International Association Against Psychiatric Assault
Spechtweg 1, 4125 Riehen, Switzerland
The association is a Human Rights organization that opposes psychiatric coercion and aims to abolish psychiatric coercive measures altogether, promoting the fundamental rights of self-determination, liberty, and human dignity.
The following statement in reply to the Report on "Mental health and human rights" by the OHCHR was unanimously adopted at the IAAPA General Assembly on 29th May 2018.
On
31.1.2017 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publicized a report
on "Mental health and human rights", Document
A/HRC/34/32. (on this website please
click on the "E" in the "Documents" column for the PDF version in English)
Thus, the most important institution
for human rights has clearly taken position on the issue and elegantly
circumvented the difficulties that a false "right to health" logically
brings with it. We have copied the most important passages, commenting
on them as follows.
The OHCHR begins with the "right to health".
It would constitute the framework for their further statements. We would
immediately like to point out that it is nonsense or a scam with words,
because the statements cannot be taken literally. Health is described
in accordance with the constitution of the World Health Organization
(WHO) as "a state
of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity."
Explaining this condition as a right to entitlement means:
- Every disease, and as a consequence thereof, even death - even
if it is caused by an accident - is not only pain and suffering,
it is conceived as a violation of a right. Thus a claim is formulated
which can never be fulfilled, a fundamentally unfulfillable right.
In the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, it shall be
fulfilled, but neither the Messiah has come yet, nor is there a
living being who is actually immortal. To proclaim a right to health
is the conscious narrative of a fairy tale, a fiction. To take this
seriously and to stand by it against better knowledge is therefore
an ideologically justified scam.
- A dangerous scam because the consequences of this false promise
are then:
a) becoming ill is a breach of law, so health tends to become a
duty.
b) the state, as guarantor of rights, is granted a position of power
with comprehensive enforcement possibilities against the disturbers
of the health claim - in the Nazi public health dictatorship this
was taken to the extreme. The incurably or chronically ill immediately
risk being deprived of their dignity as humans since they contradict
the fantasy of a right to health.
c) this fraudulent demand is exacerbated by the fact that health
is even defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being. Thus, every ailment, every slight upset is understood
to be non-health, so a disease with a right to elimination. Thus,
the basis for the doctors as masters of society, if not the world,
is laid - and is executed in the exercise of power in psychiatry.
Allen
Frances and the other critics of DSM 5 are wrong; of course
in such a definition of the WHO, for example, every mourning is
a violation of the right to a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being, as was the case with the mourned dead person
anyway.
So we can sum up: The right to health
is the last of the great utopias of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
that have turned out to be a dystopia, a phantasm, better a fiction,
a secular realization of God's realm on earth, in the here and now,
or at least in the near future. It is a false promise, an ideology to
establish domination and oppression, in particular a standardisation
by the medical professionals who serve the promise of salvation in a
secular religion.
Instead, we call for a right to illness
(it will be demagogic to misinterpret it as a duty to illness).
How did the OHCHR avoid the danger of
this ideologically based scam?:
- By trying to read into the right to
health what it actually means, thus simply reinterpreting what it
says:
"It is an inclusive right encompassing
both timely and appropriate health care and the underlying determinants
of health...
..The core obligations applicable
to the right to health include ensuring the right of access to health
facilities, goods and services on a non-discriminatory basis, especially
for vulnerable or marginalized groups; ensuring access to adequate
food and nutrition; ensuring access to basic shelter, housing and
sanitation; providing access to essential drugs; ensuring an equitable
distribution of all health facilities, goods and services; and adopting
and implementing a national public health strategy and plan of action
which address the health concerns of the whole population.."
The right to health is therefore a right to a state of the
art medical assistance. That is something completely different.
