U.N. Torture Chief: Ban Solitary Confinement for Teens, Mentally Disabled

[EFerrari]

Source: Demcracy Now!

U.N. Torture Chief: Ban Solitary Confinement for Teens, Mentally Disabled

The top United Nations official on torture is calling for an end to almost all forms of solitary confinement. Juan Méndez, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, said solitary confinement should only be allowed in exceptional cases, and emphasized an absolute ban in the case of juveniles and people with mental disabilities.

Juan Méndez: "I am of the view that juveniles, given their physical and mental immaturity, should never be subjected to solitary confinement. Equally, in order not to exacerbate a previously existing mental condition, individuals with mental disabilities should be provided with proper medical or psychiatric care, and under no circumstances should they ever be subjected to solitary confinement. My recommendations are, first, to see if we can have a complete ban on prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement. And I more or less arbitrarily define that as anything beyond 15 days of solitary confinement, meaning someone being confined to a cell for at least 22 hours a day."

In his remarks, Méndez also commented on U.S. soldier and alleged whistleblower Bradley Manning, who’s being held in a Kansas prison following his arrest for allegedly leaking government material to WikiLeaks. Méndez says although Manning is no longer being held in solitary confinement, he is still monitoring the case.

Juan Méndez: "I want to stress that, on the one hand, he is no longer in solitary confinement, although he spent something like eight months in solitary confinement, but when he was moved to Fort Leavenworth, his regime changed, and he’s not in solitary confinement now. I’m not saying anything about whether his present regime violates other possible standards, but at least he’s—on a daily basis, he does communicate and socialize with other inmates in his same category."



Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/19/headlines#8

[Jefferson23]

1. K&R n/t

[LiberalLovinLug]

2. the top whazit on whazit?

Good luck with "advising" the US on how they handle their prisoners. They have gone to the dark side with Cheney and aren't coming up into the light again anytime soon, no matter who is in the WH.

[snot]

3. Speaking of which, I wonder if Bradley Manning's had a hearing yet?

[msanthrope]

4. I suspect Mr. Manning is mulling over a plea. Thus his attorney is not complaining

about his hearing date.

[24601]

5. Right after the UN bans (effectively) teens and mentally from ever

being a danger to a guard or another prisoner.

[Exultant Democracy]

7. Wow what an evil response to a well reasoned argument against torture.

[24601]

8. Equating solitary to torture is the evil argument - but I forgive you

anyway.

How many raped and/or murdered convicts would have been spared if the attacking prisoner had instead been isolated? But you're probably right - the lives of prisoners may not be worth someone else being put in solitary. I happen to believe their lives are worth more - but I'll cede to your twisted logic.

[Exultant Democracy]

9. Nope, you were arguing against stopping the torture of children and mentally handicapped

That is what the OP is about.

If people actually gave a damn about convicts and wanted to help them then we wouldn't be using solitary confinement on kids as a solution.

If we treated our prisoners like people rather then animals then convicts would be far safer. Not to mention that attacks by convicts are a lot less frequent then attacks on convicts by guards.

All of the problems you point out have been solved by the Dutch in their prison system far better then anything tried here in America. In the end humanity is always better then torture.

[defendandprotect]

6. kr