Trending...
- Pete Goodeman Now Featured with More That 30 Top Pop Hit Songs on Spotify from TVS Records
- WINNER-ISSA US Female Emerging Artist of the Year, Princess Pop Star Maeve De Voe
- The Misfits Magazine Makes it Debut
CCHR joins survivors of electroshock torture in NZ in condemning a very late apology issued by a psychiatric association, spanning half a century of neglecting the abuse endured. The group wants justice for victims of analogous abuse in the U.S.
LOS ANGELES - eMusicWire -- The U.S.-based Citizens Commission on Human Rights International joined former child victims of psychiatric electroshock torture in New Zealand in rejecting a very late apology from the local psychiatric association for failing to protect them.[1] The mental health industry watchdog has been at the forefront of the campaign to ban electroshock use and helped its chapter in New Zealand to expose the torture of children at the now-closed Lake Alice psychiatric institution in the 1970s. After more than 50 years, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) formally apologized last week to the survivors for the abuse they endured. Advocating for justice, CCHR demands a more sincere apology, rigorous accountability, and rightful compensation for the survivors not only in New Zealand but also for those brutally treated with electroshock in the U.S.
The RANZCP apologized for the "torturous actions carried out and directed by psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks,"[2] a member of the College who was responsible for electroshocking children without anesthetic, including to their legs and genitals.[3] Leeks died in January 2022, aged 92.[4] Eleven months later, only then did the College posthumously rescind his fellowship with it.[5]
In 2021, the Lake Alice survivors were granted a Royal Commission—the highest form of government inquiry in New Zealand—to testify about the terror and trauma they still suffer from their 1970s treatment. In December 2022, the Commission confirmed the hospital had been a place of misery, neglect, terror, fear and torment.[6] Despite the lapse in time, there are now recommendations that the survivors be adequately compensated.
Recent local media reported, "Vulnerable children in the adolescent unit at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital faced unimaginable abuse. They were drugged, punished with electric shocks and subjected to physical and sexual assaults."[7]
Dozens of survivors and their supporters, including CCHR New Zealand's director Mike Ferriss, heard from the RANZCP president Elizabeth Moore. Some of the survivors called the very late statement of professional regret "hollow lip service and a fairy tale apology."[8]
In the full written apology released to the media, the RANZCP wrote "We know the courageous attempts to raise concerns by young, vulnerable people detained at Lake Alice were ignored."
More on eMusic Wire
CCHR says there is a growing trend for psychiatric associations to apologize for everything from psychiatrists' role in the Holocaust euthanasia murders of mental patients and eugenics to racism. In January 2021, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) issued a formal apology for what it said was psychiatry's "role in perpetrating structural racism" and that psychiatrists had subjected indigenous people to "abusive treatment, experimentation, victimization in the name of 'scientific evidence,'…." APA said it had "historically remained silent on these issues."[9]
In 2010, Prof. Frank Schneider, President of the German psychiatric association broke the society's 70-year silence and apologized for Nazi psychiatrists who had forced patients "to be sterilized, arranged their deaths and even performed killings themselves." Patients were killed in the gas chambers, from lethal doses of drugs or by prescribed starvation.[10]
Some psychiatric associations, however, have not been so forthcoming. For example, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which in 1997 investigated apartheid crimes, reported that the South African Society of Psychiatrists "did not play a proactive role in ensuring that the human rights of mentally ill people were upheld" during apartheid.[11] A UN report had concluded that the society had resorted to "blatant falsehood in its defense of South African psychiatric care."[12] Black patients were warehoused in privately owned institutions, electroshocked without anesthetic, and used for unpaid labor. According to a 1983 World Health Organization report, "This situation has no parallel in the history and present state of psychiatric care; it certainly does have a parallel in the ownership and trading of slaves." The report further stated that "in no other medical field in South Africa is the contempt of the person, cultivated by racism, more concisely portrayed than in psychiatry."[13]'
CCHR says more than just apologies are needed and they must also be given without added platitudes about how conditions have "changed." The RANZCP apology drew harsh criticism when it added, "We are committed to people receiving the best mental health care, guided by evidence and expertise" and "Now, psychiatrists work transparently and collaboratively, in teams, with supervision, and ongoing training and development."
