The United States' Convention against Torture RUDs: Allowing the Use of Solitary Confinement in Lieu of Mental Health Treatment in U.S. Immigration Detention Centers

Authors

Erika Voreh

Abstract

Currently in civil immigration detention centers around the United States, the practice of placing detained immigrants who are mentally ill is allowed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In some detention centers, placement into solitary confinement is now the main form of psychological ¿treatment.¿ Solitary confinement can have negative psychological effects especially for individuals with mental illness. Other international bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights, have acknowledged the harmful effects of solitary confinement. This Comment focuses on decisions by the European Court of Human Rights as to what constitutes torture. This Comment argues that placing detained immigrants who are mentally ill into solitary confinement constitutes torture, however, because the U.S.¿s interpretation of torture is much narrower than other international bodies there is still a long journey to achieve the prohibition of this shameful practice in the United States

Recommended Citation

Erika Voreh, The United States' Convention against Torture RUDs: Allowing the Use of Solitary Confinement in Lieu of Mental Health Treatment in U.S. Immigration Detention Centers, 33 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 287 (2019).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol33/iss2/4