The Herald reports today that CYFS, the agency that is supposed to protect kids, has instead been torturing them in one of its "care" facilities:
Teenagers were unlawfully detained for weeks on end in the seclusion wing of a youth justice facility run by Child Youth and Family, according to its own senior staff.The use of segregation (solitary confinement) and isolation is tightly regulated because prolonged isolation causes mental illness. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture has ruled that its use on young people constitutes cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment. Prolonged use on anyone constitutes torture. And here CYFS has been using it on kids for weeks at a time, in blatant violation of the law and basic decency. Fortunately, we have a solution. The Crimes of Torture Act imposes a penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment for committing torture, and 10 years for being an accessory. And its time we fucking used it. The CYFS staff who did this need to go to jail. And until they do, other CYFS staff will feel they have impunity to commit similar acts.
Documents obtained by the Herald also reveal:
- staff used "inappropriate force" against young people.
- secure care was used as punishment.
- some young people were stripped and put in suicide gowns..
- a "significant number" of teens should not have been put in seclusion in the first place.
