Bradley Manning Nobel Peace Prize Nomination 2012

February 1^st 2012 the entire parliamentary group of The Movement of the Icelandic Parliament nominated Private Bradley Manning for the Nobel Peace Prize. Following is the reasoning we sent to the committee explaining why we felt compelled to nominate Private Bradley Manning for this important recognition of an individual effort to have an impact for peace in our world.

Our letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee:

We have the great honor of nominating Private First Class Bradley Manning for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. Manning is a soldier in the United States army who stands accused of releasing hundreds of thousands of documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The leaked documents pointed to a long history of corruption, war crimes, and imperialism by the United States government in international dealings. These revelations have fueled democratic uprising around the world, including a democratic revolution in Tunisia. According to journalists, his alleged actions helped motivate the democratic Arab Spring movements, shed light on secret corporate influence on our foreign policies, and most recently contributed to the Obama Administration agreeing to withdraw all U.S.troops from the occupation in Iraq.

Bradley Manning has been incarcerated for well over a year by the U.S. government without a trial. He spent over ten months of that time period in solitary confinement, conditions which experts worldwide have criticized as torturous. Juan Mendez, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has repeatedly requested and been denied a private meeting with Manning to assess his conditions.

The documents made public by WikiLeaks should never have been kept from public scrutiny. The revelations – including video documentation of an incident in which American soldiers gunned down Reuters journalists in Iraq – have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about America’s overseas engagements, civilian casualties of war, imperialistic manipulations, and rules of engagement. Citizens worldwide owe a great debt to the WikiLeaks whistleblower for shedding light on these issues, and so I urge the Committee to award this prestigious prize to accused whistleblower Bradley Manning.

Sincerely,

Birgitta Jónsdóttir

Margrét Tryggvadóttir

Þór Saari

Members of the Icelandic Parliament for The Movement

Icelandic Foreign Affairs Minister responds to protests in Egypt

Tuesday 1^st of February 2011

Yesterday Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the Movement and the Foreign Affairs committee called for support from the Icelandic Government for the people protesting in Egypt and condemnation of the oppression they are facing. 

During a parliamentary Q&A yesterday when asked about his option about the situation in Egypt by, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the Foreign Minister echoed her worries about the situation and call for support for the Egyptian people that are demanding change and calling for democratic reform in Egypt. The Minister said that the Government protested against all violations of human rights. He condemned that the Egyptian public did not enjoy freedom of expression and information as media outlets were banned in the wake of blackout on Al Jazeera, the Internet and mobile networks.

Össur Skarphedinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, is deeply concerned by the situation in Egypt and condemns any use of violence against protesters. The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights has estimated that up to 300 people have been killed since the protests began. 



The Minister said that free elections, without any limitations to freedom of expression, were needed so that the people of Egypt were able to express their will.

The Movement is thankful for response from the Minister and has called for a meeting in the Foreign Affairs committee to address the situation and call for a parliamentary resolution to show solidarity with the demand for democratic reform in Egypt.