WikiLeaks Source Chelsea Manning Starts Hunger Strike
WikiLeaks Source Chelsea Manning Starts Hunger Strike
Chelsea Manning, the U.S. army private convicted in 2013 for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks, has announced she has started a hunger strike to protest what she calls “constant and overzealous administrative scrutiny by prison and military officials.”
“I need help. I am not getting any,” Manning said in a statement released to TIME. “I have asked for help time and time again for six years and through five separate confinement locations. My request has only been ignored, delayed, mocked, given trinkets and lip service by the prison, the military, and this administration.”
On July 5, Manning attempted to commit suicide and was subsequently slammed with several administrative offenses that, her lawyers say, could result in her being transferred to indefinite solitary confinement.
Manning says that beginning Friday morning, September 9, she will not voluntarily consume any food or drink except water and prescription medication, nor will she voluntarily cut her hair.
In September 2014, Manning sued the government for violating her constitutional rights by denying her treatment for gender dysphoria, an condition officially recognized in the medical community in which a person identifies with a gender other than that which matches their physical appearance. In February 2015, the Department of Defense allowed Manning to undergo hormone therapy, but insisted she maintain male grooming standards, including with respect to the length of her hair. She sued again, and that case is still active in D.C. District Court.
Manning’s lawsuit over the length of her hair is likely about more than a fashion statement or conforming to female beauty standards in order to outwardly express her gender, but rather an effort to improve treatment by prison guards she has described as “high-tech bullying” by forcing the government to take her gender dysphoria more seriously.
A transgender woman, who was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her arrest in 2010, Manning is a transgender woman currently serving serving a 35-year prison sentence at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth. Manning was convicted of a host of charges stemming from a series of leaks including classified State Department communications, low-level military reports that have come to be known as the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, a now-famous video of an Apache helicopter attack that killed Iraqi civilians.
“I am deeply saddened and very concerned for Chelsea’s well-being. The government has long been aware of her medical needs and continues to ignore them,” Manning’s American Civili Liberties Union attorney Chase Stragio said in a statement to TIME. “We are still in litigation over her treatment and are optimistic that justice will ultimately prevail but the government need not wait to be ordered to do the right thing and we hope they act promptly to treat Chelsea consistent with their constitutional obligations.
Manning’s entire statement announcing the hunger strike is reproduced below:
I need help. I am not getting any. I have asked for help time and time again for six years and through five separate confinement locations. My request has only been ignored, delayed, mocked, given trinkets and lip service by the prison, the military, and this administration.
I need help. I needed help earlier this year. I was driven to suicide by the lack of care for my gender dysphoria that I have been desperate for. I didn’t get any. I still haven’t gotten any.
I needed help. Yet, instead I am now being punished for surviving my attempt. When I was a child, my father would beat me repeatedly for simply not being masculine enough. I was told to stop crying—to “suck it up.” But, I couldn’t stop crying. The pain just got worse and worse. Until finally, I just couldn’t take the pain anymore.
I needed help, but no one came then. No one is coming now.
Today, I have decided that I am no longer going to be bullied by this prison—or by anyone within the U.S. government. I have asked for nothing but the dignity and respect—that I once actually believed would be provided for—afforded to any living human being.
I do not believe that this should be dependent on any arbitrary factors—whether you are cisgender or transgender; service member or civilian, citizen or non-citizen. In response to virtually every request, I have been granted limited, if any, dignity and respect—just more pain and anguish.
I am no longer asking. Now, I am demanding. As of 12:01 am Central Daylight Time on September 9, 2016, and until I am given minimum standards of dignity, respect, and humanity, I shall—refuse to voluntarily cut or shorten my hair in any way; consume any food or drink voluntarily, except for water and currently prescribed medications; and comply with all rules, regulations, laws, and orders that are not related to the two things I have mentioned.
This is a peaceful act. I intend to keep it as peaceful and non-violent, on my end, as possible. Any physical harm that should come to me at the hands of military or civilian staff will be unnecessary and vendictive. I will not physically resist or in any way harm another person. I have also submitted a “do not resuscitate” letter that is effective immediately. This shall include any attempts to forcibly cut or shorten my hair or to forcibly feed me by any medical or pseudomedical means.
Until I am shown dignity and respect as a human again, I shall endure this pain before me. I am prepared for this mentally and emotionally. I expect that this ordeal will last for a long time. Quite possibly until my permanent incapacitation or death. I am ready for this.
I need help. Please, give me help.
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