Washington, April 20: Bradley Manning, a US soldier accused of leaking thousands of classified military documents, is scheduled to be transferred to a new prison, amid criticism over his inhumane treatment.
Manning is to be moved imminently to a pre-trial jail at Fort Leavenworth, in the Mid-western US state of Kansas, US Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson said at a Pentagon press conference on Tuesday.
“We have assessed this is in Private Manning’s best interest to move him at this juncture in the case,” United Press International (UPI) quoted Johnson as saying.
The senior general, however, stressed that the transfer should not be interpreted as a criticism of Manning’s treatment in his current jail.
Manning has been held in a maximum-security detention facility at Quantico Marine base in Virginia since last July.
The 23-year-old was transferred to the notorious jail after his arrest in Kuwait on May 2010.
Manning’s lawyer has accused the Quantico brigade of abusing his client.
He says Manning is being mistreated and kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and is made to sleep naked.
US defense officials have so far denied the torture allegations.
However, Manning’s new detention conditions mark a dramatic shift.
It comes about a week after the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, said that US officials had blocked his requests for unmonitored visits to Manning, which is aimed at determining whether the private had been mistreated.
The revelation has triggered international criticism.
Manning’s detention has been the focus of repeated protests from human rights groups.
Manning faces a military court-martial on charges of leaking 720,000 diplomatic and military documents, including a database of military records from the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The leaks include a video of a 2007 US Apache helicopter attack in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, which killed a Reuters news photographer and his driver.
These secret files were later published by the website WikiLeaks.
Under the US military code of justice, Manning could face a possible death sentence or life in prison if pled guilty.
——–Agencies