[rad-green] Chelsea Manning Recovering After Attempting Suicide While Jailed in 'Coercive Measure Amounting to Torture'

"Sid Shniad" (via rad-green Mailing List) <[email protected]> Thu, 12 Mar 2020 17:50:02 -0700
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*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/12/chelsea-manning-recovering-af=
ter-attempting-suicide-while-jailed-coercive-measure
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/12/chelsea-manning-recovering-af=
ter-attempting-suicide-while-jailed-coercive-measure>Common
Dreams          March 12, 2020Chelsea Manning Recovering After Attempting
Suicide While Jailed in 'Coercive Measure Amounting to Torture'Manning's
legal team said her actions "evidence the strength of her convictions, as
well as the profound harm she continues to suffer as a result of her
'civil' confinement."by Jessica Corbett, staff writer*

[image: U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning]

*U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning addresses reporters outside the
Albert Bryan U.S federal courthouse with attorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen on
May 16, 2019 in Alexandria, Virginia. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)*

American whistleblower Chelsea Manning's legal team revealed late Wednesday
that she is recovering in the hospital after attempting to take her own
life while jailed for the vast majority of the past year in what one United
Nations expert has denounced
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/31/un-expert-calls-detention-che=
lsea-manning-open-ended-progressively-severe-coercive>
as
"an open-ended, progressively severe coercive measure amounting to torture."

"In spite of... over a year of so-called 'coercive' incarceration and
nearly half a million dollars in threatened fines=E2=80=94she remains unwav=
ering in
her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as
highly susceptible to abuse."
=E2=80=94Legal team of whistleblower Chelsea Manning

In a statement, Manning's lawyers highlighted a letter that United Nations
Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer sent
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/31/un-expert-calls-detention-che=
lsea-manning-open-ended-progressively-severe-coercive>
to
the United States government in November 2019 recommending that Manning "be
released without further delay, and that any fines disproportionate to the
gravity of any offense she may have committed be cancelled or reimbursed."

With the exception
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/17/unprecedented-judge-orders-ch=
elsea-manning-jailed-imposes-daily-500-fine-after-30>
of
a one-week period in May 2019, Manning has been jailed
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/08/i-will-not-comply-chelsea-man=
ning-sent-back-prison-over-grand-jury-refusal>
at
the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia
since March 8, 2019 for her refusal to testify to a grand jury about
WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, who is currently detained
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/16/100-doctors-demand-julian-ass=
ange-receive-safe-passage-australian-hospital-it-too>
in
London and fighting
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/24/hearing-begins-rights-groups-=
warn-extraditing-assange-us-would-deal-body-blow-press>
the
U.S. government's attempt to extradite him.

Manning, who served in the U.S. Army, was first detained in 2010 and
convicted under the Espionage Act in 2013 for leaking U.S. government and
military materials to WikiLeaks. She was released in May 2017, about four
months after outgoing President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her
35-year prison sentence.

During periods of her initial imprisonment and part of the past year,
Manning has sometimes been held
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/04/thank-frickin-god-chelsea-man=
ning-released-solitary-confinement>
in
solitary confinement. Despite the conditions of her current detention,
Manning has vowed
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/02/chelsea-manning-says-she-neve=
r-backing-down-face-us-detention-meant-break-her>
to
not testify before the grand jury, even considering the risk to her own
safety; Wednesday was not
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/25/torture-plain-and-simple-chel=
sea-mannings-supporters-demand-her-release-solitary>
the
first time she has attempted suicide.

In a 2019 letter to the judge in her case, Manning wrote that "I object to
this grand jury... as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who
serve a crucial public good. I have had these values since I was a child,
and I've had years of confinement to reflect on them. For much of that
time, I depended for survival on my values, my decisions, and my
conscience. I will not abandon them now."

Last month, Manning's lawyers filed
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/19/chelsea-mannings-lawyers-dema=
nd-her-release-decry-punitive-incarceration>
a
motion for her release, arguing that her continued "incarceration is not
serving its only permissible purpose" of coercing her testimony and is
clearly punitive. Manning could serve a total of 18 months behind bars if
she maintains her refusal to testify.

Manning's legal team said in the Wednesday statement that she "is still
scheduled to appear on Friday for a previously-calendared hearing, at which
Judge Anthony Trenga will rule on a motion to terminate the civil contempt
sanctions stemming from her May 2019 refusal to give testimony before a
grand jury investigating the publication of her 2010 disclosures."

"In spite of those sanctions=E2=80=94which have so far included over a year=
 of
so-called 'coercive' incarceration and nearly half a million dollars in
threatened fines=E2=80=94she remains unwavering in her refusal to participa=
te in a
secret grand jury process that she sees as highly susceptible to abuse,"
the statement said.

