UN Committee Condemns Forced Psychiatric Treatment, CCHR Urges U.S. Reform

The United Nations Committee for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has issued an Open Letter reiterating its opposition to involuntary psychiatric detention and treatment, stating that any form of coercion in mental health care is incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee's Open Letter, dated July 1, 2026, emphasizes that involuntary placement and treatment are prohibited without exceptions and are not legitimate responses to distress or crisis.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) has welcomed the initiative and is urging the United States to adopt similar protections in its laws. CCHR's International President, Jan Eastgate, pointed out that the U.S. has never ratified the CRPD, despite the treaty being adopted in 2007 and drawing heavily on U.S. disability-rights principles. Eastgate stressed that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should be reformed to provide explicit protections against forced psychiatric institutionalization and treatment, which are already guaranteed under international human rights law.

The CRPD Committee's Open Letter outlines key concerns, including that involuntary placement and treatment perpetuate institutional power imbalances that have been documented as exposing persons with disabilities to torture and ill-treatment. Evidence-based reports have concluded that there are no therapeutic benefits and a lack of clinical evidence supporting the use of coercion and involuntary institutionalization. The Committee also noted that involuntary placement, involuntary treatment, seclusion, and restraint are discriminatory measures that deny legal capacity and may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

CCHR highlights the urgent need for these human rights perspectives in the United States, where 1.2 million Americans are involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities every year. The consequences of coercion can be lethal: a July 2025 Federal Reserve Bank of New York study found that individuals who were involuntarily hospitalized were nearly twice as likely to die by suicide or overdose within three months of release. An estimated 100,000 Americans receive electroshock treatment annually, and state laws in many jurisdictions still permit it to be administered involuntarily, despite well-documented risks of memory loss and brain damage.

A new evaluation of court-mandated mental health treatment in New York under its involuntary commitment law known as "Kendra's Law" found that forced treatment, often called "assisted outpatient treatment," was more harmful than voluntary services. Between 2016 and 2022, there was a 141% increase in the use of pharmacologic restraint among hospitalized children ages 5–17 with a mental health diagnosis, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Physical restraints can also cause serious injury or death, as seen in recent cases involving the restraint deaths of a 7-year-old and a 16-year-old, which resulted in homicide rulings and the prosecution of six staff members.

The 2023 joint WHO-Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) guidance also called for legislative reform to end coercion in mental health services, replace psychiatric institutions with inclusive community support systems, and enshrine free and informed consent in the mental health field. Eastgate concluded: "The United States can no longer claim leadership on disability rights while continuing to allow forced psychiatric detention and treatment. It is unmistakably clear that coercion has no place in the mental health field. U.S. law should be brought into full alignment with international human rights standards. Anything less abandons the very principles of liberty and equality that America champions."

CCHR, established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, has achieved hundreds of laws that empower patients with informed consent and the right to legal representation against loss of liberty and forced treatment in psychiatric institutions.