A suicide attempt by Wikileaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning may add further punishments to the 35-year sentence she is already serving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Manning received an Army charge sheet yesterday, July 28, listing “administrative offenses” in connection with the attempt on July 5. She could face charges of resisting prison staff, possession of prohibited property, and the ludicrously obvious accusation of life-threatening conduct.
If convicted, she could face solitary confinement for the remainder of her term, transfer to a maximum security jail, an additional nine years on her sentence and loss of parole.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reacted angrily, pointing out that Manning is still under medical care after the incident and, as a transgender woman, is being held in an all-male prison. Its strongly worded press release said:
“It is deeply troubling that Chelsea is now being subjected to an investigation and possible punishment for her attempt to take her life. The government has long been aware of Chelsea’s distress associated with the denial of medical care related to her gender transition and yet delayed and denied the treatment recognized as necessary.
…Now, while Chelsea is suffering the darkest depression she has experienced since her arrest, the government is taking actions to punish her for that pain.”
Fight For The Future, an activist group that promotes civil rights and free speech, joined in the condemnation. Campaign director Evan Greer added to the ACLU press release:
“The U.S. government’s treatment of Chelsea is a travesty. Those in charge should know that the whole world is watching, and we won’t stand idly by while this administration continues to harass and abuse Chelsea Manning.”
Manning was convicted in a July 2013 court martial of for violating the Espionage Act and other offenses, after passing around 750,000 documents labeled classified and sensitive to Wikileaks, which she accessed while working as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq.
Manning announced the day after her conviction that she identified as a transgender woman and wanted to be known henceforth as Chelsea Manning. She was charged and tried under her former name of Bradley Edward Manning.
Her gender confusion has clearly caused her immense pain, especially while serving in a macho military environment. In April 2010 she confided in an email to her staff supervisor:
“This is my problem. I’ve had signs of it for a very long time. It’s caused problems within my family. I thought a career in the military would get rid of it. It’s not something I seek out for attention, and I’ve been trying very, very hard to get rid of it by placing myself in situations where it would be impossible. But, it’s not going away; it’s haunting me more and more as I get older.”
She was arrested the following month and put on suicide watch soon after her incarceration. After her transfer back to the U.S. she was placed in solitary confinement, and repeated requests to be treated as a woman were denied or ignored. Juan Mendez, a UN special reporter on torture, has described her treatment in custody as cruel, inhuman and degrading.
However, Manning has seemed determined to stay true to her principles. In an interview with Amnesty International in 2014 she said:
“In Iraq in 2009-10, life felt very cheap. It became overwhelming to see the sheer number of people suffering and dying, and the learned indifference to it by everybody around me, including the Iraqis themselves. That really changed my perspective on my life, and made me realize that speaking out about injustices is worth the risk.”
Watch this RT video for more information about Chelsea Manning’s current situation:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