However, a recent WHO and United Nations guideline clearly shows there is ongoing abuse, stating: "Coercion remains a core component of existing mental health laws across jurisdictions and is a major concern." Such practices include "involuntary hospitalization, involuntary medication, involuntary electroconvulsive therapy, seclusion, and physical, chemical and mechanical restraint." These "violate the right to be protected from torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment…." and should be prohibited.[14]
More on eMusic Wire
To prevent the abuse of patients, the guideline says access to justice is "essential to accountability." Bypassing colleges and associations who may put reputation above protecting patients or admitting to their abuse, implementation of the guideline would allow "persons interacting with mental health services to challenge human rights violations and to enforce rights, including the right to an effective remedy…. Effective remedies also entail the duty to investigate and bring to justice those who are responsible, to hold them to account, combat impunity and prevent repetition of violations."[15]
In the meantime, CCHR continues to call for all electroshock treatment to be prohibited, with its most recent protest held on February 22 outside an American College of Psychiatrists' convention held in New Orleans. Report abuse to CCHR.
About CCHR: CCHR was founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and the late Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry. It has obtained over 190 laws to protect the rights of mental health patients, including the prohibition of dangerous psychiatric treatments with criminal penalties if administered.
[1] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[2] www.ranzcp.org/news-analysis/apology-to-the-survivors-of-lake-alice
[3] www.cchrint.org/2022/12/30/lake-alice-psychiatric-hospital-children-were-tortured/; www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/royal-commission-of-inquiry-into-state-care-finds-lake-alice-children-were-tortured/ZB3EVQL765ATLMDKSX6XHSTXEA/
[4] www.stuff.co.nz/national/rnz/300963742/why-a-key-figure-at-lake-alice-was-not-charged
[5]www.ranzcp.org/news-analysis/apology-to-the-survivors-of-lake-alice
[6] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[7] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[8] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[9] www.cchrint.org/2021/01/26/american-psychiatric-associations-apology-for-harming-african-americans-rejected/ citing www.medscape.com/viewarticle/944352?src=wnl_edit_tpal&uac=345404PY&impID=3143084&faf=1; www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-apology-for-its-support-of-structural-racism
[10] www.cchrint.org/2021/01/26/american-psychiatric-associations-apology-for-harming-african-americans-rejected/, citing www.dgppn.de/en/Core-areas/psychiatry-in-time-of-National-Socialism/speech-schneider.html#0; link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-011-0243-1; www.dgppn.de/en/Core-areas/psychiatry-in-time-of-National-Socialism/travelling-exhibition.html; www.dgppn.de/en/Core-areas/psychiatry-in-time-of-National-Socialism/stations-of-the-exhibition-1.html
[11] www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%204.pdf
[12] "The Case for South Africa's Expulsion from International Psychiatry," United Nations Centre Against Apartheid report, May 1984
[13] "Apartheid and Health," WHO report (Geneva) 1983, pp. 166-248
[14] www.cchrint.org/2023/09/18/who-guideline-condemns-coercive-psychiatric-practices/
[15] www.cchrint.org/2023/09/18/who-guideline-condemns-coercive-psychiatric-practices/
The RANZCP apologized for the "torturous actions carried out and directed by psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks,"[2] a member of the College who was responsible for electroshocking children without anesthetic, including to their legs and genitals.[3] Leeks died in January 2022, aged 92.[4] Eleven months later, only then did the College posthumously rescind his fellowship with it.[5]
In 2021, the Lake Alice survivors were granted a Royal Commission—the highest form of government inquiry in New Zealand—to testify about the terror and trauma they still suffer from their 1970s treatment. In December 2022, the Commission confirmed the hospital had been a place of misery, neglect, terror, fear and torment.[6] Despite the lapse in time, there are now recommendations that the survivors be adequately compensated.
Recent local media reported, "Vulnerable children in the adolescent unit at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital faced unimaginable abuse. They were drugged, punished with electric shocks and subjected to physical and sexual assaults."[7]
Dozens of survivors and their supporters, including CCHR New Zealand's director Mike Ferriss, heard from the RANZCP president Elizabeth Moore. Some of the survivors called the very late statement of professional regret "hollow lip service and a fairy tale apology."[8]
In the full written apology released to the media, the RANZCP wrote "We know the courageous attempts to raise concerns by young, vulnerable people detained at Lake Alice were ignored."
