By Stephen C. Webster Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 -- 3:37 pm
On the same day that a major human rights organization issued a scathing report on Bush-era prisoner abuses, the United Nations alleged that the United States had violated a "long-standing" rule meant to prevent the torture of prisoners, by denying an official access to Pvt. Bradley Manning, the lone soldier accused of turning over secret documents to WikiLeaks.
Juan Mendez, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on torture, criticized the U.S. government for preventing a meeting with Manning, meant to ascertain whether the conditions of the soldier's confinement constituted torture. He insisted that an unmonitored meeting is standard practice around the world.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, that's something even Bush officials permitted (PDF) for their alleged high value al Qaeda detainees, but Manning seems to be a special case for the Obama administration.
"At the Special Rapporteur’s request and after several meetings, the US Department of Defense has allowed Mendez to visit Pfc. Manning but warned him that the conversation would be monitored," a prepared statement from the U.N. Human Rights Commission explained.
"Such a condition violates long-standing rules that the UN applies for prison visits and for interviews with inmates everywhere in the world. On humanitarian grounds and under protest, Mendez offered to Manning, through his counsel, to visit him under these restrictive conditions, an offer that Manning has declined."
“The United States, as a world leader, is a strong supporter of the international human rights system," Mendez is quoted as saying. "Therefore, its actions must seek to set the pace in good practices that enhance the role of human rights mechanisms, ensuring and maintaining unfettered access to detainees during enquiries."
Despite repeated petitions from Mendez, the U.S. has continued to refuse an unmonitored visit for Manning and insists his detention at Ft. Leavenworth is consistent with human rights standards.
A United Nations special rapporteur on torture claims U.S. authorities refused to give him access to Army Private Bradley Manning, 23, the lone soldier accused of leaking secret files to WikiLeaks.
Juan Mendez, the U.N. representative on torture, said he had visited numerous other nations where he'd been allowed unmonitored communications with prisoners. The U.S. Department of Defense on Friday, however, denied his request to visit with Manning, saying he may not speak with the soldier unless a government monitor is present.
The difference between those two is that "official" visits by a U.N. special rapporteur on torture must be unmonitored. In a monitored conversation, anything Manning says could be used against him before a military court.
"[For] my part, a monitored conversation would not comply with the practices that my mandate applies in every country and detention center visited," Mendez said.
"I am insisting the US government lets me see him without witnesses," he told The Guardian. "I am asking [the U.S. government] to reconsider."
The paper noted that the reprimand of U.S. authorities was something usually reserved for dictatorial regimes.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) had a similar experience when he requested a meeting with Manning.
"I put in a request to the secretary of defense, who referred me to the secretary of the army, who referred me to the secretary of the navy, who referred me to the secretary of defense, and still not an answer on whether or not I can visit Private Manning," Rep. Kucinich explained to radio host Scott Horton on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, during a recent broadcast of Antiwar Radio.
He previously announced he would visit Manning to investigate reports that he had been subjected to abuse while in custody.
Manning attorney David Coombs revealed recently that on many nights, the Army private has been "stripped naked" for as long as seven hours at a time. In the mornings, he was left without clothes and forced to stand at attention.
"No one held prisoner anywhere in America should be tortured," Rep. Kucinich told Horton. "And the fact that he’s awaiting trial and they’re doing this to him raises serious questions about our criminal justice process. And I’m going to continue my efforts to address the plight of Private Manning and to try to stop this outrageous treatment of him."
Manning has been held at the prison since July under a maximum security regimen, which leaves him in his cell for 23 hours a day, because authorities say his escape would pose a risk to national security.
Kucinich has promised that there will be "consequences" for how the soldier is being treated. He and hundreds of other legal experts, authors, scholars and former government employees -- and even President Obama's former constitutional law professor at Harvard -- have all called the conditions of Manning's detention an "illegal" punishment for an American not yet convicted of a crime.
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