-years-jail-785/

A US military judge has sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison. Manning faced up to 90 years behind bars, while prosecutors sought to put the whistleblower away for a minimum of six decades.

Manning will be credited with the 1,294 days he spent in pre-trial confinement plus an additional 112 days. He was also dishonorably discharged, saw his rank reduced to private from private first class and was forced to forfeit all pay and benefits. No additional fine, however, was levied against him. Manning will have to serve a third of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Col. Denise Lind, who on Tuesday began her deliberations in the court-martial case, announced the sentence shortly after 10am local time (14:00 GMT). Lind read out the sentence succinctly and provided no other statement as a gaggle of journalist’s waited in anticipation. Flanked by his lawyers, Manning, 25, stood at attention and appeared not to react when Lind announced the punishment, AP reports. He further made no statement after his fate was announced

Immediately after sentencing, Amnesty International called on President Barack Obama to commute Manning’s sentence to time already served to allow his immediate release.

"Instead of fighting tooth and nail to lock him up for decades, the US government should turn its attention to investigating and delivering justice for the serious human rights abuses committed by its officials in the name of countering terror,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International.

The American Civil Liberties Union was also quick to excoriate the decision.
“When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, decried the sentence as "unprecedented"in its magnitude.

"It's more than 17 times the next longest sentence ever served" for providing secret material to the media, said Goitein. "It is in line with sentences for paid espionage for the enemy."

Manning's lawyer David E. Coombs had asked the judge for leniency, requesting a sentence that did not “rob him of his youth." Coombs argued that Manning's leaks had not endangered the US.

The prosecution had sought a 60-year sentence, arguing the stiff term would deter others from leaking classified information.

"There's value in deterrence," prosecutor Capt. Joe Morrow said in his closing argument on Monday

 

Protesters with the Bradley Manning Support Network hold a vigil while waiting to hear Manning's sentence on August 21, 2013 outside the gate of Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. (AFP Photo / T.J. Kirkpatrick)

Last week the 25-year-old Manning apologized for the “unintended consequences”of his actions, saying he believed he was “going to help people, not hurt people."

He told the court at Fort Meade, Maryland, that "the last three years have been a learning experience for me."

WikiLeaks responded to Manning’s mea culpa, saying “the only currency this military court will take is Bradley Manning’s humiliation.” The anti-secrecy group continued that Manning’s “forced” apology was done in the hopes of “shaving a decade or more off his sentence.”

The soldier was convicted last month of 20 charges including espionage, theft and violating computer regulations. Manning was found not guilty, however, of the most serious charge – aiding the enemy – which entailed a potential sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Manning faced up to 90 years in prison for passing on more than 700,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010. He was later arrested in Iraq in May of that year.

He also leaked video of ‘Collateral Murder’ video, which shows a US helicopter attack in Baghdad in which at least nine non-combatants were killed, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver.

Manning is entitled to appeal against any verdict handed to him by the court-martial in the Army Court of Criminal Appeal within six months.

Collateral Murder Bradley Manning Leaked Video Clip

Video Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0I6S8mva-s

 

Manning's sentence unjustifiably harsh, crimes he exposed remain unpunished – Moscow

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/manning-russia-tough-sentence-799/

Moscow has slammed the “harsh” sentence for US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, saying it was apparently meant to scare away other whistleblowers, and was not in accordance with human rights standards.

“When the USA’s interests are at stake, the American judicial system, as in the case of Bradley Manning, takes unjustifiably harsh decisions based on the principle of 'let’s teach them so that it doesn’t become a habit' – and without any glance at the human rights aspects,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s special representative for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov told reporters on Wednesday.

Calling Manning’s case an example of US “double standards in regard with the supremacy of law and human rights,” Dolgov argued it showed that America’s claims for leadership in those respects are “groundless.”

The Foreign Ministry official then cited international human rights groups – including those in based in the US – who believe Manning has revealed “widespread abuses on the part of the US Army during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the deaths of civilian, the torture of prisoners, as well as the other grave abuses of the international human rights law. ”

Despite all the efforts of rights groups and the UN Human Rights Council, no one in the US was held accountable for these crimes, Dolgov added

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FREE Bradley Manning!!! Jail US Military for War Crimes in Iraq and US Government for their Aggressive war on the sovereign nation of Iraq!

 

 

 

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Egypt’s Morsi accused of complicity in protest deaths

Egyptian women from the Muslim Brotherhood shout slogans and hold portraits of ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, as they gather in Cairo to attend a march in his support on August 11, 2013

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/19/319523/morsi-charged-over-protest-deaths/

Ousted Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has been accused of complicity in the deaths and torture of demonstrators outside his presidential palace in 2012, judicial sources say.

On Monday, Egypt’s prosecution extended Morsi’s detention for another 15 days which starts from next week. He already stands accused of crimes related to his 2011 escape from jail.

In December 2012, violent clashes erupted between Morsi’s supporters and opponents in the capital, Cairo, after he issued a controversial constitutional declaration in November of the same year to expand his powers.