- But only with the following statement
is the right to health not only deprived of its poisonous content,
but also it points to the black spot which is like a complete taboo,
quote:
The
right to health contains freedoms (such as the freedom to control
one’s health and body and the right to be free from interference,
torture and non-consensual medical treatment) and entitlements (such
as the right to a health system that provides equality of opportunity
for people to enjoy the highest attainable level of health).7
While, in recognition of resource constraints, the right to health
is subject to progressive realization, the freedom element in the
right to health is subject to neither progressive realization nor
resource availability.8
Freedom is almost non-existent
when you land up in a hospital. With the help of psychiatric consultation
one can practically always be judged by psychiatric diagnonsense.
On the demand of a doctor the court may then implement a guardian.
With these two interpretive tricks by
the OHCHR, neither the dogma of a right to health must be abandoned,
nor a disastrous hierarchisation of human rights has to be accepted.
Instead, the medical-psychiatric hegemony must be broken to be able
to judge the state of mind of other people in order to justify coercion
and violence. Eventually it means: Insane?
Your own choice!
This is reflected in the report of the
OHCHR, part of which please see below.
Meanwhile, also the three UN Special
Rapporteurs
- on torture etc., Mr. Juan Mendez,
- on the right to health, Mr. Dainius Pūras,
- and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities,
Ms. Catalina Devandas Aguilar,
have basically repeated what the OHCHR
said. States must now be forced to finally respect human rights in this
particularly sensitive area and not just give them lip-service
--------------------------------------------
Citations of the report of the OHCHR
from 31/1/2017, Document
A/HRC/34/32:
3. Lack of free and informed
consent
17. As noted by the Special
Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health, informed consent
is not mere acceptance of a medical intervention, but a voluntary
and sufficiently informed decision, protecting the right of the patient
to be involved in medical decision-making and assigning associated
duties and obligations to health-care providers.25
In order for consent to be valid,
it should be given voluntarily and on the basis of complete information
on the nature, consequences, benefits and risks of the treatment,
on any harm associated with it and on the availability of alternatives.26
Involuntary treatment refers to the administration of medical or therapeutic
procedures without the consent of the individual. Treatment administered,
for example, on the basis of misrepresentation would constitute involuntary
treatment, as would treatment given under threat, without full information
or on dubious medical grounds.27
Guaranteeing informed consent is a fundamental feature of respecting
an individual’s autonomy, self-determination and human dignity.28
23. The human rights-based approach
to disability, in addition to other principles, requires the unconditional
application of the principle of non-discrimination with regard to
persons with disabilities. No additional qualifiers associated with
an impairment may justify the restriction of human rights. For example,
persons with psychosocial disabilities should not be arbitrarily deprived
of their liberty on the basis of their impairment including in conjunction
with an alleged danger to themselves or to others.33
Mental health policy should adopt and integrate this approach and
guard against lowering standards.
28. In certain situations, the will
of the person concerned might be difficult to determine. Instruments
such as advance directives or powers of attorney should be promoted
and clearly formulated to prevent misunderstanding or arbitrariness
by those executing them. Even when such instruments are in force,
persons with psychosocial disabilities must always retain their right
to modify their will and service providers should continue to seek
their informed consent. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities has held that, in all cases, it should be understood
that article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
prohibits resorting to the principle of the “best interests” of
the individual in relation to adults with disabilities.37
Significant efforts must be made to determine the individual’s will
and preferences, ensuring that all possible accommodations, supports
and diverse methods of communication are made available and accessible.
Where all means have been exhausted and the individual’s will remains
undetermined, the principle of “the best interpretation of will
and preferences of the individual” must be upheld and carried out
in good faith.38
The absolute ban on deprivation
of liberty on the basis of impairments
29. Article 14 of the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establishes an absolute
ban on deprivation of liberty on the basis of impairments, which precludes
nonconsensual commitment and treatment.39
This provision reflects the non-discriminatory approach guaranteed
by the Convention in connection with the right to liberty and security
of person. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
has clearly and consistently confirmed the non-discriminatory approach
to the right to liberty, which establishes the unambiguous prohibition
on deprivation of liberty on the basis of impairments, whether or
not it is connected with other factors.