More on eMusic Wire
- Luxury Real Estate Agent James Edmunds lists luxury beach home in the heart of Deerfield Beach
- Sycamore Hills Dentistry Welcomes the Yomi Robot: The Future of Dental Implant Surgery
- MGN Logistics, Inc. and Arvo A.I. Ltd Forge Game-Changing Partnership to Supercharge Freight Management!
- Jenni Lee Launches Kona Houses For Sale, Offering Comprehensive Real Estate Services in Kona, Hawaii and Surrounding Areas
- Cooking with Claudine Re-Launches in September with Fresh, Organic, and Gluten-Free Meal Delivery in the San Francisco Bay Area
CCHR says there is a growing trend for psychiatric associations to apologize for everything from psychiatrists' role in the Holocaust euthanasia murders of mental patients and eugenics to racism. In January 2021, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) issued a formal apology for what it said was psychiatry's "role in perpetrating structural racism" and that psychiatrists had subjected indigenous people to "abusive treatment, experimentation, victimization in the name of 'scientific evidence,'…." APA said it had "historically remained silent on these issues."[9]
In 2010, Prof. Frank Schneider, President of the German psychiatric association broke the society's 70-year silence and apologized for Nazi psychiatrists who had forced patients "to be sterilized, arranged their deaths and even performed killings themselves." Patients were killed in the gas chambers, from lethal doses of drugs or by prescribed starvation.[10]
Some psychiatric associations, however, have not been so forthcoming. For example, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which in 1997 investigated apartheid crimes, reported that the South African Society of Psychiatrists "did not play a proactive role in ensuring that the human rights of mentally ill people were upheld" during apartheid.[11] A UN report had concluded that the society had resorted to "blatant falsehood in its defense of South African psychiatric care."[12] Black patients were warehoused in privately owned institutions, electroshocked without anesthetic, and used for unpaid labor. According to a 1983 World Health Organization report, "This situation has no parallel in the history and present state of psychiatric care; it certainly does have a parallel in the ownership and trading of slaves." The report further stated that "in no other medical field in South Africa is the contempt of the person, cultivated by racism, more concisely portrayed than in psychiatry."[13]'
CCHR says more than just apologies are needed and they must also be given without added platitudes about how conditions have "changed." The RANZCP apology drew harsh criticism when it added, "We are committed to people receiving the best mental health care, guided by evidence and expertise" and "Now, psychiatrists work transparently and collaboratively, in teams, with supervision, and ongoing training and development."
However, a recent WHO and United Nations guideline clearly shows there is ongoing abuse, stating: "Coercion remains a core component of existing mental health laws across jurisdictions and is a major concern." Such practices include "involuntary hospitalization, involuntary medication, involuntary electroconvulsive therapy, seclusion, and physical, chemical and mechanical restraint." These "violate the right to be protected from torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment…." and should be prohibited.[14]
More on eMusic Wire
- K2Icyy Explores the Emotional Highs and Lows of a Summer Fling in New EP "I'm The Problem"
- TalentWell Launches Next Generation of AI-powered Talent Sourcing with Automated, Personalized Videos
- Nola Blue Records announces new album from Benny Turner
- Breakthrough Artist NatashaReleases Soul-Stirring Single "When I'm Afraid"
- Dr. Seth Chambers Shares Journey to Success in Implant Dentistry on Unofficial Podcast's Summer Series: "Mind, Body, & Arches"
To prevent the abuse of patients, the guideline says access to justice is "essential to accountability." Bypassing colleges and associations who may put reputation above protecting patients or admitting to their abuse, implementation of the guideline would allow "persons interacting with mental health services to challenge human rights violations and to enforce rights, including the right to an effective remedy…. Effective remedies also entail the duty to investigate and bring to justice those who are responsible, to hold them to account, combat impunity and prevent repetition of violations."[15]
In the meantime, CCHR continues to call for all electroshock treatment to be prohibited, with its most recent protest held on February 22 outside an American College of Psychiatrists' convention held in New Orleans. Report abuse to CCHR.
About CCHR: CCHR was founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and the late Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry. It has obtained over 190 laws to protect the rights of mental health patients, including the prohibition of dangerous psychiatric treatments with criminal penalties if administered.