On December 5, five people were killed in the clashes between backers and opponents of Morsi in the capital.

Earlier in July, a court in the Arab country ordered Morsi's detention over allegations of collaboration with Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, “to undertake aggressive acts in the country, as well as attacking police facilities, officers and soldiers.”

On August 12, the Egyptian Judiciary extended the Morsi’s detention pending an inquiry into his alleged links with Hamas.

Morsi was due to be questioned on whether he collaborated with Hamas in attacks on police stations and prison breaks in early 2011, when he and some members of the Muslim Brotherhood escaped from jail during a revolution against the regime of former dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Hamas reacted to the allegations on July 26 and condemned Morsi’s detention, saying “it is based on the premise that the Hamas movement is hostile.”

The movement’s spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, noted, “This is a dangerous development, which confirms that the current powers in Egypt are giving up on national causes and even using these issues to deal with other parties - first among them the Palestinian cause.”

Egypt plunged into chaos after the head of the country’s armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi on July 3, suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament.

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Egypt court orders Mubarak release

 
Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/19/319478/egypt-court-orders-mubarak-release/

A court in Egypt has ordered former dictator, Hosni Mubarak, be released in one of the remaining corruption cases against him.

According to Egyptian Judiciary officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a court on Monday ordered Mubarak’s release in a corruption case in which Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are accused of embezzled funds to renovate presidential palaces.

The officials added that Mubarak could be freed this week, but the court has decided to keep his two sons in custody.

The former dictator has been ordered released in two other cases against him which are the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution that ousted him, and illegal earnings.

Mubarak is being retried for the demonstrators’ killing. However, he cannot be kept in custody anymore due to a two-year limit pending a final verdict.

He is also facing trial on allegations of accepting gifts from state newspapers but has already repaid their value.

The former long time ruler was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012, but an appeals court later overturned the sentence and ordered a retrial.

Many revolutionaries in Egypt believe the former US-allied strongman should be sentenced to death over his leading role in killing demonstrators.

Saudi prince seeks to stop Mubarak trial

http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2011/03/saudi-prince-seeks-to-stop-mubarak.html

Saudi King Vows support for Mubarak

http://worldunitednews.blogspot.ca/2011/01/saudi-king-vows-support-for-mubarak.html


 

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Bahrain court upholds jail sentences for 9 doctors

 

Bahraini medics are seen helping a wounded protester at Salmaniya hospital in the capital Manama. (File photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/01/264392/bahrain-upholds-verdicts-for-9-doctors/

A Bahraini court has upheld the prison sentences handed down to nine doctors for treating protesters during anti-regime demonstrations.

Bahrain's Court of Cassation, the country’s highest court, dismissed on Monday an appeal by the medics against their controversial verdicts that have drawn international condemnation to the US-allied Persian Gulf state.

General Abdul-Rahman al-Sayed said that the court confirmed the previous sentences given to the doctors.

In June, the medics, who were working at the Salmaniya hospital in the capital Manama, were given jail terms ranging from one month to five years.

International rights groups have criticized the rulings, with Amnesty International calling it a "dark day for justice."

The Bahraini revolution began in mid-February 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds, including doctors and nurses accused of treating injured revolutionaries.

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Abuse of inmates happens in every Georgian jail, says torture whistleblower

 

Source Video: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/prison-torture-saakashvili-enemies-572/
Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/georgia-prison-torture-scandal-634/

The penal system in Georgia is rife with the sadistic abuse of inmates covered under a glossy façade, claims an ex-deputy chief warden, who released footage of beatings and rape allegedly taken in a Tbilisi prison.

Vladimir Bedukadze alleges that top Georgian officials, including President Saakashvili, were aware of the abuses at the Gdlani prison, which triggered a major political scandal in the country. He claims that inmates in Georgia face inhumane treatment for political reasons or simply for the amusement of those in charge of jails.

Bedukadze told RT that he wanted to release the footage after bringing his family to Belgium, where he is seeking political asylum. But the Georgian authorities found out about the incriminating evidence and tried to undermine it by painting him a crook and a fabricator.

 

Vladimir Bedukadze

 

RT: Vladimir, how long have you been making these videos?

Vladimir Bedukadze: I have been working as the prison’s deputy chief warden since 2008.

RT: Who gave the orders? Who in the government knew what was going on? And who kept this matter under wraps?

V.B.: I made those videos on the instruction of the chief warden, and then the chief warden showed these videos to Minister Akhalaia. I made those videos over the period of a year, or maybe six months, I’m not sure. I didn’t make them in a day or two. They were accumulated over a period of time, and eventually I had two hours of video. Minister Akhalaia was in charge of all correctional facilities. Then Saakashvili made him Deputy Defense Minister. Then he became Defense Minister, and then, Minister of Internal Affairs. Throughout this time, Akhalaia remained in charge of Georgia’s prison system.

