Ann Clwyd MP, Chair of the PHRG, has condemned the US military proceedings against US Marine Bradley Manning, who is accused of leaking sensitive government data to the website WikiLeaks. The PHRG also sent a letter today to the Foreign Secretary calling on him to press the US authorities to allow the Special Rapporteur on Torture unimpeded access to Bradley Manning and for the British embassy in Washington DC to have a presence at any legal proceedings against Manning, in acknowledgement of his British citizenship.

The full press release is below:

PRESS RELEASE: Ann Clwyd MP condemns US Military proceedings against Bradley Manning

Ann Clwyd MP, condemns the US Military proceedings against US Marine Bradley Manning. Attempts by Ann Clwyd, MP to visit Manning were repeatedly denied. Manning stands accused of leaking sensitive US military and diplomatic data to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Ann Clwyd, MP said:

“Bradley Manning is carrying the can for repeated mistakes by the US Military. Manning should never have been sent to Iraq in the first place. He should have been discharged from the army, as was originally intended. The people who should be on trial are the people who ignored the medical evidence. They sent a vulnerable young man to deal with sensitive classified information – they were negligent.

Manning has been held for over a year and a half. He has been held without trial, much of it under conditions so harsh that the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture felt compelled to publicly express his concerns. He has been denied unrestricted access to Manning by the US Government. It was only international pressure that saw Manning moved to a prison with better conditions.

Efforts to break Bradley Manning are really about getting at Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Manning is a pawn in a bigger struggle about transparency in government – what prosecutors really want is for Manning to implicate Assange in a conspiracy to discredit the US government.

There are real and legitimate concerns about Manning getting a fair trial. The defence team were only allowed a few of the witnesses they wished to call. The prosecution witnesses have all been called.

It is now clear that this was a troubled young man who should never have been given access to classified information. Those who allowed this access were grossly negligent and have only themselves to blame. I believe his actions have inadvertently served as a spark for the emerging Arab Spring and the dramatic changes we are seeing across the Middle East.

I have written today to the Foreign Secretary, calling on him to urge the US authorities to allow the Special Rapporteur on Torture unimpeded access to Bradley Manning. I have also pressed for the British embassy in Washington DC to have a presence at any legal proceedings against Manning, in acknowledgement of his British citizenship.”

21 December 2011