New Zealand Inquiry Findings of Child Psychiatric Torture Should Prompt U.S. Reforms

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NZ Inquiry report reveals decades of abuse

CCHR, a mental health industry watchdog, says a New Zealand Inquiry finding of 200,000 children and vulnerable adults tortured in psychiatric and behavioral institutions mirror similar abuses uncovered in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES & WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Amzeal -- Citizens Commission on Human Rights International praised a New Zealand inquiry's report revealing decades of appalling abuses in psychiatric, behavioral, and disability institutions. Released on July 24 by the Royal Commission, the highest-level inquiry in New Zealand, the findings culminate a six-year, $101 million investigation that uncovered a Kafkaesque nightmare of individuals being tortured under the guise of mental health care.[1] The New York Times detailed, "The abuse included sexual assault, electric shocks, chemical restraints, medical experimentation, sterilization, starvation, beatings," according to the Royal Commission report.[2]

The NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told survivors, many of whom watched his speech in Parliament: "The State was supposed to care for you – but instead many of you were subjected to the most horrendous physical, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse." He added: "People in positions of authority who you should have been able to trust – failed you in the worst possible way. When you tried to speak up, those same people turned a blind eye, they covered it up, and they prevented you from seeking justice for far too long." The survivors were finally told what they had been waiting five decades to hear: "You are heard and you are believed."[3]

CCHR in NZ played an integral role in supporting the survivors, championing their cause since 1977. It initially documented the electroshocking of children's legs and genitals by a psychiatrist at the now-closed Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital.[4] Mr. Luxon stated, "The Government is formally acknowledging that the experiences of some children and young people at Lake Alice Hospital did amount to torture."[5] Compensation could reach $1.2 billion (NZ$2 billion), or more.

Radio New Zealand reported that CCHR said, "The government needed to make sure the abuse uncovered by the Royal Commission of Inquiry did not happen again."[6] CCHR made extensive submissions to the Inquiry, for which Judge Coral Shaw, Chairperson of the Royal Commission, expressed gratitude, acknowledging CCHR's "extraordinary efforts" on behalf of the survivors.[7]

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Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International, headquartered in Los Angeles, stated that the report is one of the most monumental ever in recognizing and condemning psychiatric abuses in the 46 years she has worked with CCHR exposing these, adding it is "significant vindication for all those who revealed the truth about the abuses." However, "The report reflects the systemic abuse occurring not only in NZ but also in the mental health field in the U.S. and globally."

While living in Australia in the late 1970s, Eastgate worked with the NZ CCHR chapter to expose the atrocities at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital. She warned that some of the findings in the current report mirror those recently reported by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee after its two-year investigation into youths being sexually abused, beaten, drugged and restrained in behavioral institutions here. She also pointed to the continued use of an electroshock device for behavior modification at a facility in Massachusetts that should have been banned years ago and also amounts to "torture."

The Royal Commission report details the cruelty, violence and abuse were embedded in the way social welfare settings functioned. Survivors described being sexually abused while physically or chemically restrained. Staff sexually assaulted patients. A 16-year-old was sexually assaulted by her psychiatrist to whom she became pregnant and was given an abortion without her knowledge. There were also forced hysterectomies.

Lake Alice staff members gave drugs to male patients that left them impotent; electroshock treatment was given to "shock the gayness" out of one boy. Women were also cruelly electroshocked.

The Royal Commission made 138 recommendations, many of which CCHR and survivors had stressed were needed, including establishing effective complaints mechanisms and ensuring criminal and civil accountability. The Inquiry recognized the international legal right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Those subjected to breaches of this have a right to effective redress. Acts of abuse and neglect of this nature may constitute violations of criminal and civil law. Investigating these acts, holding those responsible to account, and providing redress to survivors is the right thing to do, according to the findings.

The Royal Commission called for a ban on all types of inhuman treatment, humiliation, or degradation of one person by another, and for the government to take steps to ban pain compliance techniques in any care setting for children, young people or adults in care. The government should also prioritize and accelerate work to minimize and eliminate solitary confinement (seclusion) in all care settings as soon as practicable.

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The Prime Minister encouraged all New Zealanders to read the report to understand the abuse the survivors suffered and the lifelong impact it has had on their lives. "I will never lose sight of what you have endured to bring the truth to life," he said, closing with an excerpt from a karakia [Māori prayer to invoke spiritual guidance and protection] written by Waihoroi Shortland who worked on the Inquiry:

To you upon whom this inquiry has been centered,
Resolute in your pursuit of justice
Relentless in your belief for life
We have only our highest regard and respect,
May your peace of mind be assured."[8]

After Luxon spoke, in a heartrending move, survivors stood and spontaneously sang a Māori song about love and unity.[9]

The Royal Commission called for apologies from government and private agencies, including the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and Medical Council of New Zealand.

Eastgate said similar apologies are needed from psychiatric organizations worldwide, including in the U.S., because the horrors suffered in NZ have also been documented in many countries. She emphasized that the Inquiry's recommendations apply globally and reiterated CCHR's call for a prohibition of all coercive psychiatric practices to protect lives.

CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and eminent professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz and has helped achieve hundreds of laws to protect individuals.

Sources:

[1] www.kiro7.com/news/world/report-says-200000/ODY2KOPAXBEIHIIYP3ZWYEESPY/

[2] www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/world/asia/new-zealand-abuse-in-care-report.html

[3] www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/24/horrific-and-harrowing-parliament-responds-to-abuse-in-care-report/; www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/world/asia/new-zealand-abuse-in-care-report.html

[4] www.cchrint.org/2024/02/23/cchr-and-electroshock-survivors-reject-apology-for-tortured-children/

[5] www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/24/horrific-and-harrowing-parliament-responds-to-abuse-in-care-report/ catchall

[6] www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/523037/calls-for-action-follow-abuse-in-care-inquiry-s-final-report

[7] www.cchrint.org/2021/07/01/cchrs-work-acknowledged-nz-inquiry-lake-alice-psychiatric-child-torture/

[8] www.times.co.nz/news/luxon-speaks-to-survivors-of-abuse-in-care/

[9] www.yahoo.com/news/zealand-apologise-enquiry-finds-200-040324903.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

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