Post by Asairia on Mar 2, 2019 23:32:16 GMT
WORLD ASSEMBLY SECURITY COUNCIL
RESTRICTING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
DELEGATE IS VOTING: AGAINST ☒
FINAL RESULTS:
4,373 FOR
11,224 AGAINST
Overview
Restricting Solitary Confinement seeks to, "Mandate that solitary confinement is illegal in all member nations, whether within a prison system or not, unless the person subject to solitary confinement is clearly likely to harm other people or be harmed by other people and there is no other reasonable way to prevent this occurring," while also requiring therapy and other effective treatment, "for people with mental disorders or illnesses caused or exacerbated by solitary confinement."
About the Proposal
The author of this resolution, Maowi of the South Pacific, has drafted the following legislation:
COGNIZANT that solitary confinement is often used to prevent a dangerous person from harming their companions;
SHOCKED at the devastating psychological effects of solitary confinement, such as suicidal tendencies, self-mutilation, hallucinations, psychosis, paranoia and hypersensitivity;
ASSERTING that solitary confinement is realistically unlikely to improve the behaviour of a person;
APPALLED that, despite the above, solitary confinement is used as a measure attempting to discipline prisoners;
The World Assembly hereby:
1. DEFINES “solitary confinement” as the involuntary confinement of any person without the ability to see or communicate with another person for a duration of time proven to cause problems in an otherwise healthy individual.
2. MANDATES that solitary confinement is illegal in all member nations, whether within a prison system or not, unless the person subject to solitary confinement is clearly likely to harm other people or be harmed by other people and there is no other reasonable way to prevent this occurring.
3. RULES that all member nations must provide or make available effective treatment or therapy for people with mental disorders or illnesses caused or exacerbated by solitary confinement.
SHOCKED at the devastating psychological effects of solitary confinement, such as suicidal tendencies, self-mutilation, hallucinations, psychosis, paranoia and hypersensitivity;
ASSERTING that solitary confinement is realistically unlikely to improve the behaviour of a person;
APPALLED that, despite the above, solitary confinement is used as a measure attempting to discipline prisoners;
The World Assembly hereby:
1. DEFINES “solitary confinement” as the involuntary confinement of any person without the ability to see or communicate with another person for a duration of time proven to cause problems in an otherwise healthy individual.
2. MANDATES that solitary confinement is illegal in all member nations, whether within a prison system or not, unless the person subject to solitary confinement is clearly likely to harm other people or be harmed by other people and there is no other reasonable way to prevent this occurring.
3. RULES that all member nations must provide or make available effective treatment or therapy for people with mental disorders or illnesses caused or exacerbated by solitary confinement.
My Decision
This resolution, though well-intended, feels incomplete. I, like many others, believe that the definition of 'solitary confinement' is too broad, possibly opening the door for legal challenges as to whether standard incarceration qualifies as 'involuntary confinement' due to its nature and if long incarceration sentences qualify as 'a duration of time proven to cause problems'. This duration of time, as loosely worded, also presents a valid question: how much time needs to pass in order to invoke that clause? In the author's original draft, it was cited that 22 hours was the answer to this question as part of the original definition of 'solitary confinement'. This was later changed to read as it currently does per the request of several people.
A few other concerns were raised by others: terrorists could no longer be confined, single-inmate cell incarceration facilities may not be in compliance, and for whatever reason, objection was raised over coma patients joining the terrorists in the solitary confinement-free category.
Due to the two most important parts of this legislation being too loosely defined and subject to inconsistent interpretations and potential legal challenges, I have cast my vote against this resolution and encourage you to do the same.
Current Regional support at time of publication.
Current Delegate support at time of publication.