The United Nations Committee for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has issued a new Open Letter reaffirming that involuntary detention and treatment in mental health services are incompatible with international human rights law. The Committee's stance, which prohibits such practices without exception, has drawn praise from the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), which is now calling on the United States to reform its own mental health legislation to meet these global standards.
The CRPD Committee's Open Letter, released on July 1, 2026, stresses that involuntary placement and treatment, even as last-resort measures or with safeguards, contradict the human rights model of disability. The letter highlights that such practices perpetuate institutional power imbalances, often leading to torture, ill-treatment, and even death. It cites evidence-based reports documenting widespread violence and harm in institutions, as well as the lack of clinical evidence supporting the use of coercion. The Committee asserts that involuntary practices are discriminatory, deny legal capacity, and may constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
CCHR International President Jan Eastgate emphasized that despite the CRPD being adopted in 2007 and drawing heavily on U.S. disability-rights principles, the United States has never ratified the treaty. Instead, it 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 issue is underscored by statistics: approximately 1.2 million Americans are involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities each year. A July 2025 study from 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. Furthermore, an estimated 100,000 Americans receive electroshock treatment annually, often involuntarily, despite documented risks of memory loss and brain damage.
A recent evaluation of New York's "Kendra's Law" compared outcomes for individuals forced into outpatient treatment with those receiving similar services voluntarily. The study, reported by Politico, found that forced treatment, often called "assisted outpatient treatment," was more harmful than voluntary care. Additionally, between 2016 and 2022, there was a 141% increase in the use of pharmacologic restraint among hospitalized children aged 5–17 with mental health diagnoses, according to a study in Pediatrics. Physical restraints have also led to deaths, including the homicide rulings in cases of a 7-year-old and a 16-year-old, resulting in prosecution of staff.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued joint guidance in 2023 calling for legislative reform to end coercion in mental health services, replace psychiatric institutions with inclusive community support, and enshrine free and informed consent. The European Times reported on this guidance, emphasizing the need for systemic change.
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 psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, has been instrumental in enacting hundreds of laws that empower patients with informed consent and legal representation against forced treatment.
