Torture not Treatment - Disability Rights International

TORTURE NOT TREATMENT
torture because (1) the pain and suffering inflicted is severe; (2) this pain is inflicted
intentionally; (3) the infliction of pain is for a purpose that is coercive or discriminatory; and (4)
these practices are conducted with the consent or acquiescence of public officials.
The use of electric shock or long-term restraint would never be tolerated on individuals without
disabilities. The discriminatory nature of JRC‘s practices becomes clear when they are compared
to strikingly similar practices widely understood to constitute torture or ill-treatment.
One girl who was blind, deaf and non-verbal was moaning and rocking. Her moaning
was like a cry. The staff shocked her for moaning. Turned out she had broken a tooth.
Another child had an accident in the bathroom and was shocked. – MDRI interview
with former JRC teacher
To the best of our knowledge, JRC is the only facility of any kind in the United States – and
perhaps indeed in the world – which uses electricity, combined with long-term restraint and other
punishments, to intentionally cause pain to its children with behavioral challenges and calls it
―treatment.‖
I was kept in a small room, isolated…one staff and me for a year and a half. – JRC
video testimonial in support of GED, JRC website
I was in restraints constantly…I was in an isolated room. Then I went on the GED
- JRC video testimonial in support of GED, JRC website
Long-term effects from electric shock can reportedly include muscle stiffness, impotence,
damage to teeth, scarring of skin, hair loss, post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression,
chronic anxiety, memory loss and sleep disturbance.
Physical restraints combined with electric shocks are also used as a form of aversive treatment.
While receiving electric shocks, children can be tied down in four-point restraints – sometimes in
a prone, face-down position. In testimony posted on JRC‘s website, children and parents have
reported that restraints may be used over-and-over for months at a time. One mother reported to
MDRI that her child was held in restraints for two years.
If students are non-compliant or aggressive, 4 or 5 staff will wrestle kids to the floor
and strap them to a board face down and then shock them. I have seen it more than
once. They yell “help” and “send someone.” They could be there like that for 12 hours
or more until they “complied.” – MDRI interview with former JRC teacher
Because these abuses have continued unabated for almost four decades and because the use
of domestic remedies has been unsuccessful in stopping these human rights abuses, MDRI
submits this document to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
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