Bradley Manning And Wikileaks Assange- No Link US Military Admits

The officials say that while investigators have determined that Manning had allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands of documents onto his own computer and passed them to an unauthorized person, there is apparently no evidence he passed the files directly to Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure.

We are concerned that the conditions inflicted on Bradley Manning are unnecessarily severe and amount to inhumane treatment by the US authorities," said Susan Lee, Amnesty International’s Programme Director for the Americas.

"Manning has not been convicted of any offence, but military authorities appear to be using all available means to punish him while in detention. This undermines the United States’ commitment to the principle of the presumption of innocence."

Last Tuesday, Manning was placed on "suicide risk", which resulted in him being stripped of his clothes apart from underwear, and the confiscation of his prescription glasses for most of the day, which Manning says left him in "essential blindness".

Coombs responded that the forensic psychiatrist has consistently recommended - with the exception of one week in December - that there was "no medical reason" for Manning to be even on a prevention-of-injury watch, let alone a suicide watch. He said he pressed for a reason behind the status change this week, but was given none.

"The fact that they won't articulate any basis for it leaves you with no other conclusion than it must be punitive," he said.