Activists say charges of ‘disrespect’ and ‘disorderly conduct’ are a violation of Manning’s free speech as army insists its behavior is ‘fair and equitable’

 

Almost 40,000 signatures have been added to petitions calling on the US military to drop charges against the army soldier and Guardian columnist Chelsea Manning that could put her into indefinite solitary confinement for violations that include storing a tube of expired toothpaste in her military prison cell.

The charges, in which Manning is accused of “disrespect”, “disorderly conduct” and other violations under the rules of the brig in which she is being held at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, have prompted an outpouring of anger from the public. The original petition posted by the internet freedom group Fight for the Future has gained more than 15,000 signatures, together with about 20,000 combined for petitions from Roots Action and Demand Progress.

“There’s been a huge response from the public,” said Fight for the Future’s Evan Greer. “Just by threatening Chelsea with solitary confinement for such clearly trivial charges, the military is attempting to silence her and violate her right to free speech.”

On Thursday the formal charge sheets were published for the first time, by Manning’s Twitter feed, @xyChelsea. Under the charge “Medicine Misuse”, the military authorities relate to a search of the prisoner’s cell on 9 July 2015.

“A tube of anti-cavity toothpaste, MKIC, was found in your possession past its expiration date of 9 April 2015. You are involved in violation of ACC Policy Letter 16, using, possessing, handling or storing of medicine, except as authorized by the facility medical staff. Failure to take medication as prescribed by medical staff.”

A further charge of “Prohibited property” says that “your cell was inspected and prohibited property was found in your possession. You are in violation of ACC Policy Letter 16, anything not specifically authorized by proper authority to be in a prisoner’s possession is prohibited.”

Manning has told supporters that the property that was confiscated from her cell included the memoir I Am Malala by Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, a novel featuring trans women called A Safe Girl to Love, the LGBT publication Out Magazine, the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair and a copy of Cosmopolitan that included an interview with Manning.

The property, the military said in newly published documents, was not “properly marked with inmate’s name and registration number”.

In a heavily redacted document marked “investigator activity summary” the military authorities said some of the charges arose from an incident on 2 July. Manning was originally charged with “conduct which threatens” but later authorities decided that accusation was unmerited and removed it.

The US army insists that it is behaving in a “fair and equitable” way in disciplining Manning, who has been in captivity for the past five years having been arrested at a US army base outside Iraq in 2010. She was given a 35-year sentence for having been the source of the vast leak of US state secrets to WikiLeaks.

In a statement to the Guardian, army spokeswoman Tatjana Christian said that the military “remains committed to a fair and equitable process in the adjudication of administrative matters for all of its soldiers”. She said that Manning had been put in front of the Disciplinary and Adjustment Board for alleged rules violations.

Christian also said that discipline boards were a “common practice in correctional systems”.

But the charges leveled against Manning have been described by the soldier’s lawyers as “ridiculous” and a form of harassment. She has been accused of showing “disrespect” based on her sweeping food on the floor during dinner chow, and has been reprimanded for demanding to be able to consult her own lawyer during a dispute with a prison guard.

Manning is a transgender woman who is 184 days into hormone replacement therapy, a widely recognized treatment for gender dysphoria – a person’s sense that their physical gender and identity are out of sync. She had to fight for the treatment by issuing a lawsuit against her military captors, and is still prohibited from growing her hair longer than male military limits.

When she was first held in military captivity in the US having been brought back from Iraq, at the brig in Quantico marine base in Virginia, she was subjected to prolonged solitary confinement in conditions that were widely denounced as inhumane and even as a form of torture.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE GUARDIAN.