going to A small smelly courtyard ... with a concrete floor and no roof. Other than for showers and three hours of courtyard weekly, we are never let out of our bare cells. Sensory depravation is a severe problem. After a while many of us hear voices. The guards pick up our mail and, if they don't care for a particular prisoner, his mail simply disappears. Mail service is sporadic at best.
"Prisoners are allowed to shower for 15 minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We are not permitted to have any toiletries. Once inside the 'shower' cell, the guards hand us a bar of soap and a toothbrush smeared with a little toothpaste. Whenever we leave our cells, even to the shower, they employ full restraints on us, which means being handcuffed behind the back and guided by a 'dog leash' attached to the handcuffs. The only personal property we are allowed is a minimal amount of legal and religious property."
RAb, Pelican Bay, Crescent City, California"The infamous Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit ... is a long term torture chamber in itself. The policy here is complete solitary confinement, sensory deprivation and extreme isolation."
JH, Northern State Prison, Newark, New Jersey"This extreme isolation [of the control unit] and lack of human contact has caused me severe problems (I requested to see a psychologist but haven't seen one yet) including being diagnosed with high blood pressure. I also experience headaches, stress, sensitivity to loud noises, ringing of the ears, loss of ability to concentrate, think, loss of memory, anxiety, agitation, paranoia, fear and thoughts of violence from inmates and staff."
MN, Maxlmum Control Facility, India Department of Corrections, undated"'I'm 40 years old, I feel l'm fairly [well] educated and trying to keep a grip. The loneliness and solitude [are] working on me. No physical contact, the depression. I've never been depressed in my life. I'm usually in such good moods it has been known to piss people off; "What are you so happy about?" Now I catch myself with tears running down my face.
"At first I'd get pissed off at myself and call myself a pussy, broken, weak, but now that it's more frequent I just let it flow. Six three 220 pound pussy boy crying his eyes out. But afterwards I feel some peace until the hate comes in. Optimism, anger, hate and despair: I'll bet I go through each one of these emotions five to ten times a day."
1. EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 7 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international and regional human rights instruments. Article 10.1 of the ICCPR states that 'all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherant dignity of the human person.'" [AICRUEL, p 4]
"A detained or imprisoned person or his counsel shall have the right to make a request or complaint regarding his treatment, in particular in case of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, to the authorities responsible for the administration of the place of detention and to higher authorities and, when necessary, to appropriate authorities vesting with reviewing and remedial powers." [ICCPR, Annex, Principle 33] JRB, Lirnon, Colorado
"[ln] January 1992, ... a security captain at Portage, Wisconsin, (at CCI) beat an inmate with a night stick. [ln] March, 1992, I saw a security officer strike a prisoner with a large flash light -- the hard rubber type that needs six C-Type batteries. Between January and June [of] 1992 I saw four different prisoners four pointed to strip cell beds - two of which were then beat[en] up by several officers. "[ln] December, 1992, [in] DRDC (Denver, Colorado), I was taken to segregation and beaten by several guards for doing legal research for women prisoners."
JK, Southwoods prison, New Jersey"I got marks on my body from SCOs [Senior Correctional Officers] beating on me a lot of times. And they hit with their fist on [my] body ... I got no write ups but have to go through being hit on by SCOs. The officers give out brutality in this prison. So please have somebody stop this on me in this Southwoods prison."
He then lists 5 days during the previous 19 -- three of them in succession -- on which he was beaten.
YM, Northern Prison, Somers, Connecticut"On March 13, 1995 I was brought here to the Supermax [where they] jacked me up, applied pressure to the side of my neck, ... snatched me in the air and carried me to the holding cell and took me to the floor, ... I was at all times handcuffed, had on leg irons, a waist chain and a chain going from feet to hands. I was forced by about