The United Nations Committee for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has issued a new Open Letter reiterating its opposition to involuntary detention and treatment in mental health care, stating that any form of coercion is incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Committee's stance is a significant development in international human rights law, and it has prompted the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) to urge the United States to adopt similar protections in its own laws.
The CRPD Committee's Open Letter, dated July 1, 2026, emphasizes that involuntary placement and treatment are prohibited without exceptions, even when used as measures of last resort or with safeguards. The Committee argues that such practices perpetuate institutional power imbalances and have been documented to expose persons with disabilities to torture and ill-treatment. Evidence-based reports indicate that involuntary commitment and treatment cause widespread violence, harm, and death, with no therapeutic benefits. The Committee further asserts that these practices are discriminatory and may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
CCHR International President Jan Eastgate noted that the United States has never ratified the CRPD, despite the treaty's adoption in 2007 and its reliance on U.S. disability-rights principles. Instead, the U.S. relies on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which Eastgate argues should be reformed to explicitly protect against forced psychiatric institutionalization and treatment, aligning with international human rights law.
The urgency of this call is underscored by statistics: 1.2 million Americans are involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities each year. A July 2025 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that individuals involuntarily hospitalized were nearly twice as likely to die by suicide or overdose within three months of release. Additionally, an estimated 100,000 Americans receive electroshock treatment annually, often involuntarily, despite risks of memory loss and brain damage.
A recent evaluation of New York's Kendra's Law, which mandates outpatient treatment, found that forced treatment was more harmful than voluntary services. Between 2016 and 2022, the use of pharmacologic restraint among hospitalized children aged 5-17 with mental health diagnoses increased by 141%, according to a study in Pediatrics. Physical restraints have led to homicide rulings in recent cases, such as the deaths of a 7-year-old and a 16-year-old, with six staff members prosecuted.
The 2023 joint WHO-OHCHR guidance also called for legislative reform to end coercion, replace psychiatric institutions with community support systems, and enshrine free and informed consent in mental health. Eastgate concluded that the U.S. can no longer claim leadership on disability rights while allowing forced psychiatric detention and treatment, and that U.S. law should be brought into full alignment with international standards.
CCHR, established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, has achieved hundreds of laws that empower patients with informed consent and legal representation against forced treatment.
