MandelNews.com Human Rights NEWS

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) have together launched new guidance, entitled “Mental health, human rights and legislation: guidance and practice." The WHO has reported human rights abuses and coercive practices in mental health care, which are supported by present legislation and policies, remain too common. It has been commented that "Involuntary hospitalization and treatment, unsanitary living conditions and physical, psychological, and emotional abuse characterize many mental health services across the world." Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is the WHO Director-General, has said “This new guidance will support countries to make the changes needed to provide quality mental health care that assists a person’s recovery and respects their dignity." >>>WHO   

On July 12, 2024, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International won a landmark case against an attempt to suppress its freedom of speech dealing with psychiatric abuse and patients’ rights in Spain. After a long judicial battle, a judgment was secured by CCHR International and CCHR Spain from the Supreme Court of Spain which resulted in a significant defeat for the Spanish Society of Psychiatry (SEP) which had claimed that CCHR’s publications, documentaries and websites in the U.S. and in Spain served to harm their “honor.” The Supreme Court of Spain rejected this and has affirmed that CCHR’s materials “deal with a matter of undoubted general interest,” are “directly connected to the public debate in a democratic society,” while also contributing to the “social debate on psychiatry.”>>>CCHR   

An inquiry in New Zealand which uncovered 200,000 children and vulnerable adults tortured in psychiatric and behavioral institutions has mirrored similar abuses which have been uncovered in the United States. The New Zealand inquiry revealed horrible abuses in psychiatric, behavioral, and disability institutions have been going on for decades.  A nightmare of people being tortured under the guise of mental health care has surfaced. The abuses have included chemical restraints, sexual assault, electric shocks, medical experimentation, starvation, beatings, and sterilization. NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has told survivors "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. 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. You are heard and you are believed.”>>>CCHR  

Amnesty International has reported people who are of reproductive age across the United States are being confronted with "ongoing, confusing changes to their ability to access abortion." In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision (2022) devastating new anti-abortion laws have emerged across the country with abortions now completely or nearly completely banned in 21 states. The US Supreme Court Dobbs decision states that the right to an abortion is not confered by the Constitution. This decision overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) which had ruled the right to an abortion was basically protected by the Constitution. Pregnant women are now being forced to give birth against their desires. International human rights law takes the position that decisions about your body should be yours alone. It is a violation of a persons human rights to force that person to continue with an unwanted pregnancy. This human rights disaster can only be confronted humanely with federal protection of the right to an abortion.>>>Amnesty International 

Human Rights Watch has reported United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has been encouraging negotiations on a new international treaty dealing with lethal autonomous weapons, or killer robots. Killer robots use sensor processing instead of human inputs to select targets to attack. 

This is a very dangerous development for mankind. Guterres wants an international treaty 

“to prohibit weapons systems that function without human control or oversight and that cannot be used in compliance with international humanitarian law.” Killer robots autonomously determine when, where or against what force is applied.  The secretary-general of the United Nations has said “time is running out for the international community to take preventative action on this issue,” and has reaffirmed “the need to act urgently to preserve human control over the use of force.”>>>Human Rights Watch

CCHR activists protested abuses of children via Child Psychiatry at the 18th International Congress of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. A large banner was seen which said, “ADHD: Billion-dollar business for psychiatry—no psych drugs for our children.” The protesters pointed out that today at least 20 million children are being given psychiatric drugs internationally. These drugs can include “side effects” of homicidal or suicidal ideation. Placards have also made it clear that “Childhood is not a mental disorder.” >>>CCHR

Irene Khan, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, says journalists worldwide are being confronted with more risks than ever. She says there have been online death threats and even rape threats against journalists. Between 2016-2021 there have been 455 journalists killed while doing their jobs. Targeted electronic surveillance is also being used to intimidate and shut down the work of investigative journalists.>>>United Nations Human Rights  

UN human rights experts have expressed serious concern over a “massive crackdown” on pro-Palestinian student protests which have occured at many universities in the United States. The UN authorities have urged the US to uphold the rights to free speech and peaceful assembly.

These experts have said  “The banning and attacks on student protests are a grave violation of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression guaranteed by international human rights law, and must stop immediately." They have also commented that “It is inaccurate and unjustified to bluntly label all peaceful demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinian people or calls for a ceasefire in Gaza or criticism of Israel’s policies as antisemitic.”>>>UN News 

The Guardian has reported in a comparison internationally of 10 peer nations the health system in the United States ranks dead last. In this report released by the Commonwealth Fund it has been disclosed that Americans pay almost twice as much for healthcare and yet the system does not perform well on health equity, access to care and on outcomes. There is a human toll associated with these outcomes on a daily basis says Dr Joseph Betancourt, the president of the Commonwealth Fund. He says "It’s time we finally build a health system that delivers quality affordable healthcare for all Americans." The Commonwealth Fund is a foundation which has a focus on healthcare research and policy.>>>The Guardian