UN Independent Expert Calls On Us to Ban Prolonged, Indefinite Solitary Confinements
As nearly 200 inmates in California detention centres approach their fifth consecutive week on hunger strike against
cruel, inhuman and degrading prison conditions, a United Nations right expert today urged the Government of the United
States to abolish the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement.
“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,” UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan
E. Méndez said in a news release, “and if the resulting pain or sufferings are severe, solitary confinement even amounts to torture.”
There are approximately 80,000 prisoners in the United States who are subjected to solitary confinement; nearly 12,000
are in isolation in the state of California.
“I urge the US Government to adopt concrete measures to eliminate the use of prolonged or indefinite solitary
confinement under all circumstances,” Mr. Méndez said.
He added that the US should absolutely ban solitary confinement of any duration for juveniles, persons with psychosocial
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.
Since 8 July, thousands of prisoners detained in nine different prisons have gone on hunger strike to peacefully protest
prison conditions. They 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 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. Often that time is spent
in an 8-foot-by-12 foot cell lacking minimum ventilation and natural light. The prisoners remain in their cells for 22
to 23 hours per day, with one hour of exercise alone in a cement lot.
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.”
In March, Mr. Méndez called on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the practise of solitary
confinement and its harmful effects in the Americas and urged stronger regulation of its use.
In a 2011 global report to the UN General Assembly, Mr. Méndez called solitary confinement a “harsh measure which is
contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary system.”
Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an
unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.
ENDS