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“I’ve been in chains for five years” – The data published by Human Rights Watch is shocking.
Hundreds of thousands of people – men, women and children with mental health problems – are chained in some 60 countries, according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Without adequate mental health support or knowledge, families or institutions often chain people with mental health problems against their will, letting them eat, sleep, urinate and defecate in a very small space, the Observatory said in a report. .
In anticipation of World Mental Health Day on October 10, HRW documented in its report through almost 800 interviews that people with psychosocial disabilities in countries such as China, Nigeria and Mexico could live in chains for years, in closed trees. cages or prisoners in stables.
“We found that the practice of chaining is used regardless of religion, social class, economic class, culture and ethnic group; it is a practice that is found all over the world,” said Kriti Sarma, researcher at the Center for the Rights of the Elderly. disability in an interview he gave, broadcast by Reuters and relayed by the Athens News Agency.
In many countries it is believed that “people with mental health problems are magicians or are demonized or have sinned and as a result have this condition,” he said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mexican Ministry of Health have not yet responded to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Nigerian Ministry of Health said the ministry had not seen the report and declined to comment.
Last year, Nigerian authorities raided Islamic reintegration centers for drug addicts or people with behavior problems that made headlines around the world after boys and men testified that they were chained, naked, beaten and sexually abused.
However, around the world, in public and private centers and in traditional and religious therapies, those who care for these people are deprived of food, inadvertently administered medicines and herbal treatments, and subjected to physical and sexual violence . according to Human Rights Watch.
In many countries, these services are even “very profitable businesses,” according to Sarma.
HRW also notes that families often put their loved ones in chains because they fear that they will leave and harm themselves or others.
“I’ve been in chains for five years,” a Kenyan who called himself Paul told HRW. Paul’s chains were so heavy he could barely move, according to the Observatory.
“I live in a small room with 7 men,” he added. “I am not allowed to wear clothes, only underwear.” I eat mush in the morning and, if I’m lucky, I find bread at night, “he concluded.
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