Bradley Manning civilian clothesFor the second night in a row, Pfc. Bradley Manning has been forced to strip naked in his cell and spent the night in humiliation in his cell at Quantico. Manning’s lawyer writes on his blog that Quantico’s new brig commander, CWO-2 Denise Barnes, directly made the decision to strip Manning without consulting the brig’s mental health specialists.

PFC Manning was forced to strip naked in his cell again last night. As with the previous evening, Quantico Brig guards required him to surrender all of his clothing. PFC Manning then walked back to his bed, and spent the next seven hours in humiliation.

The decision to require him to be stripped of all clothing was made by the Brig commander, Chief Warrant Officer-2 Denise Barnes. According to First Lieutenant Brian Villard, a Marine spokesman, the decision was “not punitive” and done in accordance with Brig rules. There can be no conceivable justification for requiring a soldier to surrender all his clothing, remain naked in his cell for seven hours, and then stand at attention the subsequent morning. This treatment is even more degrading considering that PFC Manning is being monitored — both by direct observation and by video — at all times. The defense was informed by Brig officials that the decision to strip PFC Manning of all his clothing was made without consulting any of the Brig’s mental health providers.

Last month Barnes replaced Quantico Brig Commander James Averhart after Averhart improperly put Manning on a punitive suicide watch against the recommendations of Quantico’s mental health staff. Like Averhart, Barnes is also ignoring the mental health staff’s recommendations to remove Pfc. Manning from the highly restrictive Prevention of Injury order, and is not consulting the mental health providers on the inconceivable decision to strip Manning at night.

This was all just as promised; Coombs noted yesterday that Manning was informed he would continue to be stripped of his clothes and humliated before he goes to bed. Jeff Kaye, a psychologist specializing in torture victims, wrote last night:

Alert commenter Mad Dog noticed this important part of David Coombs’ article, chilling in its open avowal of continuing abuse. Referring to the imposition of forced nakedness, Coombs reports that “PFC Manning has been told that the same thing will happen to him again tonight.” Meanwhile, Trudy B. has sent me a link to a Kate Zernike and David Rohde’s June 2004 piece in the New York Times, on the “pervasive pattern” of forced nakedness at Abu Ghraib, at Guantanamo and elsewhere.

It got so bad at Abu Ghraib that in October 2003, Zernike and Rohde wrote that “Red Cross monitors were so alarmed by the number of nude detainees that they halted their visit and demanded an immediate explanation. ‘The military intelligence officer in charge of the interrogation explained that this practice was “part of the process,”‘ the Red Cross wrote in a report in February.”

I guess that’s the case now at Quantico. “Part of the process” is what torture has now come down to, embraced on U.S. soil against an American citizen.

Sign the petition: Tell Secretary Gates to Drop the Ridiculous “Aiding the Enemy” Charges Against Bradley Manning.