Torture and Human Rights abuses in shock therapy
UNITED NATIONS
Report tells of torture by drugs, misuse of psychiatry
GENEVA, Thursday (Reuter). - A report prepared for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has highlighted what it describes as "horrible misuse of psychiatry, psychiatric treatment and torture by drugs".
The commission opened its annual conference in Geneva on Monday, and the report will be debated at its 1984 session in about two weeks.
The report documents numerous allegations of officially sanctioned abuses of psychiatry and drugs mainly, but not exclusively, in East European countries.
The report was prepared by a UN special rapporteur, Ms Erica-Irene Dacs, of Greece, who said hundreds of innocent and sane people were locked away in psychiatric hospitals and prisons.
They were beaten and forcibly given drugs, electro-shock and insulin-shock treatment in grave violation of their human rights.
In a preface, Ms Daes said involuntary admission to and detention in mental hospitals was being used especially against "persons who are protecting fundamental freedoms and exercising their human rights".
The report quotes the London-based human-rights group Amnesty International as saying that prisoners of conscience in Soviet mental hospitals were regularly subjected to excessive doses of drugs as a form of punishment.
Psychiatric prisoners were subjected to insulin shock therapy, beatings and immobilisation.
They were put under pressure to renounce their convictions and the pub lic expression.of their convictions as a precondition for release, Amnesty said in its evidence to the UN study.
A recent US State Department study estimated that about 10,000 political or religious prisoners were held in Soviet prisons,- labour camps or psychiatric hospitals.
Amnesty said the situation was worse in Romania. Reports from there said prisoners were forcibly subjected to treatment with drugs, electro-shock treatment, beatings by medical assistants and reduced food rations.
Amnesty also accused Iran of large scale human rights violations, saying unfair trials, torture and death sentences were widespread.
It had recorded well over 5,000 executions in Iran since the 1979'revolution but said that the actual figure was higher.
Thousands of people had been imprisoned solely for their political or religious activities, including at least 700 members of the Baha'i faith.
Amnesty said it had received many reports of executions which had not been announced by the judicial authorities, who had at times ordered hundreds of executions in a single night.
People had been put to death for adultery, homosexuality and drug of fences. From September to December 1983, more than 200 people had been executed for drug dealing, among them pregnant women and people under the age of 18.
Amnesty said it believed, torture in Iran was widespread and that most of those jailed were ill-treated, although the Iranian Constitution prohibitcd whipping and torture.
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