As Her Pleas for Help Went Ignored, Chelsea Manning Went on a Hunger Strike and Signed a DNR Form

“I need help. I am not getting any,” the Wikileaks whistleblower wrote in a statement released on Friday as she began a hunger strike in the military prison where she’s being held to protest “bullying by prison and US government.”

“I was driven to suicide by the lack of care for my gender dysphoria that I have been desperate for,” she further elaborates, alluding to a recent suicide attempt which rather than alarm her keepers to a need for assistance, led to threats of punishment.

From The Intercept:

After attempting to commit suicide in July, Manning was informed by military officials that she was being investigated for “resisting the force cell move team,” “prohibited property,” and “conduct which threatens.” She is facing indefinite solitary confinement, or a return to maximum-security detention. … Manning also refused to “voluntarily cut or shorten her hair in any way.” Army officials repeatedly force Manning to cut her hair to “military standards” – an appearance that she says does not reflect her gender identity.

Human rights advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about Manning’s treatment in prison. After her arrest in 2010, she was subjected to solitary confinement for extended periods and repeatedly stripped naked in her cell. Her treatment was so bad that a State Department spokesperson spoke out against the Pentagon and described it as “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”

Since her conviction, Manning has been repeatedly threatened with indefinite solitary confinement, for charges as frivolous as keeping an expired tube of toothpaste in her cell.

According to Manning’s statement Friday, she also filed a “do not resuscitate” letter with the prison’s medical team, which includes any attempt to force-feed her medically.

— Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata

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