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August 28, 2013

U.N. Expert Criticizes California Prisons on Solitary Confinement, Force-Feeding 
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The United Nations' top expert on torture is criticizing California's
force-feeding of hunger-striking prisoners protesting solitary
confinement and other harsh conditions. In a statement, Juan Méndez,
the independent United Nations special rapporteur on torture, said
solitary confinement "amounts to torture," adding: "[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." A federal court ruled last week
that California prisons can force-feed inmates deemed incapable of
making medical decisions. At a rally for the hunger strikers in the
Southern California city of Norwalk, the mothers of two prisoners spoke
out about their sons' plight.

Dolores Canales: "Right now, under federal government law, research
chimpanzees are protected from being held in solitary confinement
because they're defined as social beings, and that it's detrimental to
their mental and physical health. So how much more of a social being is
my son, or is my friend's husband, or is somebody else's son? I mean, a
human being is the most social being that there is."

Lydia Carbajal: "There's no need for that. There's no reason why they
should be held in a cage 23 hours out of the day. I haven't held my son
in 10 years. I haven't been able to touch him. I have nothing. And this
has to stop. It really has to stop now, you know, because I can't
— I won't lose my son. I will not lose my son."

At its peak, the California hunger strike included some 30,000
prisoners. Dozens are still taking part.

 

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