Over the last day the treatment of Bradley Manning at Quantico has gotten even worse. After reading this, I'm not sure that anyone will be able to deny that Manning's captors are violating his human rights in order to make him crack. David E. Coombs, Manning's lawyer, reported on his blog yesterday that on Wednesday night prison guards took away Manning's clothing and forced him to remain naked in his cell all night, not returning his clothing on Thursday morning until after he had to stand at attention, completely naked, for a cell head count.
From Coombs's report:
Last night, PFC Manning was inexplicably stripped of all clothing by the Quantico Brig. He remained in his cell, naked, for the next seven hours. At 5:00 a.m., the Brig sounded the wake-up call for the detainees. At this point, PFC Manning was forced to stand naked at the front of his cell.
The Duty Brig Supervisor (DBS) arrived shortly after 5:00 a.m. When he arrived, PFC Manning was called to attention. The DBS walked through the facility to conduct his detainee count. Afterwards, PFC Manning was told to sit on his bed. About ten minutes later, a guard came to his cell to return his clothing.
Before anyone here denies it or says we can't trust the word of Manning's lawyer: the information in his report was verified by the New York Times:
First Lt. Brian Villiard, a Marine spokesman, said a brig duty supervisor had ordered Private Manning’s clothing taken from him. He said that the step was “not punitive” and that it was in accordance with brig rules, but he said that he was not allowed to say more.
“It would be inappropriate for me to explain it,” Lieutenant Villiard said. “I can confirm that it did happen, but I can’t explain it to you without violating the detainee’s privacy.”
Violating the detainee's privacy? What the hell do they call forcing him to stand naked at the front of his cell?
Don't forget that nudity has been used as a form of abuse by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere throughout history. For example, let's use the (not so) way back machine and visit the New York Times on June 8, 2004. In a report on the use of nudity against Iraqi prisoners, the NYT report had this to say:
While nudity as a disciplinary or coercive tool may be especially objectionable to Muslims, they are hardly the only victims of the practice. Soldiers in Nazi Germany paraded naked prisoners in daylight, and human rights groups have documented the use of nudity during conflicts in Egypt, Chile and Turkey, and in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. Central Intelligence Agency training manuals from the 1960's and 1980's taught the stripping of prisoners as an interrogation tool. Nudity and sexual humiliation have also been reported in American prisons where a number of guards at Abu Ghraib worked in their civilian lives.
Perhaps someone would care to explain why a prisoner under tight control and maximum security in U.S. military custody would suddenly be denied the very basic human comfort of being allowed to wear clothes at night? What reason could there possibly be except to humiliate him and put pressure on him to crack?
The treatment of Bradley Manning has been beyond unconscionable. This has to stop.
Update: Commenter suejazz points us to two useful resources we should refer to whenever we have a discussion about solitary confinement, whether it is Manning's case or that of anyone else: the article by Dr. Atul Gawande from the New Yorker magazine, where he lays out a persuasive case that solitary confinement is in fact a form of torture, and a discussion with Dr. Gawande on Democracy Now! about this fact.