Country Case Studies Of Human Rights Abuses
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Ghana : Some persons in Ghana who develop mental problems are deemed as outcasts since their conditions are perceived as having been caused by demonic spirits. In these circumstances, such persons are dragged to spiritual camps and shrines for exorcism of the supposed bad spirits. At these places, the mentally ill are placed on the scorching sun and shackled to trees and other objects. Some of them are left there for a period of time without food or water because it is believed that the demonic forces ought to be deprived of these essentials of life in order for them to flee from the mentally ill person. Over the course of time, some of these unfortunate victims of blatant human rights violations in psychiatry either die or develop other diseases such as malaria, pneumonia etc. click here for a picture |
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Ireland: Amnesty International (Irish Section) expressed its concern in 2001 that some mentally vulnerable people were placed in isolation cells in prison, often for significant lengths of time, which may have constituted a violation of international standards for humane detention and solitary confinement. In reply the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform gave a commitment that padded cells would be replaced by safety observation cells that would ‘fully meet the needs and respect the dignity’ of those detained.
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Eastern Europe and Central Asia: In Romania, it has been alleged that in recent years the winter death rate in psychiatric institutions is considerably more than what could be reasonably expected, possibly related to insufficient heating and nutrition on the wards (see Amnesty International. Romania: Memorandum to the government concerning inpatient psychiatric treatment. London: Amnesty International; 2004 at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR39/003/2004/en/dom-EUR390032004en.html). Just to the northwest of Romania, the use of cage beds have recently been described in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, although the last three have now discontinued their use.
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The Mental Disability Advocacy Centre has documented a series of abuses of human rights in European and Central Asian countries, for example, the use of forced labour (in which in-patient are compelled to do unpaid work as a form of ‘labour therapy’), and the physical and sexual abuse of female patients by male psychiatric patients in the Kyrgyz Republic. At Radnevo, the largest psychiatric hospital in Bulgaria it has been reported that in-patients are denied the right to vote, in violation both of the Bulgarian Constitution and international law.
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India: The recent human rights convention ensures the equal rights and opportunities among the disabled population with emphasis on vulnerable groups like women and children with disabilities to enjoy their inherent rights of life. It becomes mandatory for those countries signing the convention to reshape their policies, laws and administrative measures so as to secure and guarantee the rights of disabled populations by abolishing existing wrong notions, custom and practices, and regulations that contribute to the discrimination in their country. This report discusses the UN convention specifically in context with the existing Disability Act for the rights of persons with mental disabilities in India. It emphasizes the need, current status, its replicability, the gaps and future options to strengthen the policy aspect for persons with mental disabilities to enjoy equal rights. Click here to read the report. Click here to read the report |
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In India, 25 psychiatric patients were burned to death at Erwadi in 2001 when a fire swept the traditional healing shrine. Most of the 46 in-patients had been chained to their beds. Erwadi was considered a centre for religious observation and pilgrimage, and in the course of their ‘treatment’ patients were ‘frequently caned, whipped and beaten … driving away the evil … during the day they were tied to trees with thick ropes … at night they were tied to their beds with iron chains.’
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In an article published in a report by the National Human Rights Commission, it was documented that it has taken eight years to get an emergency ambulance service for a mentally ill person in one city. This story highlights the problem in India of a lack of mobilized service user groups to demand their rights. The author notes that since family often plays a critical role as care giver, the rights of those with mental illnesses are often taken for granted as simply part of the care package run either in individual househoulds or in family run facilities. Furthermore, the role of NGOs in human rights advocacy of mentally ill persons in India is absolutely minimal if non existent. Moreover, human rights in mental health in India are mainly viewed as relevant only to institutional scenarios; there are very rarely talks about the rights of those with mental illness in daily life. |
| "Mental Health Care and Human Rights " published by National Human Rights Commission , New Delhi, INDIA www.nhrc.nic.in ,200 pg. 205. |
