http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13655&LangID=E
GENEVA (23 August 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on
torture, Juan E. Méndez, today urged the United States Government to
abolish the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement. There
are approximately 80,000 prisoners in the United States of America who
are subjected to solitary confinement, nearly 12,000 are in isolation
in the state of California.
“Even if solitary confinement is applied for short periods of time,
it often causes mental and physical suffering or humiliation, amounting
to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and if the
resulting pain or sufferings are severe, solitary confinement even
amounts to torture,” Mr. Méndez stressed as nearly 200 inmates in
Californian detention centres approach their fifth consecutive week on
hunger strike against cruel, inhuman and degrading prison conditions.
“I urge the US Government to adopt concrete measures to eliminate
the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement under all
circumstances,” he said, “including an absolute ban of solitary
confinement of any duration for juveniles, persons with psychosocial
disabilities or other disabilities or health conditions, pregnant
women, women with infants and breastfeeding mothers as well as those
serving a life sentence and prisoners on death row.”
The independent investigator on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment urged the US authorities to ensure
that “solitary confinement is only imposed, if at all, in very
exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, for as short a time as
possible and with established safeguards in place.” In Mr. Méndez’s
view, “its application must be subject to independent review, and
inmates must undergo strict medical supervision.”
Since 8 July 2013, thousands of prisoners detained in nine separate
prisons across the state of California have gone on hunger strike to
peacefully protest the cruel, inhuman and degrading prison conditions.
The inmates are demanding a change in the state’s excessive use of
solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure, and the subjugation of
prisoners to solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time by
prison authorities under the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation.
In California’s maximum security prison in Pelican Bay more than 400
prisoners have been held in solitary confinement for over a decade, and
the average time a prisoner spends in solitary confinement is 7.5
years. “I am extremely worried about those numbers and in particular
about the approximately 4,000 prisoners in California who are held in
Security Housing Units for indefinite periods or periods of many years,
often decades,” Mr. Méndez said.
In many cases inmates are isolated in 8-foot-by-12 foot (2.5 x 3.5
m. Approx.) cells and lack minimum ventilation and natural light. The
prisoners are forced to remain in their cells for 22 to 23 hours per
day, and they are allowed only one hour of exercise alone in a cement
lot where they do not necessarily have any contact with other inmates.
In the context of reported reprisals against inmates on hunger
strike and a District Judge’s approval of Californian authorities’
request to engage to force-feed prisoners under certain circumstances,
the UN Special Rapporteur also reminded the authorities that “it is not
acceptable to use threats of forced feeding or other types of physical
or psychological coercion against individuals who have opted for the
extreme recourse of a hunger strike.”
Mr. Méndez addressed the issue of solitary confinement in the US,
including prison regimes in California, in his 2011 report* to the UN
General Assembly and in numerous communications to the Government. He
has also repeatedly requested an invitation to carry out a visit to the
country, including State prisons in California, but so far has not
received a positive answer.
“My request coincides with some prominent voices in the United
States, including the first-ever congressional hearing chaired by
Senator Durbin on 19 June 2012; the decision to close Tamms Maximum
Security Correctional Center by the State of Illinois on 4 January 2013
and numerous editorials by prominent columnists in major papers
addressing the excessive use of solitary confinement across the
country,” Mr. Méndez said.
“It is about time to provide the opportunity for an in situ
assessment of the conditions in US prisons and detention facilities,”
the UN Special Rapporteur underscored.
Juan E. Méndez (Argentina) was appointed by the UN Human Rights
Council as the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment on 1 November 2010. He is
independent from any government and serves in his individual capacity.
Mr. Méndez has dedicated his legal career to the defense of human
rights, and has a long and distinguished record of advocacy throughout
the Americas. He is currently a Professor of Law at the American
University – Washington College of Law and Co-Chair of the Human Rights
Institute of the International Bar Association. Mr. Méndez has
previously served as the President of the International Center for
Transitional Justice (ICTJ) until 2009, and was the UN
Secretary-General Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide from
2004 to 2007, as well as an advisor on crime prevention to the
Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, between 2009 and 2010. Learn
more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/SRTortureIndex.aspx
(*) Check the 2011 report on solitary confinement:
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N11/445/70/PDF/N1144570.pdf?OpenElement
or http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=103
UN Human Rights Country Page – United States of America: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/USIndex.aspx
For more information and media requests, please contact Ms. Sonia
Cronin (+41 22 917 91 60 / scronin@ohchr.org)
or Ms. Stephanie Selg (+1 202 274 4378 / ssleg@ohchr.org) or write to sr-torture@ohchr.org.
For media inquiries related to other UN
independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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