Freedom beckons for Chelsea Manning

Afri
From Left to Right: Joe Murray, Afri Co-ordinator, Susan Manning (mother of Chelsea Manning), and Gerry Conlon at a solidarity event in 2013. Photo: Derek Speirs

Chelsea Manning was never one to take the popular or easy route in life. The decision to release classified information that would rock the world of military secrecy and murder would lead to her vilification and brutalization. But Chelsea did it because she believed in the truth: ‘I want the people to see the truth…because without information you cannot make informed decisions.’

Afri became involved in the ‘Free Chelsea Manning’ campaign when peace activist Ciaron O’Reilly organised for Chelsea’s family, who have strong Irish connections in Kerry and Dublin, to make a visit to Ireland. We organised a programme of events including a public meeting in Trinity College attended by Chelsea’s mother, aunts and uncle and addressed by Chelsea’s aunt Sharon as well as by the former Guildford 4 member, Gerry Conlon.

That was an evening of deep emotion: Gerry Conlon, tragically no longer with us, spoke with his trademark passion, principle and anger at how legal and political systems in Britain had crushed his own life and extinguished the life of his father, Guiseppi Conlon. He praised the courage of Chelsea Manning and lamented the fact that there was no similarly brave whistle-blower in the British system when he and his father and Maguire relations were incarcerated on completely spurious charges.

As a result of that visit to Ireland, Donal O’Kelly was inspired to initiate the Manning Truthfest, consisting of artists, musicians and activists who crossed the Irish sea in the Spring of 2014 and 2015 and again in the Autumn of 2016 to sing songs and play music in solidarity with Chelsea and her Welsh-based family and to protest the inhumanity of the 35 year sentence imposed upon her.  Afri was a central part of this extraordinary seaborne solidarity!

During one of those visits, Chelsea’s uncle Kevin, a life-long Manchester United supporter, said it would have been easier had Chelsea chosen any other name than that of a rival football club to mark her female identity!  Chelsea never dodged difficult decisions…

The commutation of Chelsea’s sentence is perhaps the best thing that Barack Obama will have done in office. But Chelsea, together with tens of thousands of other US soldiers, should never have been in Iraq, where they have succeeded only in laying waste to the country and its people. And Chelsea should never have been in prison in the first place. Continue reading “Freedom beckons for Chelsea Manning” →

Afri Supports Chelsea Manning

Afri
Happy birthday Chelsea from Afri. Photo: Derek Speirs

 

Afri is proud to support imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea (Bradley) Manning who was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking files and footage of what supporters say is proof of U.S war crimes in Iraq. This has led to calls by groups such as Amnesty International for her release. A so called ‘collateral murder’ video leaked to Wikileaks by Manning shows U.S helicopters killing a group of civilians that included two Reuters employees.

In a recent interview on Amnesty.org Manning said “Every now and then you do come across a significant choice. Do you really want to find yourself asking whether you could have done more, 10-20 years later? These are the kinds of questions I didn’t want to haunt me.”

The International Peace Bureau (of which Afri is a member) awarded the 2013 Sean MacBride Peace Prize to Manning for her courageous actions in informing the public about US war crimes. The IPB’s Co-President Tomas Magnusson commented: “When Manning revealed to the world the crimes being committed by the US military she did so as an act of obedience to this high moral duty [to make known war crimes and crimes against humanity]”.

Since 2013 Afri has hosted and organized a series of events and meetings in solidarity with Chelsea Manning, including hosting the Manning family in a visit to Dublin, a public meeting addressed by Gerry Conlon (from the Guilford Four), the Manning ‘Truthfest’ in Wales, ‘Resisting Injustice‘, and the second Manning ‘Truthfest’ in Wales!

Film by Dave Donnellan of Chelsea Manning birthday celebration in Dublin:-

For Chelsea Manning, on her 27th Birthday

You and whose army?

By Sarah Clancy in Galway, Ireland ( @sarahmaintains)

At 22 I wasn’t much more than a playground for ideas
other people fed me.
I was three years away from even being brave enough
to explore my own identity.
It was years more before I stopped that navel gazing
and took a quick look outwards
and I’m still failing to come to terms with that at forty,
but you, at that age could gather the courage
and the words to say that as a solitary soldier
washed up in an army of macho war porn and murder
you wouldn’t stand for it,
as a loner in a theatre of torn up conventions,
of water-boarding, of torture,
you wouldn’t stay silent.
At twenty two, a kid, and right in the thick of things
you made it clear you hadn’t been fooled
by the all pervasive culture that says
there are times when it’s AOK to re-name humans
as nuts and bolt collateral.
Chelsea when they charged you in the military court
you made no Nuremberg excuses
of how someone made you do it,
and you didn’t spout on about flags or orders or duty
at twenty five you could condemn
an army for its war crimes for
its murders of civilians and children
and you could act on it despite the consequences
you could reclaim the meanings for us
of words like courage and justice,
now that’s what I call service;
someday I hope your country (and ours!) will grow up and deserve it
happy 27th birthday Chelsea
lets hope that for your next one you’ll be free.
And P.S Edward Snowden, keep on running!

