American Academy Of Pediatrics: Treatment of Migrant Children on the US Southern Border is Torture.

[kpete]

Treatment of Migrant Children on the US Southern Border is Torture.

...........

What Constitutes Torture
The prohibition of torture, in-particular against children, was codified through the Geneva
Conventions (1949) and the Additional Protocols (1977). In addition, it is prohibited by the UN
Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(CAT, 1984).ii Articles in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989), which the
US has signed but not ratified, define the rights of migrant and refugee children to remain with
their families, be free from violence and exploitation, and enjoy optimal health and
development.iii

According to the CAT and Rome Statute, treatment of children at the border fulfills the three
criteria for torture.

1. Severe pain and suffering: Intentional infliction of severe physical and/or psychological
pain or suffering.

• Children have been separated from their families, housed in hotels—some as young
as 1 year of age—and cared for by personnel with limited to no training in the care of
children.

• Children have been detained in unsanitary and dangerous conditions and exposed to
harsh overcrowded surroundings, including being caged in holding cells with no
beds—referred to as hieleras (iceboxes) by detainees, given their frigid conditions.
Sleeping mats and blankets are inconsistently provided—with children forced to sleep
in freezing rooms, concrete floors, with constant illumination, and with only
aluminum covers for warmth, resulting in sleep deprivation.

• Access to physical and mental health care, medications, and vaccines have been
denied resulting in preventable illnesses, hospitalizations, and death. Since 2018, at
least seven children have died in US custody or immediately after release.

As a result of this treatment, children have exhibited traumatic internalized and regressive
behavior, such as crying, fear, language regression, thumb sucking, enuresis, and encopresis.
Psychological trauma has resulted in general anxiety disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress
disorder, and suicide attempts.

Mitigation of this trauma will require years of intense treatment
and interventions.

2. Purposeful: The physical or psychological trauma is intentional, and serves a specific
purpose, such as coercion, intimidation, punishment, and/or as a deterrence.

• The current administration has specifically stated the purpose of the Zero Tolerance
policy, which includes separation of children from their families, is meant to serve as
a strong deterrent to migration.ix

3. State Consent: The trauma happens with the consent and/or acquiescence of State
authorities.

• The treatment of children at the border is state-sponsored and directed by the US
President through executive orders and policies implemented through governmental
agencies. The separation of children from their families is part of an anti-immigration
strategy that includes repeated attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program, implementing the “public charge” policy, construction of a border
wall, and deportation of unaccompanied minors due to a purported risk for spreading
SARS-CoV-2.


This administration’s treatment of children at the border meets the criteria for torture as
outlined above. Targeted physical and psychological abuse is inflicted on children. Their
suffering can be painful and severe, especially given their stage of development and
vulnerability. It is a purposeful US strategy to use children to reduce border crossings by their
parents.

MORE:
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/10/23/peds.2020-012930

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Ilsa]

1. Good that they are speaking up. Biden will fix this.

Of course, trump will declare pediatricians "enemies of the state."

[soothsayer]

2. After asking what "foot doctors" know about torture

[Ilsa]

6. I'm sure his only experience with "pediatricians" is through Epstein.

I'm sure there were a few of them playing pediatrician at his special parties.

[AmericanCanuck]

3. What were they doing when these atrocities were begun?

Issuing a statement after 75% of the people have already voted is irresponsible if they actually wanted their statement to effect change.

[dalton99a]

4. Throw Him Out and Lock Him Up.

[GoCubsGo]

5. For this alone, Trump and his enablers need to be prosecuted and convicted.

Off to The Hague with them, and may they rot in prison for the rest of their lives.

[2naSalit]

8. Exactly!

These are crimes against humanity.

[DENVERPOPS]

13. The U.S. Gov't is not new to torture

Nothing happened with Cheney/Rumsfeld/ et al, and that was 15-20 years ago......

[Solly Mack]

7. I'm sure it's merely an enhanced anti-immigration technique and there are memos from the DOJ

making it A-OK to do whatever they want.

Yes. I'm being caustic. I'll remain caustic on the subject of torture by my government because the U.S. government did it, got away with it, and for some reason now wants to pretend every new instance of torture is - somehow - something unheard of in America.

Twenty years from now, after no one is held accountable (once again) for the latest round of crimes against humanity, there'll come along another wanna-be tyrant who engages in torture and people will be shocked, shocked I tell you! And we'll hear "Not in my America!" (yet again) and "This isn't America!" (yet again) and "How did this happen?" (yet again) and "This isn't the America I know and love!" (yet again).

Oh, I'm done ranting now.

What the U.S. government has done and is doing at the border is a crime against humanity. I've said it from the get-go. I've got outrage piled on top of outrage. It is all so very sickening.



In case anyone thinks I'm just being an ass - click on my sig line link. It's ever present in my mind, and not just Abu Ghraib - all of it.

[malaise]

9. Crimes against Humanity

Lock them up!

Sadly just like the AMA, the Pediatrics folks waited way to long to condemn these crimes.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. Of course it is.

We will be saddled with the aftermath of that decision for generations to come.

[intheflow]

11. Biden will stop efforts going forward,

but he will be powerless to "fix this" as the trauma and suffering the kids have already experienced cannot be fixed by an election.

[Squinch]

12. Well it damn well took them long enough. Where have they been for 4 years?