The attorneys added that "her actions today evidence the strength of her
convictions, as well as the profound harm she continues to suffer as a
result of her 'civil' confinement."

The news of Manning's suicide attempt provoked an outpouring of love for
the whistleblower and renewed calls for her immediate release:

*The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
<https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/> is 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and
the Crisis Text Line <https://www.crisistextline.org/> is 741741. Both
offer **24/7, free, and confidential support.*

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_default"><b><font face=3D"georgia, ser=
if"><a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/12/chelsea-manning=
-recovering-after-attempting-suicide-while-jailed-coercive-measure" target=
=3D"_blank">https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/12/chelsea-manning-re=
covering-after-attempting-suicide-while-jailed-coercive-measure</a><br><br>=
<font size=3D"4">Common Dreams=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 March 12, =
2020</font><br><br><font size=3D"6">Chelsea Manning Recovering After Attemp=
ting Suicide While Jailed in &#39;Coercive Measure Amounting to Torture&#39=
;</font><br><br><font size=3D"4">Manning&#39;s legal team said her actions =
&quot;evidence the strength of her convictions, as well as the profound har=
m she continues to suffer as a result of her &#39;civil&#39; confinement.&q=
uot;</font><br><br><font size=3D"4">by Jessica Corbett, staff writer</font>=
</font></b></div><div class=3D"gmail_default"><font face=3D"georgia, serif"=
><br></font><div style=3D"font-size:17px;box-sizing:inherit"><div style=3D"=
box-sizing:inherit"><div style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><div style=3D"box-siz=
ing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><img src=3D"ht=
tps://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headl=
ines/chelsea_manning_3_0.jpg?itok=3DrZG7GcYQ" width=3D"472" height=3D"247" =
alt=3D"U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit=
;border:0px;margin-right:0px"></font></div></div></div></div><div style=3D"=
font-size:12px;box-sizing:inherit;background-image:initial;background-posit=
ion:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-or=
igin:initial;background-clip:initial;padding:5px 10px"><div style=3D"box-si=
zing:inherit"><div style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><p style=3D"box-sizing:inhe=
rit;margin:0px"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><b style=3D=
"background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning=
 addresses reporters outside the Albert Bryan U.S federal courthouse with a=
ttorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen on May 16, 2019 in Alexandria, Virginia. (Photo=
: Win McNamee/Getty Images)</b></font></p></div></div></div><div style=3D"f=
ont-size:17px;box-sizing:inherit"><div style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><div st=
yle=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><div style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><p style=3D"bo=
x-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">American =
whistleblower Chelsea Manning&#39;s legal team revealed late Wednesday that=
 she is recovering in the hospital after attempting to take her own life wh=
ile jailed for the vast majority of the past year in what one United Nation=
s expert has=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/31/u=
n-expert-calls-detention-chelsea-manning-open-ended-progressively-severe-co=
ercive" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line=
:none" target=3D"_blank">denounced</a>=C2=A0as &quot;an open-ended, progres=
sively severe coercive measure amounting to torture.&quot;</font></p><p sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:inherit;float:right;font-size:18px;font-variant-numeric:no=
rmal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:700;line-height:24px;margin=
-bottom:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px 0px 20px 20px;text-align:right;width=
:263.35px"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">&quot;In spite o=
f... over a year of so-called &#39;coercive&#39; incarceration and nearly h=
alf a million dollars in threatened fines=E2=80=94she remains unwavering in=
 her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that she sees as=
 highly susceptible to abuse.&quot;<br style=3D"box-sizing:inherit">=E2=80=
=94Legal team of whistleblower Chelsea Manning</font></p><p style=3D"box-si=
zing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">In a statemen=
t, Manning&#39;s lawyers highlighted a letter that United Nations Special R=
apporteur on Torture Nils Melzer=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.o=
rg/news/2019/12/31/un-expert-calls-detention-chelsea-manning-open-ended-pro=
gressively-severe-coercive" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;=
text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">sent</a>=C2=A0to the United St=
ates government in November 2019 recommending that Manning &quot;be release=
d without further delay, and that any fines disproportionate to the gravity=
 of any offense she may have committed be cancelled or reimbursed.&quot;</f=
ont></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"geo=
rgia, serif">With the=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/201=
9/05/17/unprecedented-judge-orders-chelsea-manning-jailed-imposes-daily-500=
-fine-after-30" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decorat=
ion-line:none" target=3D"_blank">exception</a>=C2=A0of a one-week period in=
 May 2019, Manning=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/0=
3/08/i-will-not-comply-chelsea-manning-sent-back-prison-over-grand-jury-ref=
usal" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:n=
one" target=3D"_blank">has been jailed</a>=C2=A0at the William G. Truesdale=
 Adult Detention Center in Alexandria, Virginia since March 8, 2019 for her=
