Bradley Manning’s health deteriorating in jail, supporters say
Guardian, Thursday 16 December 2010
By Heather Brooke

The intelligence analyst suspected of leaking US diplomatic cables is being held in solitary confinement

As Julian Assange emerged from his nine-day imprisonment, there were renewed concerns about the physical and psychological health of Bradley Manning, the former US intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the diplomatic cables at the centre of the storm.

Manning, who was arrested seven months ago, is being held at a military base in Virginia and faces a court martial and up to 52 years in prison for his alleged role in copying the cables.

His friends and supporters also claim they have been the target of extra-judicial harassment, intimidation and outright bribery by US government agents.

According to David House, a computer researcher from Boston who visits Manning twice a month, he is starting to deteriorate. “Over the last few weeks I have noticed a steady decline in his mental and physical wellbeing,” he said. “His prolonged confinement in a solitary holding cell is unquestionably taking its toll on his intellect; his inability to exercise due to [prison] regulations has affected his physical appearance in a manner that suggests physical weakness.”

Manning, House added, was no longer the characteristically brilliant man he had been, despite efforts to keep him intellectually engaged. He also disputed the authorities’ claims that Manning was being kept in solitary for his own good.

“I initially believed that his time in solitary confinement was a decision made in the interests of his safety,” he said. “As time passed and his suicide watch was lifted, to no effect, it became clear that his time in solitary – and his lack of a pillow, sheets, the freedom to exercise, or the ability to view televised current events – were enacted as a means of punishment rather than a means of safety.”

House said many people were reluctant to talk about Manning’s condition because of government harassment, including surveillance, warrantless computer seizures, and even bribes. “This has had such an intimidating effect that many are afraid to speak out on his behalf,” House said.

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Here are a few links to the Vatican articles I worked on (Sorry for delayed posting).

Vatican refused to engage with child sex abuse inquiry
11 Dec 2010: Leaked cable lays bare how Irish government was forced to grant Vatican officials immunity from testifying to Murphy commission.

Pope wanted Muslim Turkey kept out of EU
10 Dec 2010: Vatican diplomats also lobbied against Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and wanted ‘Christian roots’ enshrined in EU constitution.

Pope helped to free British sailors held by Iran, WikiLeaks cables show
10 Dec 2010: Leaked cables show UK diplomats were reluctant to give pontiff credit for release of 15 sailors held for a fortnight in 2007.

Pope’s offer to Anglicans risked ‘violence against Catholics’
11 Dec 2010: British ambassador warned that pontiff’s invitation to disaffected Anglicans to convert left relations with Vatican at 150-year low

WikiLeaks cables: Saudi princes throw parties boasting drink, drugs and sex
Guardian, Tuesday 7 December 2010
By Heather Brooke

Royals flout puritanical laws to throw parties for young elite while religious police are forced to turn a blind eye

In what may prove a particularly incendiary cable, US diplomats describe a world of sex, drugs and rock’n'roll behind the official pieties of Saudi Arabian royalty.

Jeddah consulate officials described an underground Halloween party, thrown last year by a member of the royal family, which broke all the country’s Islamic taboos. Liquor and prostitutes were present in abundance, according to leaked dispatches, behind the heavily-guarded villa gates.

The party was thrown by a wealthy prince from the large Al-Thunayan family. The diplomats said his identity should be kept secret. A US energy drinks company also put up some of the finance.

“Alcohol, though strictly prohibited by Saudi law and custom, was plentiful at the party’s well-stocked bar. The hired Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch using sadiqi, a locally-made moonshine,” the cable said. “It was also learned through word-of-mouth that a number of the guests were in fact ‘working girls’, not uncommon for such parties.”

The dispatch from the US partygoers, signed off by the consul in Jeddah, Martin Quinn, added: “Though not witnessed directly at this event, cocaine and hashish use is common in these social circles.”
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WikiLeaks cables: Bradley Manning faces 52 years in jail
Guardian, 30 November 2010
By Robert Booth, Heather Brooke and Steven Morris

Bradley Manning, a US army intelligence analyst, is suspected of leaking more than 250,000 diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Bradley Manning will wake up tomorrow, at a military base in Virginia, to his 189th day in custody for the alleged leak of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

Manning, 23, a US army intelligence analyst brought up in the Oklahoma Bible belt and west Wales, is locked up with about half a dozen others in the marine-run facility in Quantico. He has had access to TV news and briefings from his lawyer, but little can have prepared him for the fury of the government he served about the impact of the cables leak.

Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, said it “tore at the fabric of government” and pledged “aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information”. Republicans branded it terrorism.

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