Aberdeenshire East
Tuesday 6 August 2013
I am writing to in your position of 1st minister of Scotland to express my deep regret that on reading the recent letter sent to President Obama from european parliamentarians I did not see the name of a single Scottish MP.
This I find very alarming.
As the letter clearly states and I quote;
"In his defense against those charges to which he pleaded not guilty, PFC Manning was not permitted to bring any evidence of motivation. And in a statement calling on the court to allow a ‘public interest’ defense, Amnesty International said that this was ‘disturbing…as he has said he reasonably believed he was exposing human rights and humanitarian law violations. Moreover, the prosecution provided no evidence that PFC Manning caused harm to U.S. national security or to US and NATO troops."
During his time in captivity awaiting trial, this young soldier has been subjected to inhumane & degrading treatment as has been reported by Jeun Mendez the UN special rapporteur who has formally accused the US of treatments that reflect torture and abuse of Bradley Manning's human rights.
And yet out of 17 European parliamentarian signatories representing 8 countries not 1 Scottish MEP has had the decency to stand up and defend this young American soldier who has British citizenship by dissent on his mothers side.
"Bradley Manning was witness to the wrong doing of the U.S. military & he acted in accordance with international law and with a strong commitment to truth, transparency and democracy." as the letter states and the wrong doings represent war crimes in Afghanistan & Iraq was in which the British army were involved as Allies & worked alongside the US army.
Bradley Manning also released information about the men who continue to be wrongly held in indefinite detention at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo, Cuba including British detainee Shaker Aamer who has been cleared for release twice but remains in the Guantanamo prisoner camp & who is reported to being regularly tortured and force fed while on hunger strike.
These issues, and others that reflect gross mal behaviors as shown by the Cablegate releases reflect serious & intolerable situations being carried out by the US goverment & indeed, incriminate the UK goverment not only in issues related to war crimes as the US's closest ally, but by the collaborating reports of UK forces being involved in torture as reflected in various news reports & the MOD investigation into allegations of sexual abuse & torture & the Al-Sweady inquiry 2008.
As the letter from the signatories of the letter to President Obama state,
"Bradley Manning’s courageous action, for which he has three times been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was an inspiration to others, including Edward Snowden, who recently revealed massive U.S. government surveillance in the U.S. and also against European governments and citizens.
In addition the letter raises & reflects concerns "that the U.S. administration’s war on whistle-blowers such as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning is a deterrent to the process of democracy in both the United States and Europe. "
The actions of Bradley Manning I believe, represent the actions of a young soldier with a duty of care to humanity to expose governmental wrong doings & war crimes against civilian children, men & women, as well as his fellow soldiers .
Frankly, I find it appareling that members of the Scottish Parliament appear to have little or nothing to say in regard of these deliberate attempts of the US goverment to send an honorable young man, who acted in the best interest of the people, to jail for the rest of his life for taking the correct action and making the information available to the public, & also in its failure to demand that those who were responsible for theses crimes and atrocities from goverment & military office are not held accountable, Because what sort of "democracy" or "justice" does that represent ...
Therefore I urge you & members of the Scottish Parliament to add their names to the open letter from the members of the European Parliament to President Barack Obama and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel demanding Pardon for Bradley Manning,
and, I further urge you to take steps to ensure that those in government responsible for the crimes PFC Manning exposed be held accountable.
SINCERELY,
JUNE MACKENDRICK
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