A coalition of progressive organizations took to Capitol Hill on Tuesday with a petition calling on the US military to drop new charges it is filing against Chelsea Manning.
The private first class turned Wikileaks source is facing a hearing that same day at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after she was discovered to be in possession of out-of-date toothpaste and reading material—transgressions that the military could use to place her into solitary confinement indefinitely.
The petition, which was initiated by the group Fight for the Future, garnered 75,000 signatures. It had the backing of pro-peace and digital rights organizations such as Demand Progress, CodePink, and RootsAction.org.
Manning announced on her Twitter over the weekend that the US military had denied her access to the prison’s law library ahead of the hearing.
“The whole system is rigged against her,” said Nancy Hollander, one of Manning’s defense attorneys. “She cannot have a lawyer to assist her; she cannot prepare her own defense; and the hearing will be secret. This harassment and abuse must end and we are grateful for the support from the public to demand justice for Chelsea Manning.”
David Swanson, the campaign coordinator at RootsAction.org claimed that “the US military in effect is threatening to torture a young woman for having the wrong toothpaste and magazine.”
“Our petition demanding relief from this latest injustice for Manning has been the fastest-starting petition we’ve ever had, and it’s full of eloquent comments from thousands of people who by all rights should have been past the point of outrage overload,” he added.
In 2013, Manning was dishonorably discharged from the military and sentenced to 35 years in prison after she was convicted of violating federal laws by giving hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables, and raw reports on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the prison at Guantanamo Bay to Wikileaks. She is eligible for parole in eight years.
“Perhaps the military thought that now that Chelsea is behind bars she’s been forgotten, but the tens of thousands who signed this petition are proving them wrong,” said Fight for the Future’s campaign director Evan Greer.
“Chelsea Manning is a hero and the whole world is watching the U.S. government’s deplorable treatment of whistleblowers, transgender people, and prison inmates in general,” he added.
The documents Manning leaked went on to serve as the basis for numerous reports published by major newspapers including the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel.
The petition was delivered to an Army legislative liaison in the Capitol.
