California Voters Bare Skin to Demand that Sen. Feinstein Speak Out Against Torture on Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Contact: Rae Abileah, 415-994-1723, rae@codepink.org
California
Voters Bare Skin to Demand that Sen. Feinstein Speak Out Against
Torture on Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning
SAN
FRANCISCO
– From 8-9 am this morning, Tuesday, March 22, a mother of an Iraq
veteran and more than a dozen activists with CODEPINK stripped and
stood outside Senator Feinstein's office on Tuesday morning during rush
hour traffic to
dramatize the mistreatment of Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, suspected
WikiLeaks whistleblower.
PHOTOS are available for download: http://bit.ly/ez15n3 VIDEO footage on youtube: http://bit.ly/dWXxLO "When
it comes to WikiLeaks exposure of the truth about war, and the current
mistreatment of Pvt. Manning, we are appalled at the silence and
complacency coming from top governmental leadership,
from President Obama to our Congressional leaders, Senator Feinstein,
Senator Boxer, and Congresswoman Pelosi," said CODEPINK organizer Toby
Blome.
Wearing
Bradley
Manning masks, and stripping down to their bare skin, nearly a
dozen activists stood in the cold early morning weather, with messages
to the public to
awaken them to the injustice and humiliation done to Bradley. The
activists held up signs that read, "Manning: Stripped of his Rights"
"Wikileaks Exposed the Naked Truth About War" "War Crimes are Obscene -
Whistleblowers are Honorable" and "Feinstein: Exposing War Crimes is
Not a Crime".
Bradley
Manning has been held in solitary confinement for over 10 months,
with no trial date set, and under very harsh conditions. He is forced to
strip naked before he goes to sleep at night; he is not allowed to nap
during the day; and the only meaningful exercise that he gets is the one
hour a day he is allowed out of his cell to walk in figure
eights.
After
meeting with Sen. Feinstein's staff and leaving numerous voicemail
messages over the last two weeks requesting a response from the
Senator, CODEPINK activists finally received Sen. Feinstein's official reply, through her
aide, Mr. Molinari on Monday, March 21, who said, "She doesn't want to get involved," and "We're not going to get involved."
"When
our
government fails to ensure our constitutional rights, it is a
direct assault on our democracy," said Chelsea Byers, a 21 year old
college student and CODEPINK activist living in San Francisco. "In
outrage over this injustice and
in solidarity with Bradley, we bore our skin to the elements, exposing
the vulnerability and humiliation that Bradley endures on a daily
basis."
Bradley
Manning's mother, who
perhaps would have been the one most likely to come forward on
Manning's
behalf, has significant speech limitations due to multiple strokes.
"Today we stand with Bradley and today we stand with Bradley's mother,"
said mother and CODEPINK activist Leslie Angeline. ### |