March 2, 2011: Army Whistleblower Stripped Naked in Brig

Bradley Manning, an Army whistleblower who allegedly leaked thousands of documents to WikiLeaks, is stripped naked overnight in the brig he is being held at. According to David E. Coombs, Manning’s lawyer, in the morning, Manning is forced to stand naked outside his cell for inspection, after which his clothes are returned to him. “This type of degrading treatment is inexcusable and without justification,” Coombs writes the next day. “It is an embarrassment to our military justice system and should not be tolerated. Private Manning has been told that the same thing will happen to him again tonight. No other detainee at the brig is forced to endure this type of isolation and humiliation.” First Lieutenant Brian Villiard, a Marine spokesman, comments that a brig duty supervisor had ordered Manning’s clothing taken from him. He says that the step was “not punitive,” is in accordance with brig rules, but he cannot say more. [New York Times, 3/3/2011]