[1] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[2] www.ranzcp.org/news-analysis/apology-to-the-survivors-of-lake-alice
[3] www.cchrint.org/2022/12/30/lake-alice-psychiatric-hospital-children-were-tortured/; www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/royal-commission-of-inquiry-into-state-care-finds-lake-alice-children-were-tortured/ZB3EVQL765ATLMDKSX6XHSTXEA/
[4] www.stuff.co.nz/national/rnz/300963742/why-a-key-figure-at-lake-alice-was-not-charged
[5]www.ranzcp.org/news-analysis/apology-to-the-survivors-of-lake-alice
[6] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[7] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[8] www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/02/lake-alice-survivors-react-to-apology-from-royal-australia-new-zealand-college-of-psychiatrists.html
[9] www.cchrint.org/2021/01/26/american-psychiatric-associations-apology-for-harming-african-americans-rejected/ citing www.medscape.com/viewarticle/944352?src=wnl_edit_tpal&uac=345404PY&impID=3143084&faf=1; www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-apology-for-its-support-of-structural-racism
[10] www.cchrint.org/2021/01/26/american-psychiatric-associations-apology-for-harming-african-americans-rejected/, citing www.dgppn.de/en/Core-areas/psychiatry-in-time-of-National-Socialism/speech-schneider.html#0; link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-011-0243-1; www.dgppn.de/en/Core-areas/psychiatry-in-time-of-National-Socialism/travelling-exhibition.html; www.dgppn.de/en/Core-areas/psychiatry-in-time-of-National-Socialism/stations-of-the-exhibition-1.html
[11] www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%204.pdf
[12] "The Case for South Africa's Expulsion from International Psychiatry," United Nations Centre Against Apartheid report, May 1984
[13] "Apartheid and Health," WHO report (Geneva) 1983, pp. 166-248
[14] www.cchrint.org/2023/09/18/who-guideline-condemns-coercive-psychiatric-practices/
[15] www.cchrint.org/2023/09/18/who-guideline-condemns-coercive-psychiatric-practices/
Source: Citizens Commission on Human Rights International
0 Comments
Latest on eMusic Wire
- Pianist Charlie Favor Sees 64 Songs Showcased on SoundCloud.Com Digital Music Platform
- Sept.'s "Third Thursdays" guests:N.Leonard (sax),D.Tronzo (guitar),M.Ridley (bass),J.K.Jones (drums)
- WINNER-ISSA US Female Emerging Artist of the Year, Princess Pop Star Maeve De Voe
- Pete Goodeman Now Featured with More That 30 Top Pop Hit Songs on Spotify from TVS Records
- Oliver Sean's "Mama Taught Me (Dance Mix)" Featuring DJ Xquizit Hits #1 in Multiple Countries Within 24 Hours of Release
- Epic Fit Fest Celebrates Diversity, Wellness, and Community in Grand Prairie, Texas
- New Jersey Pediatric Neuroscience Institute Opens State-of-the-Art Pediatric Neuroscience Center in Hamilton, NJ
- Black Women Talk Tech's 'Roadmap to Billions' Conference Debuts in Toronto – Empowering Black Women in Tech
- Kaplan Morrell Named Exclusive Workers' Compensation Firm for Greeley Police Officers Association
- Celebrate 'Cumbia Week In Los Angeles'
- Hoffman Homes Unveils New Brand
- Celebrate 'Cumbia Week In Los Angeles'
- Hanover Area YMCA Academy of Early Learning Awarded ECHO Innovation Grant
- An Officer and Gentlewoman, LLC Hired as Public Relations Partner for The Annual Atlanta Fashion and Polo Classic
- Ja'son Manwill GRAMMY® Nominated Rock Artiste on Compilation Album Breakup Rock Vol.1
- Shanna Shryne Design: Redefining Luxury Interior Design
- Capehart Pops Orchestra is Now Showcased on Hi Fidelity Music Streaming Platform Tidal
- 5 Reasons to Choose a Local Sonoma County Photographer
- Generative AI University and Small Business Results Unite to Help Entrepreneurs Optimize Marketing and Growth
- Western Ohio Host Rusted Reserve And Noohra Live In Concert!