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October 19, 2011

U.N. Torture Chief: Ban Solitary Confinement for Teens, Mentally Disabled 
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The top United Nations official on torture is calling for an end to
almost all forms of solitary confinement. Juan Mendez, the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on torture, said solitary confinement should only be allowed
in exceptional cases, and emphasized an absolute ban in the case of
juveniles and people with mental disabilities.

Juan Méndez: "I am of the view that juveniles, given their physical and
mental immaturity, should never be subjected to solitary confinement.
Equally, in order not to exacerbate a previously existing mental
condition, individuals with mental disabilities should be provided with
proper medical or psychiatric care and under no circumstances should
they ever be subjected to solitary confinement. My recommendations are,
first, to see if we can have a complete ban on prolonged or indefinite
solitary confinement. And I more or less arbitrarily defined that as
anything beyond 15 days of solitary confinement, meaning someone being
confined to a cell for at least 22 hours a day."

In his remarks, Mendez also commented on U.S. soldier and alleged
whistleblower Bradley Manning, who's being held in a Kansas prison
following his arrest for allegedly leaking government material to Wiki
Leaks. Mendez says although Manning is no longer being held in solitary
confinement, he is still monitoring the case.

Juan Mendez: "I want to stress that on the one hand, he is no longer in
solitary confinement, although he spent something like eight months in
solitary confinement, but when he was moved to Fort Leavenworth his
regime changed and he is not in solitary confinement now. I am not
saying anything about whether his present regime violates other possible
standards, but at least he is, on a daily basis, he does communicate and
socialize with other inmates in his same category."



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