CCHR and Electroshock Survivors Reject Psychiatric Apology for Tortured ChildrenCCHR 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.
electroshock torture 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] 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." 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,'…." 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." 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] 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…." To prevent the abuse of patients, the guideline says access to justice is "essential to accountability." 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/ [2] www.ranzcp.org/ [3] www.cchrint.org/ [4] www.stuff.co.nz/ [5]www.ranzcp.org/ [6] www.newshub.co.nz/ [7] www.newshub.co.nz/ [8] www.newshub.co.nz/ [9] www.cchrint.org/ [10] www.cchrint.org/ [11] www.justice.gov.za/ [12] "The Case for South Africa's Expulsion from International Psychiatry," [13] "Apartheid and Health," WHO report (Geneva) 1983, pp. 166-248 [14] www.cchrint.org/ [15] www.cchrint.org/ End
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