January 18, 2017

Chelsea Manning to walk free; but there's more justice to be served

editor:	FAIRPLANET

With just days left in his presidential term, President Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning's 35-year jail sentence.

Manning had been serving her sentence in a maximum security prison after releasing information that pointed to potential crimes under international law and human rights violations by the U.S. military.

Manning's release is long overdue. As Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA argues, "it is unconscionable that she languished in prison for years while those allegedly implicated by the information she revealed still haven’t been brought to justice.”

“Instead of punishing the messenger, the U.S. government can send a strong signal to the world that it is serious about investigating the human rights violations exposed by the leaks and bringing all those suspected of criminal responsible to justice in fair trials,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

Manning was not allowed to present evidence that she had been acting in the public interest at trial, and was detained prior to her trial in conditions that the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture deemed to be cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. She was put in solitary confinement after a suicide attempt while serving her sentence.

Along with this maltreatment, Manning began her gender transition following her sentencing, but was not provided "critical and appropriate treatment related to her gender identity at various points during her incarceration", according to Amnesty International.

Manning's released - scheduled for May this year - is good news for organisations like Amnesty fighting for justice for whistleblowers who act in the public interest.

But there is still work to be done.

Amnesty says Edward Snowden should be next on President Obama's pardon list.

They also point out that "Manning’s sentence of 35 years was much longer than other members of the military convicted of charges such as murder, rape and war crimes, as well as any others who were convicted of leaking classified materials to the public".

And still those implicated by the materials Manning release have not been brought to justice.