Info on donating to the Manning family fund at http://manningfamilyfund.org/donate-to-the-family-fund/

Info on sending post and gifts to Chelsea Manning: http://www.chelseamanning.org/learn-more/write-to-chelsea-manning

More info on Chelsea Manning at www.chelseamanning.org

Interview with Amnesty International: ‘Why speaking out is worth the risk’

Chelsea Manning’s relatives claim she was ‘tortured’ by US military: British relatives of US whistleblower Chelsea Manning have made claims that she was “tortured” by US authorities

Remembering Gerry Conlon, Supporting Chelsea Manning

Afri

Report by Genny Bove

The Irish greeting Céad míle fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes) is no exaggeration. Over in Dublin from Wales again for a few days, this time with Chelsea Manning’s Mum Susan, we are once again experiencing the extraordinary hospitality, warmth and staunch solidarity of our friends here, and it’s wonderful.

Thursday night we gathered at the Teachers’ Club in central Dublin for an evening gathering Resisting Injustice organised by Afri to remember the late, great Gerry Conlon who met and offered his support to Chelsea’s family and who spoke so eloquently against injustice and for Chelsea Manning last November, just a few months before his untimely death from cancer this June.

Donal O’Kelly, the creative force behind January’s Manning Truthfest, was MC for the night. Donal has helped keep the cause in the public eye in myriad ways, most recently dedicating the World’s Best Radio Show award for his play Francisco to Chelsea Manning.

Nuala Kelly
Human rights campaigner, Nuala Kelly, speaking about Gerry Conlon at Resisting Injustice. Photo: Dave Donnellan

The first speaker was Nuala Kelly, whose talk drew on her extensive experience of supporting Irish prisoners in overseas jails. She recounted how she had at first been more aware of Giuseppe Conlon’s arrest back in 1975 than that of his son Gerry but how later, in her work with the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas, she became involved in supporting Gerry and his family in their quest for justice. Nuala emphasised the impact on families when a person is imprisoned and the importance of offering support and working alongside families. She described how the campaign to free the Guildford Four, Maguire Seven and Birmingham Six started to gain momentum, with local groups little by little getting involved and taking their own solidarity initiatives, such as a women’s group organising street stalls in central Dublin. If we are going to build an effective campaign to free Chelsea, we need to find ways to engage as many people as possible as well as being mindful of the perspectives of both the prisoner and her family. Continue reading “Remembering Gerry Conlon, Supporting Chelsea Manning” →

Resisting Injustice

Afri

gerry conlon evening poster smallerA Memorial evening for Gerry Conlon in solidarity with Chelsea Manning, Thursday 11th September, 7pm in the Teachers’  Club, Dublin 1

Entrance on a donation basis – To book tickets: click here

Gerry Conlon of the Guilford Four, a victim of the one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in recent history, devoted much of his life on his release from prison, to campaigning on behalf of other prisoners and highlighting human rights abuses worldwide.

In November 2013, Gerry spoke at an event in Trinity College in solidarity with whistleblower Chelsea Manning who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for revealing the truth about the war in Iraq. The meeting in November was attended by hundreds of people including the family of Chelsea Manning. Gerry Conlon spoke movingly about his own experiences, the courage of Chelsea Manning and the importance of whistleblowers in revealing miscarriages of justice. This address will feature as part of the Memorial evening, and will include a reflection on Gerry Conlon by human rights campaigner Nuala Kelly.  It will also include contributions from leading musicians and actors such as Joe Black, Simon Meyler, Sorcha Fox, RoJ Whelan, Donal O’Kelly  and more!

Entrance by donation. Donations from the event will go to the Manning Family Fund.

To book tickets: click here

See also our facebook event page 

Gerry Conlon Address at Chelsea Manning Solidarity Event

Afri

In Autumn of 2013, Afri was approached by Ciaron O’Reilly and asked if we would host a visit to Ireland by the family of Chelsea Manning. We were, of course, delighted to do so and to organise a Solidarity meeting in Trinity College onNovember 29th. Among the speakers at that meeting was Gerry Conlon who gave this profoundly moving and passionate address.

The Manning Family Visit to Dublin

Afri
From Left to Right: Joe Murray, Afri Co-ordinator, Susan Manning (mother of Chelsea Manning), and Gerry Conlon. Photo: Derek Speirs

Afri was proud and delighted to host a series of events and meetings in solidarity with imprisoned Chelsea (Bradley) Manning’s mother Susan, Aunts Mary and Sharon, and Uncle Kevin. The family travelled from their home in Haverford West, South Wales, to Dublin, the birthplace of their father. In what is a continuing indictment of the Irish Government’s subservience to US power, Pvt. Manning had transited through Shannon on the way to the war on Iraq. He was subsequently tortured in Kuwait and Quantico and is now serving 35 years imprisonment in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for courageously exposing the horrors of the endless U.S ‘war on terror’.

Afri invited independent T.D. Catherine Murphy to host a meeting of TDs and Senators in the Dáil for the family which was attended by Joe Higgins, Clare Daly, Ming Flanagan, Sean Crowe and Katherine Zappone among others. The family was also welcomed on arrival at the Dáil by Senator David Norris. Very moving interviews with Sharon and Kevin were carried later on RTÉ news and on Drivetime. The visit was also covered by a number of newspapers and radio stations. The family also met with Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders and the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) Continue reading “The Manning Family Visit to Dublin” →

An Evening for Private Manning

Afri

An Evening for Private Manning

With members of Manning’s family in attendance.

 

Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four to speak.

Human Rights Lawyer Gareth Peirce also invited.

 

Friday 29th November

7pm sharp

Edmund Burke Theatre, Trinity College Dublin.

 

Entrance by donation.

More information: Afri, 01 8827563

Meeting co-sponsored by ISE, Trinity College Dublin

 

Link to Manning’s 28th February statement: http://wiseupaction.info/about-2/full-transcript-with-leaked-audio-of-brads-feb-23-statement/