Category: Chelsea Manning
ACCA affirms Manning’s conviction and sentence – but the legal case doesn’t end here
The US Army Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld Chelsea Manning’s convictions and sentencing, in a 26-page ruling released this week. The ruling will not have come as a surprise to Chelsea’s lawyers, Vincent Ward and Nancy Hollander, who have indicated that the appeal will now go to the next stage, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
Democracy Now! spent their full show interviewing Chelsea Manning about her time in Iraq, releasing documents to WikiLeaks, her experience in prison, and now running for US Senate in Maryland.
About the Collateral Murder video, Chelsea said, “This is not unusual. This was not some freak incident. This is what war is, in a nutshell.”
On solitary confinement, she said, “Nothing justifies doing this to any human being.”
Chelsea Manning is free and all over the news, gracing the cover of The New York Times Magazine, appearing on ABC News, and getting tons of love on Twitter and Instagram. Amid all of this fantastic new press, it’s easy to forget that her legal battle is not over. Chelsea is appealing her conviction — Obama’s commutation cut her sentence to time served but left her felony record intact — and her case remains incredibly important, for Chelsea personally but also for the US at large: her appeal, with supporting briefs from ACLU and Amnesty International, is challenging the disastrous, over-broad Espionage Act, which the Trump Administration is already using against Reality Winner.
To take this huge case on, Chelsea needs our help. A cohort of supportive NGOs have joined us to kickstart Chelsea’s legal appeal fundraiser. Now we want to boost that with a surge of crowdsourced donations. A great way to raise some funds, get together with fellow supporters, and spread the word about Chelsea’s appeal is to throw a party in Chelsea’s honour.
TransCyberian is a Paris party series combining noise music and crypto/hacker culture. TransCyberian will now happen in Berlin for the first time will host privacy workshops, live music, and DJ sets at the hacker space C-base in Berlin, and they’re generously donating all proceeds of this first event to Chelsea Manning’s legal fund. Diani Barreto, a Courage staffer in Berlin, will give an update on Chelsea’s case. See more information about the event here.
Throw your own party, or if you’ve already got something planned, as TransCyberian did, you can dedicate it to Chelsea. You could have pizza and champagne, in tribute to Chelsea’s first Instagram photos out of prison. You can have speakers and workshops that examine Chelsea’s case and related issues, or you can host a musical performance and collect contributions at the door — however you do it, the donation and effort will be greatly appreciated.
Courage can help! If it’s logistically feasible, if you’re near London, Berlin or New York, we’re happy to send a Courage representative to your party to speak about her appeal or pass out stickers and posters.
Get in touch with us to talk about a party near you, getting a Courage representative to your event, or anything else we can help with: Courage.Contact@couragefound.org
Reacting to the news that President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, Courage Trustee Vivienne Westwood said:
Let’s dance and sing and scream and shout, Chelsea Manning is let out!
Courage Trustee John Pilger said:
Barack Obama, no doubt in the spirit of cynicism and opportunism that has characterised his presidency, has released Chelsea Manning – whom he declared guilty even before Chelsea’s travesty of a trial was over. This is wonderful news and justice for Chelsea, a hero of our times. Now Julian Assange, whose struggle for justice is also a universal struggle, should be set free unconditionally.
Courage Trustee Renata Avila said:
When Chelsea Manning was arrested, I tried to activate the Interamerican System of Human Rights for her protection. The response was a timid statement, only in December 2010, and only when her revelations were under unprecedented extrajudicial censorship. The regional human rights protections failed. Likewise, neither Amnesty International nor Human Rights Watch would advocate for her and the other people subject to political persecution and a secret grand jury for years.
This is a lesson for the time to come. We need expedite, efficient, resourceful and above all, free and fearless mechanisms to protect whistleblowers. They are risking their entire life and future. As Chelsea, they risk their lives. They can´t wait. Let´s all work in solidarity for all cases against journalists and whistleblowers to be immediately shut down.
Courage Trustee Susan Benn said:
Chelsea Manning certainly deserves her freedom after facing inhumane cruel treatment in a male prison for almost seven years, all condoned by Obama. This President has issued an unprecedented number of prosecutions of whistleblowers during his time in the White House as well as an extensive ongoing Grand Jury investigation, held in secret, of the activities of Julian Assange. This investigation should now be closed.
After nearly seven years in unjust and abusive confinement, heroic WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning will be free on 17 May 2017. President Obama has commuted Chelsea’s sentence, releasing her from prison in five months’ time but leaving her conviction intact.
