International

SP Member of Parliament and foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel this week joined the Dutch-Belgian Bradley Manning Support Committee. The Committee has been formed as a result of concern over the general treatment as well as the court martial of Bradley Manning, an American soldier prosecuted as a result of having made public US war crimes in Iraq. Manning has been behind bars since May 2010 on the basis of charges which could lead to the death penalty.

The Bradley Manning Support Committee is seeking to bring attention in the Netherlands and Belgium to developments regarding Manning on the grounds that the chances that they will lead to a fair trial are limited. The Committee fears that Manning’s prosecution is aimed primarily at distracting attention away from the US war crimes exposed by WikiLeaks and at frightening off potential whistle-blowers. This is particularly the case since the US military authorities have made it known that the enquiry into the helicopter attack of July 2007, which led to the killing of civilians, will not be reopened. Bradley Manning, who is accused of having passed the video of the attack to WikiLeaks, must defend himself against charges which could incur the death penalty.

The Dutch-Belgian Bradley Manning Support Committee follows similar initiatives in the US, UK and Germany.