Why Should We Believe America?

In a country where murderers are often granted bail and released on their own recognizance, Pfc. Bradley Manning, who revealed U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks portal, spent three years in jail — 11 months in solitary confinement.

Edward Snowden, who betrayed the secrets of America’s Big Brother, can now walk the streets of Moscow. He is most likely not enjoying his freedom yet — he is being tracked by hordes of paparazzi and CIA agents and that is enough to discourage even the staunchest devotee of walking excursions — but he no longer has to camp out at Sheremetyevo Airport, where he spent the last month.

President Vladimir Putin, realizing that such a treat — an American asking for asylum in Russia — may not present itself again, decided to take advantage of the opportunity. He thereby gravely disappointed his American partners. White House spokesman Jay Carney commented: “We are extremely disappointed that the Russian government would take this step despite our very clear and lawful request in public and in private to have Snowden expelled to the U.S. to face the charges against him … We’re evaluating the utility of a [G-20] summit [in St. Petersburg] in light of this and other issues.”

So President Obama was offended and may not go to St. Petersburg. And even if he goes in the end, the mere fact that the leader of the greatest global power is considering not going while the entire world watches undoubtedly keeps Putin awake at night.

Charles Schumer, the Democratic senator from New York, said that “Russia has stabbed us in the back” and suggested that the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg should be cancelled and relocated.

But there’s nothing to be offended about!

In this specific case, there were grounds to grant asylum even if, generally speaking, it seems amusing that Russia should act as a defender of Americans persecuted by their own government.

A few days ago, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to the Russian Ministry of Justice, in which he assured the Russians that Snowden would come to no harm after his return to the U.S. Among other things, Holder wrote that “First, […] the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional death penalty-eligible crimes. […] Second, Mr. Snowden will not be tortured. Torture is unlawful in the United States. If he returns to the United States, Mr. Snowden would promptly be brought before a civilian court […], would receive all the protections that United States law provides to persons charged with federal criminal offenses, […] and would be appointed […] counsel. […] [T]he United States would have to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury.”

So the Americans have promised the Russians, in writing, that they will not torture Snowden; this seems like an especially comical twist to the story — but only at first glance, because there are good reasons not to trust Attorney General Holder.

The reasons have nothing to do with the torture that occurred in secret CIA prisons located beyond the borders of the U.S. — including in our Mazurian Lake District’s Stare Kiejkuty, among other places — which has been severely condemned by the Obama administration. The reasons have to do with Pfc. Bradley Manning.

In 2010, Manning, then a lower-rank analyst at the U.S. Army base near Baghdad, stole 750,000 secret U.S. Army, diplomatic and intelligence reports and handed them over to WikiLeaks. Just this week he has been found guilty of espionage, which could get him 136 years in jail, although he hasn’t been sentenced yet. In other words, the 25-year-old could spend the rest of his life behind bars. But this is not the worst of it, at least not in terms of America’s credibility; no fault at all can be found here because the verdict has been pronounced in keeping with the law.

The worst is what happened to Manning before that.

In a country in which murderers are often granted bail and released on their own recognizance, Pfc. Bradley Manning, who revealed U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks portal, spent three years in jail, 11 months of that in solitary confinement. During the night, he was undressed to his underwear and wasn’t given any covering or blanket. This was supposedly done — according to the guards — for his own good; they feared their charge might commit suicide by hanging himself on some scrap of cloth.

When the issue became public, State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley said that Manning’s treatment was “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” But a few days later he had to resign for having spoken those words. President Obama explained to journalists that the military had assured him that “the procedures that have been taken” with regard to the prisoner “are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards.”

In other words, everything was OK.

Juan Mendez, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, holds a different view. Last year, following an investigation that lasted over a year, he concluded that Manning’s treatment, especially considering that prior to conviction one is presumed innocent, “constitutes […] cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of article 16 of the [U.N.] convention against torture,” which the U.S. has signed and ratified.

Snowden has also revealed state secrets. He stole and handed over to journalists proof that the U.S. government listens in on the conversations of millions of Americans and on almost everything that takes place on the Internet (emails, chats, keywords entered by users in the Google search engine, etc.).

In fact, why should we believe the Americans would treat him any better than Manning?