The whistleblower turns 29 as she awaits Obama’s response to clemency request
Imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning turns 29 today, her seventh birthday in prison, just days after a White House petition calling on President Obama to grant her time served has reached 100,000 signers, forcing the White House to respond.
Chelsea’s year has been marked by prison punishment, outrage at her treatment and widespread support for her freedom and proper medical care for her gender dysphoria. Chelsea attempted to commit suicide earlier this year, feeling her fight for adequate treatment was futile. In response, rather than providing Chelsea with what she desperately needs, Fort Leavenworth punished Chelsea with solitary confinement for the attempt. When that punishment was enforced without warning, Chelsea made a second attempt on her life.
Since then, Chelsea has been resilient and inspiring, reinvigorating her dual fights, for rights for trans prisoners and for her freedom. She has written eloquently throughout 2016 for a Medium column on her progress and feelings. On her medical care battle, she wrote,
The bottom-line is this: I need help and I am still not getting it. I am living through a cycle of anxiety, anger, hopelessness, loss, and depression. I cannot focus. I cannot sleep. I attempted to take my own life. When the USDB placed me in solitary confinement as punishment for the attempted suicide, I tried it again because the feeling of hopelessness was so immense. This has served as a reminder to me that any lack of treatment can kill me, so I must keep fighting a battle that I wish every day would just end.
In May, Chelsea’s legal team has launched an appeal with the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, protesting the “grossly unjust” 35-year prison sentence. In November, the team petitioned President Obama for clemency, asking for her to be released on six years of time served.
Asking for clemency, Chelsea wrote,
I have served a sufficiently long sentence. I am not asking for a pardon of my conviction. I understand that the various collateral consequences of the court-martial conviction will stay on my record forever. The sole relief I am asking for is to be released from military prison after serving six years of confinement as a person who did not intend to harm the interests of the United States or harm any service members.
I am merely asking for a first chance to live my life outside the USDB as the person I was born to be.
This month, the White House petition for Chelsea’s clemency topped 100,000 signatures, which means the Obama Administration must respond to the request. Her freedom is long overdue.
Celebrations of Chelsea’s birthday are taking place around the world: connect with fellow supporters near you.
Write Chelsea a birthday card: here’s more information on how to write.
The legal team for Chelsea Manning, imprisoned WikiLeaks whistleblower, has petitioned US President Barack Obama to reduce her prison sentence to time served. Chelsea has already spent six years in confinement, longer than any other US leaker in history. In 2013, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted on several counts under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
In a statement accompanying the clemency petition, Chelsea wrote,
I am not asking for a pardon of my conviction. I understand that the various collateral consequences of the court-martial conviction will stay on my record forever. The sole relief I am asking for is to be released from military prison after serving six years of confinement as a person who did not intend to harm the interests of the United States or harm any service members.
The New York Times reports that Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, former military commissions chief prosecutor Morris Davis and Intercept journalist Glenn Greenwald submitted letters of support for Manning’s clemency.
Chelsea’s legal team, in a letter introducing the petition, emphasized Manning’s intention to “rais[e] public awareness about issues she found concerning, including the impact of war on innocent civilians.”
President Obama has overseen a broad crackdown on whistleblowers, using the Espionage Act to prosecute leakers more than twice as often as all previous presidents combined and initiating an ‘Insider Threat’ programme to root out potential disclosures ahead of time.
However, Obama has used his power of clemency to reduce the sentences of 774 inmates. Just last month, Obama granted clemency to 102 more prisoners, bringing 2016’s total to 590.
Granting clemency to Chelsea Manning, a heroic truth teller who exposed scores of atrocities and abuses despite knowing she was putting her life on the line, and who has inspired people across the globe with her courageous battle for trans rights in prison, is Obama’s final opportunity to begin to reverse his legacy on whistleblowers.
It would also be a chance to signal the proper way to treat truthtellers before the presidency of Donald Trump, who assumes the office on 20 January 2017. While Trump made opportunestic use of WikiLeaks’ 2016 disclosures of DNC emails, it’s unclear how whistleblowers will fare under a Trump administration.
Trump has yet to name his full cabinet but has floated names for various positions. For Attorney General, Trump could choose Chris Christie or Jeff Sessions, right-wing Republicans. For Secretary of State, Trump is considering, among others, John Bolton and Rudolph Giuliani. Exactly how these officials execute Trump’s worldview is yet to be seen, but we expect an even harder fight for transparency, accountability and protection for whistleblowers in the years to come.