Amid national debate over the excessive use of force in U.S. law enforcement, Amnesty International released a report in June 1999 documenting an increasing use of high-tech brutality in the U.S. criminal justice system. The report includes recent allegations of torture and ill-treatment with electro-shock weapons in local jails as well as in state and federal prison facilities. Among its disturbing revelations is reported evidence of the use of stun belts on HIV-positive prisoners and prisoners diagnosed with AIDS in the Old Parish Prison in New Orleans, Louisiana.

IGLHRC supports Amnesty International in opposing the use of stun belts on all prisoners. IGLHRC draws attention to the Louisiana case because of the grossly discriminatory manner in which extreme forms of control are being used on inmates solely on the basis of their HIV status while subjecting them to unjustifiable physical and mental pain and suffering for the same reason.

IGLHRC and Amnesty International ask for your letters to Sheriff Charles Foti of the New Orleans Parish Prison System expressing deep concern over the use of stun belt on OPP-D-1 prisoners and asking for an immediate halt to this practice as a first step towards eliminating the use of stun belts from New Orleans Parish overall.

Sheriff Charles C. Foti
New Orleans Parish Prison System

2800 Gravier St.
New Orleans, LA 70119
USA
Salutation: Dear Sheriff

Your letters should cover the following points:

• Explain that the stun belt subjects prisoners to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by all standards of national and international law (refer to Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners below) ;
• Express concern that the stun belt is reportedly being used in the Old Parish Prison, in New Orleans , during the transportation of prisoners from the segregated HIV/AIDS unit, OPP-D-1;
• Ask to be informed whether this practice is continuing;
• Note that inmates are placed in OPP-D-1 because of their HIV status and not their security status, and include minimum and medium security prisoners. Express concern that they are therefore being discriminated against because of their HIV status and subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on this basis;
• Note allegations that at least two OPP-D-1 inmates have been electro-shocked by the belt, and asking for further information on these allegations;
• Call for an immediate halt to the use of the stun belt on OPP-D-1 prisoners, as a first step towards removing the stun belt from New Orleans Parish and respecting the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The stun belt - one of a growing array of electro-shock weapons used by police and prison agencies across the U.S. - is reportedly being used on inmates from the segregated HIV/ AIDS unit of the Old Parish Prison (OPP-D-1) during transport to and from medical facilities. The only other prisoners required to wear the stun belt are high security prisoners. However, HIV-positive inmates must wear the stun belt regardless of their security classifications. This results in a practice both perilous and discriminatory, whereby pre-trial, medium, and minimum security prisoners are effectively being forced to wear the stun belt solely because of their HIV-positive status. The belt subsequently acts as a visible status marker which encroaches upon HIV-positive inmates' right to confidentiality and singles them out for further discrimination or abuse.

Health experts have indicated that there is medical evidence suggesting that electro-shock devices may produce harmful or even fatal effects, particularly in the case of persons suffering from heart disease. The stun belt is known to cause immediate muscle immobilization, excruciating pain and loss of control of bodily functions. Stun belts have allegedly been activated on at least two occasions against OPP-D-1 prisoners, including against one individual held in a hospital holding cell. In addition, inmates who are HIV-positive are reportedly required to sign a waiver consenting to be fitted with a stun belt or they risk being denied transportation to the Clinic at Charity Hospital to receive life-sustaining treatment. This coercive double bind subjects HIV-positive prisoners to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment: it not only puts the lives of already vulnerable inmates in greater jeopardy, but punitively undermines their right to access to care and treatment. It is therefore evident that the arbitrary use of stun belts on prisoners with HIV/AIDS constitutes a form of torture under internationally recognized standards.

• The United Nations' Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person . . . by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity." The fact that torture is accomplished by sophisticated technological means renders the suffering no less harmful, and its commission no less reprehensible.
• The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, developed in a consultation by UNAIDS and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, call on all States "to review and reform correctional systems in order to ensure that they are not misused in the context of HIV/AIDS and that they are consistent with international human rights obligations". Guideline #4, in particular, calls on prison authorities to: " Ensure that HIV-positive prisoners have access to care and treatment." "Ensure confidentiality of information regarding a prisoner's HIV status"
• As a form of corporal punishment inflicted on a prisoner who physically transgresses an invisible line, the stun belts contravene the United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (U.N. Doc. A/CONF/611, annex I, E.S.C. res. 663C, 24 U.N. ESCOR Supp. No. 1 at 11), particularly paragraph 31, which stipulates that "Corporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences."
• More particularly relevant to the way in which the belts are used to single out and stigmatize HIV-positive prisoners are the following provisions of the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, [G.A. res. 45/111, annex, 45 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No.49A) at 200, U.N. Doc. A/45/49 (1990)].

1. All prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings.
2. There shall be no discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.