Today, we bring to you Human Rights #5 – NO TORTURE. (See the full list at Youth for Human Rights)
‘On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. This is taken from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” ‘
Human Rights #5:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Psychiatric patients are often subject to cruel treatments such as insulin shock treatment. Electroshock is a high-risk, degrading and inhumane psychiatric treatment. The use of physical restraints and seclusion in psychiatric wards is very common. Restraints consist of thick leather cuffs or straps tied around the patient’s ankles and wrists and anchored to the sides of the bed. Patients can barely move and are often forced to lie flat on their backs for hours or days with only brief restraint-free periods. While restrained, patients are also chemically restrained by the powerful neuroleptics or antidepressants. Many think the above are things of the past but they are common in all parts of the world including the US and Canada.
