Geneva, Feb 28: A UN human rights expert on Friday voiced alarm at the excessive use of solitary confinement by correctional facilities in the United States.
Nils Melzer, UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said in a media statement that the practices of the Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) in the U.S. have been brought to his attention.
“The DOC appears to routinely resort to repressive measures, such as prolonged or indefinite isolation, excessive use of in-cell restraints and needlessly intrusive strip searches,” the expert said.
“There seems to be a State-sanctioned policy aimed at purposefully inflicting severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, which may well amount to torture,” he added.
According to the UN expert, these dehumanizing conditions of detention, sometimes euphemistically referred to as “segregation,” “secure housing,” the “hole” or “lockdown,” are routinely used by U.S. correctional facilities, particularly against inmates designated as “high risk” due to previous gang affiliations, behaviour abnormalities or mental conditions.
“These practices trigger and exacerbate psychological suffering, in particular in inmates who may have experienced previous trauma or have mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities,” Melzer noted.
(AGENCIES)
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