US Rights Groups Call on Obama to Commute Chelsea Manning's Sentence

Outgoing President Barack Obama should commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, a transgender soldier who disclosed classified information to the media, more than a dozen lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) groups and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a letter on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The group have spoken in favor of commuting Manning's court-martial sentence to time served.

"As organizations dedicated to working for the full equality of LGBTQ people, we write in support of the clemency petition of Ms. Chelsea Manning," the letter stated.

Manning has served more than six of her 35 year prison sentence for violating the US Espionage Act in 2013 by leaking 700,000 documents to the WikiLeaks website.

The letter pointed out that Manning has been forced to spend her incarceration in an all-male facility.

Moreover, manning had been placed in solitary confinement due to her attempts to commit suicide, and has been denied medical treatment for her gender dysphoria, the letter added.