 refusal to testify to a grand jury about WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian=
 Assange, who is currently=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/new=
s/2019/12/16/100-doctors-demand-julian-assange-receive-safe-passage-austral=
ian-hospital-it-too" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-de=
coration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">detained</a>=C2=A0in London and=C2=A0=
<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/24/hearing-begins-righ=
ts-groups-warn-extraditing-assange-us-would-deal-body-blow-press" style=3D"=
box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"=
_blank">fighting</a>=C2=A0the U.S. government&#39;s attempt to extradite hi=
m.</font></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=
=3D"georgia, serif">Manning, who served in the U.S. Army, was first detaine=
d in 2010 and convicted under the Espionage Act in 2013 for leaking U.S. go=
vernment and military materials to WikiLeaks. She was released in May 2017,=
 about four months after outgoing President Barack Obama commuted the remai=
nder of her 35-year prison sentence.</font></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inher=
it"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">During periods of her i=
nitial imprisonment and part of the past year, Manning has sometimes=C2=A0<=
a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/04/thank-frickin-god-ch=
elsea-manning-released-solitary-confinement" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;ba=
ckground:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">been held</a>=
=C2=A0in solitary confinement. Despite the conditions of her current detent=
ion, Manning<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/02/chelsea=
-manning-says-she-never-backing-down-face-us-detention-meant-break-her" sty=
le=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none" targ=
et=3D"_blank">=C2=A0has vowed</a>=C2=A0to not testify before the grand jury=
, even considering the risk to her own safety; Wednesday=C2=A0<a href=3D"ht=
tps://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/25/torture-plain-and-simple-chelsea=
-mannings-supporters-demand-her-release-solitary" style=3D"box-sizing:inher=
it;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blank">was not<=
/a>=C2=A0the first time she has attempted suicide.</font></p><p style=3D"bo=
x-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">In a 2019=
 letter to the judge in her case, Manning wrote that &quot;I object to this=
 grand jury... as an effort to frighten journalists and publishers, who ser=
ve a crucial public good. I have had these values since I was a child, and =
I&#39;ve had years of confinement to reflect on them. For much of that time=
, I depended for survival on my values, my decisions, and my conscience. I =
will not abandon them now.&quot;</font></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit">=
<font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Last month, Manning&#39;s l=
awyers=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/19/chelsea=
-mannings-lawyers-demand-her-release-decry-punitive-incarceration" style=3D=
"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D=
"_blank">filed</a>=C2=A0a motion for her release, arguing that her continue=
d &quot;incarceration is not serving its only permissible purpose&quot; of =
coercing her testimony and is clearly punitive. Manning could serve a total=
 of 18 months behind bars if she maintains her refusal to testify.</font></=
p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, =
serif">Manning&#39;s legal team said in the Wednesday statement that she &q=
uot;is still scheduled to appear on Friday for a previously-calendared hear=
ing, at which Judge Anthony Trenga will rule on a motion to terminate the c=
ivil contempt sanctions stemming from her May 2019 refusal to give testimon=
y before a grand jury investigating the publication of her 2010 disclosures=
.&quot;</font></p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" f=
ace=3D"georgia, serif">&quot;In spite of those sanctions=E2=80=94which have=
 so far included over a year of so-called &#39;coercive&#39; incarceration =
and nearly half a million dollars in threatened fines=E2=80=94she remains u=
nwavering in her refusal to participate in a secret grand jury process that=
 she sees as highly susceptible to abuse,&quot; the statement said.</font><=
/p><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"></p><div style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"></=
div><p style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia=
, serif">The attorneys added that &quot;her actions today evidence the stre=
ngth of her convictions, as well as the profound harm she continues to suff=
er as a result of her &#39;civil&#39; confinement.&quot;</font></p><p style=
=3D"box-sizing:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">The=
 news of Manning&#39;s suicide attempt provoked an outpouring of love for t=
he whistleblower and renewed calls for her immediate release:</font></p><di=
v align=3D"center" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit"></div><p style=3D"box-sizin=
g:inherit"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><em style=3D"box=
-sizing:inherit">The=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/=
" style=3D"box-sizing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none"=
 target=3D"_blank">National Suicide Prevention Lifeline</a>=C2=A0is<span st=
yle=3D"box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:700">=C2=A01-800-273-TALK (8255)=C2=
=A0</span>and the<a href=3D"https://www.crisistextline.org/" style=3D"box-s=
izing:inherit;background:0px 0px;text-decoration-line:none" target=3D"_blan=
k">=C2=A0Crisis Text Line</a>=C2=A0is=C2=A0<span style=3D"box-sizing:inheri=
t;font-weight:700">741741</span>. Both offer=C2=A0</em><em style=3D"box-siz=
ing:inherit"><em style=3D"box-sizing:inherit">24/7, free, and confidential =
support.</em></em></font></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>

<p></p>

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