30. Persons with psychosocial
disabilities continue to be subjected to forced institutionalization,
as allowed by civil codes and mental health laws in many countries.
Deprived of their liberty, they are commonly subjected to forced treatment,
and living conditions and arrangements may also put their physical
and mental integrity at risk. Children or adults detained in institutions
are at increased risk of violence and abuse, including sexual exploitation
and trafficking.40
The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment has found that children in residential or
institutional care are at greater risk of mental health trauma, violence
and abuse, and that the severe emotional pain and suffering caused
by segregation may rise to the level of illtreatment or torture.41
Outside of institutions, the use of community treatment orders or
mandatory outpatient treatment, even if enforced in the community,
violates the right to liberty and security of the person as such measures
impose treatment and the threat of detention if refused.
31. Forced institutionalization
violates the right to personal liberty and security, understood as
freedom from confinement of the body and freedom from injury to one’s
bodily or mental integrity, respectively.42
It amounts to a violation of the right to live free from torture and
ill-treatment,43
and from exploitation, violence
and abuse, and of the right to personal integrity. States parties
should repeal legislation and policies that allow or perpetuate involuntary
commitment, including its imposition as a threat, and should provide
effective remedies and redress for victims.44
32. Criminal law and procedures
commonly deny due process of law to persons with disabilities considered
unfit to stand trial and/or incapable of criminal responsibility,
leading to deprivation of liberty on the basis of impairment, including
through the diversion of persons with psychosocial disabilities into
the custody of forensic institutions. The Committee on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities has consistently considered that this
denies fair trial rights, amounts to arbitrary detention and often
leads to harsher consequences than criminal sanctions, such as indefinite
detention in mental health facilities.
Forced treatment: forced
medication, overmedication and harmful practices during deprivation
of liberty
33. Many practices within mental
health institutions also contravene articles 15, 16 and 17 of the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Forced treatment
and other harmful practices, such as solitary confinement, forced
sterilization, the use of restraints, forced medication and overmedication
(including medication administered under false pretences and without
disclosure of risks) not only violate the right to free and informed
consent, but constitute ill-treatment and may amount to torture.45
Accordingly, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
has called for the abolition of all involuntary treatment and the
adoption of measures to ensure that health services, including all
mental health services, are based on the free and informed consent
of the person concerned.46 The Committee has also urged the elimination
of the use of seclusion and restraints, both physical and pharmacological.47
42......In all cases, laws and
regulations should be compliant with articles 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17 and 25 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
among other provisions, and should:
(a) prohibit the arbitrary deprivation
of liberty on the basis of impairment, irrespective of any purported
justification based on the need to provide “care” or on account
of “posing a danger to him or herself or to others”;
(b) ensure the individual’s
right to free and informed consent in all cases for all treatment
and decisions related to health care, including the availability and
accessibility of diverse modes and means of communication, information
and support to exercise this right;....
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These clear statements by the OHCHR has led to the UN Human Rights Council
unanimously adopting resolution 36/13 on the 28.9.2017 in its 39th meeting,
document A/HRC/RES/36/13.
(on this website please click on the "E" in the "Documents" column for
the PDF version in English) Read the following statements in excerpts:
Recalling that, according to the Constitution of the World Health
Organization, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,
5. Urges States to take active
steps to fully integrate a human rights perspective into mental health
and community services, and to adopt, implement, update, strengthen
or monitor, as appropriate, all existing laws, policies and practices
with a view to eliminating all forms of discrimination, stigma, prejudice,
violence, abuse, social exclusion and segregation within that context,
and to promote the right of persons with mental health conditions
or psychosocial disabilities to full inclusion and effective participation
in society, on an equal basis with others;
8. Calls upon States to abandon
all practices that fail to respect the rights, will and preferences
of all persons, on an equal basis, and that lead to power imbalances,
stigma and discrimination in mental health settings;