Rights groups call for an end to “torture” of Biden’s isolation Coronavirus pandemic News

New proposal by Federal Federal Task Force (FAST) calls on US government to use legislative, executive and administrative methods to end “torture” isolation to inmates in federal custody.

“The debilitating, dehumanizing and even deadly effects on people in prison are constant stains on the American legal system,” said Tammie Gregg, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Stop Individual Campaign.

“Medical and mental health experts, affected people and advocates agree isolation … it’s torture, ”Gregg continued.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP), “isolation in federal custody” varies from “limited housing units” to different forms of limited housing.

Prisoners can be placed in solitary confinement to attack others, for their own safety, or even to argue with guards. It means spending 22 to 24 hours a day in a small cell for a long time.

“The prisoners who have been there [special housing units] More than 90 days are being studied at the regional office level as to why it is not appropriate to return to the general population, ”the BOP website says.

Long individual stays can “severely” damage mental health, according to the American Friends Service Committee.

United Nations Convention against Torture defines as torture to any extent “Through which a pain or severe, physical or mental suffering, is deliberately caused to a person.”

The UN also said in 2011 that in most cases isolation of more than 15 days should be banned.

Approximately 8% of the 152,832 inmates in federal custody are in some form of solitary confinement in federal custody, according to data from the Prisons Office. That is close to 12,226 prisoners in similar conditions.

State and regional impetus

ACLU is one of 130 FAST organizations working to end isolation. The movement to end this form of detention has made further progress at the state and regional levels.

Johnny Perez, a survivor of isolation and director of the U.S. Prison Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, a member of FAST, said in a statement that “more and more states have taken a stand against individual torture. Confinement.”

A man walks past a banner in front of a rally held in Elihu Harris, Oakland, California, on September 1, 2015, after the state agreed to release hundreds of inmates who have been isolated for years. [File: Robert Galbraith/Reuters]

FAST stated in its recommendations that “by 2021, 70 laws would be introduced in 32 states to end some aspects of solitary confinement in state prisons and jails.”

In April, New York Isolation for more than 15 days is prohibited. The movement was applauded by advocacy groups for policy change.

Blacks and Latinos make up about 70 percent of New York’s incarcerated population and 80 percent of inmates in solitary confinement, The New York Times reported.

In March, officials presented plans to end solitary confinement by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Rikers Island, a solitary city prison in solitary confinement.

Anger at Rikers ’isolation erupted when transgender prisoner Layleen Polanco died as a result of a seizure epilepsy crisis.

Rikers is a violation of human rights.

Tonight remembering Layleen Polanco and Kalief Browder. They deserved much better.

Make no mistake: for this tragedy and so many others like it, our broken system is to blame. And we are responsible for fixing it.

– Maya Wiley (@mayawiley) June 8, 2021

“I concluded that we could fully conclude the conclusion, something that has been done in a few places in this country,” Blasio said in March.

Connecticut it is also considering legislation to end solitary confinement, backed by former NBA star Caron Butler, who spent two weeks in solitary confinement in Wisconsin as a juvenile.

Toll coronavirus pandemic he brought attention to the subject of solitude. Many states had isolated or widespread incommunicado detention to slow the spread of the virus to isolate prisoners.

However, studies suggested by isolation may worsen COVID transmission by encouraging inmates to report symptoms. according to Undark, an online journal that explores the “intersection of science and society.”

Many prisons and jails had COVID-19 outbreaks San Quentin, California ra Rikers Island.

According to supporters prison release programs the virus toll seemed to be one of the few means of reducing bar-to-bar.

Federal movements

As moves to end the use of isolation by states and cities have progressed, there has been little movement from the White House, even though earlier heads of administration promised to end its use.

Of President Joe Biden the campaign’s website promised to “guarantee humane prison conditions” and “start ending the practice of solitary confinement,” with very limited exceptions, such as protecting the life of a prisoner.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is playing an increasingly important role in the Biden administration compared to his predecessors, called for an end to isolation in 2019 as a candidate.

Death penalty ended.
Mass imprisonment ended.
End of isolation.
End the use of private prisons.

The criminal justice reform plan I released today will do just that and radically transform how our nation guarantees justice.

– Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 10, 2019

“It’s time to put an end to the federal government’s driving practice and encourage states to do so. We hope the Biden-Harris administration will live up to its campaign promise to end it with any name and any kind of individual,” Perez said.

The FAST recommendations put an end to the U.S. government’s “all forms” of incommunicado detention, ensuring that alternatives are “against” the individual, hiring “neutral decisions” at hearings, and creating independent oversight of the Ombudsman, the media, and the “Ombudsman”. community actors ”through legislative impulses and executive orders

“We strongly believe that the reforms outlined in this Plan will go a long way in eliminating much of the unreasonable and counterproductive damage caused,” Gregg said.