The perilous plight of the whistleblower
On December 17, US Army private Bradley Manning, the alleged Wikileaks “whistleblower”, will celebrate his 23rd birthday alone in a prison cell. His case throws into stark relief the perilous predicament facing whistleblowers, or people who go public to expose abuses of power.
In September, the CityHub reported on Manning’s imprisonment in a US military gaol, under suspicion of being the source of secret files published by Wikileaks that document war crimes at the hands of Allied forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This included the video dubbed “Collateral Murder”, which depicts US troops in the act of slaying eleven civilians in a Baghdad street.
More recently, many speculate that Manning is also the source of the subsequent Iraq War Logs and the biggest leak of all, the current disclosures of 250,000 secret diplomatic cables, that are bringing to light America’s international bullying and backroom deals.
Under international laws of conflict known as the Geneva Conventions, anyone who is aware of war crimes being committed is legally obliged to report this information, by any means available. However, as a consequence of doing so, Manning has been held in solitary confinement for over six months, unable to see his family, and prevented from receiving the great majority of his mail.
Charged with transferring classified data and “delivering national defence information to an unauthorised source” over the “Collateral Murder” video, Manning faces a maximum 52-year jail sentence. But it may not stop there – the Pentagon refers to him as a “person of interest”, while ex-Pentagon official, KT McFarland has called for his execution, and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is vowing that “aggressive steps” will be taken against those responsible for the leaks.
Upon taking office, President-elect Obama pledged to “strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud and abuse of power in government”, according to his own Change.gov website, which states: “we need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing.” However, two years later, not only has this “protection” failed to materialise, but Manning is being punished precisely for carrying out this “watchdog” role.
In still-unverified online-chat logs prior to his arrest, Manning spoke of his motivations: “I want people to see the truth…regardless of who they are…because without information you cannot make informed decisions as a public”. As Albert Einstein noted, “every truth requires a courageous person who will speak it”.
BY ANNETTE MAGUIRE
