SOLITARY CONFINEMENT: 'We must raise awareness of dangers', says UN Expert

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Summary: A side event on 'Solitary confinement and the implications for human rights' took place place today during the 19th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Magistrate Renate Winter, a judge with the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court of Sierra Leone, said the aim of solitary confinement of children is to "break them". 

Hopeless and helpless

She said placing children in solitary confinement leaves them hopeless and helpless, and that confinement is used to build up pressure and sometimes extract confessions. She concluded with a  recommendation: "No solitary confiement for any person under 18, under any circumstances".

Pre-trial confinement

Dr Sharon Shalev, a researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre for Criminology, talked about different types of solitary confinement, including the issue of pre-trial confinement. She said solitary confinement "adversely affects the ability of the person to represent themselves in court". The Special Rapporteur on torture, also part of the panel discussion, responded to this by referring to the Bradley Manning case, saying how he was held in solitary confiement for 11 months, which constituted a violation of the presumption of innocence and affecting the ability of a person to represent themselves.

Abolish confinement of mentally ill

Dorrottya Karsay, from the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC), highlighted cases of mentally ill patients being held in solitary confinement and urged for its abolition in all cases, something the Special Rapporteur on torture then replied saying he wholeheartedly agreed. The Special Rapporteur also said he believed there should be a total abolition for all children under 18.

Death row

Finally, Andrea Huber of Penal Reform International, addressed the issue of death row, saying prisoners under death row were often given solitary confinement because of their status. In Japan, she said, there have been incidences of death row prisoners being isolated for up to 20 years.

Special Rapporteur's closing comments

In his closing comments, Mr Mendez said: "We need to recruit public opinoin and explain the dangers of solitary confinement, and, in particular show how it doesn't affect public security" He ended on a note of optimism: "There is some momentum gaining pace, but there ist still a long way to go."

Issues: 
Children with disabilities
Tags: 
Individual cases of violations

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