RT: How do you know the chief warden showed those videos to Akhalaia?

V.B.: I just did what I was told to do. I made those videos for him, and then he would take the tape, and I don’t know what he would do with it. But Akhalaia would often come to the Gdlani prison, perhaps once or twice a week. He used to spend a lot of time talking to the chief warden in his office. Akhalaia was a very close ally of President Saakashvili, whom President Bush called a “beacon of democracy.” He was fully aware of what was going on in the prisons. This is why I insist that Saakashvili should resign. In a democratic country, it wouldn’t be the Minister of Interior Affairs or Defense Minister stepping down; the President would resign. President Saakashvili must step down if he is a democrat. But he’s no democrat. He keeps the entire nation in chaos and fear. He relies on criminals. He has people with blood on their hands working in high positions in the government.

RT: Was Saakashvili aware of what was going on?

V.B.: Of course he knew. Saakashvili was fully aware of what was going on. When Akhalaia was appointed minister in 2005, the system was very far from European standards. Then Saakashvili appointed Akhalaia minister, and Akhalaia started taking very tough steps. He would send security forces into prisons. They would break into prisons and beat up inmates. Even Akhalaia himself would often be there with a camera, filming everything. And then, I think, he would show those videos to Saakashvili in order to show him what kind of system he had built. European MPs would visit the Gdlani prison, and they were impressed. They would say, “How did you manage to build such a system? You have 4,000 inmates there, and this place is so quiet, we haven’t heard as much as somebody speaking loudly. It’s almost as if there were no inmates there at all.

RT: You’re saying this has been going on for some time. Why did you release these materials now?

V.B.: In May, I asked myself whether I wanted to serve the regime or be a man. I tendered my resignation, took the videos I had made and left the country. I was afraid because I thought they would kill me. So I came to Belgium and asked for political asylum. My family is currently in Georgia, held hostage by the Saakashvili regime. This is why I asked the Belgian authorities to grant me and my family political asylum as soon as possible.

RT: Are you afraid that something may happen?

V.B.: Yes. Saakashvili is mentally unstable. Nobody knows what he may do.

RT: Do you have specific reasons to be concerned about your family? Have you received any threats?

V.B.: Yes, after I released those videos, some people called me on the phone a few times, telling me to keep my mouth shut.

RT: And then you moved to Belgium?

V.B.: No. Those phone calls were just a couple of days ago. I secretly left Georgia and came to Belgium in July. I have been here for three months now, and for financial reasons I have been unable to bring my family here. Belgian institutions tell me my videos can’t be published before my family comes here, because nobody knows what Saakashvili may do to them. As soon as my family is in Belgium, this footage will be released. When I came to Belgium, I played those tapes to the European Commission and the European Parliament, and they assured me that they would keep it secret and that Saakashvili would never find out about it. They kept their word, but somehow four or five days ago President Saakashvili found out about this tape, and then he told Akhalaia to get two of my friends who worked with me at the prison, and stage a beating of an inmate. So those two guys beat up an innocent inmate, and then that video was aired on Georgian television. They claim that they did it on my orders. The purpose of this fabrication was to create an impression that I was connected to the opposition. They say I was paid 2 million dollars for those videos. But I have never been involved in politics. I have never been in a political party. I didn’t care about politics.

RT: Your critics say the upcoming election is the reason why you have published these videos now.

V.B.: No, no. They started this by publishing their video! They contacted two of my friends, made that video with an inmate and played it on Georgian TV. What could I do? I had this tape with two hours of footage. I had to defend myself. They forced me to release those videos.

RT: You mean you released your videos in response to what they did?

V.B.: Right. This had nothing to do with the election.

RT: Let me get this straight. You’re saying that Saakashvili somehow found out that you had these videos…

V.B.: Actually, it was not Saakashvili. It was Minister Akhalaia who found out.

RT: And then they published their video to accuse you, and after that you released your videos.

V.B.: Right. Except that their video was staged, it was a fabrication. Those two friends of mine are in prison now. Actually, four of my friends are in prison. This is just to put psychological pressure on me. Saakashvili and Akhalaia accused me of torture and issued a warrant for me. I’m a wanted man now.

RT: Who gave you the order to make those videos? And who among the high-ranking officials knew about what was going on?

V.B.: Nobody – just the chief warden and I. I was deputy chief warden. He wanted me to film some interesting moments: for example, when police arrest an opposition activist, or a prominent figure, is arrested, he wanted it on tape. Probably, they intended to use those videos later against those people. The chief warden would take those videos to Akhalaia, and Akhalaia would take them to the President. They used it for entertainment. They enjoyed watching how helpless people were in their hands. Once they take you to prison, you are nobody. You have no dignity. This is why these videos caused such an outrage in Georgia. This is why all those young people are protesting.

RT: How did they pick inmates for torture?

V.B.: They just did it for entertainment, or, if an inmate had something to do with politics, if he was Saakashvili’s enemy, they would pick him. The system is extremely politicized. If you work in.

 

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