Canada is Torturing Inmates with Solitary Confinement, Report Finds

Link to Vice Article

Link to Report by Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott

"Nearly one-in-ten federal inmates who are placed in the 'structured intervention units' designed by the Trudeau government to replace solitary confinement cells are actually being tortured, a new report says.

The new research confirms what inmates and prisoner advocates have been saying for years: Canada isn't following its own laws, various court rulings, or international standards around the treatment of inmates. It is even violating a UN convention on torture that it helped write.

The new report, authored by criminologists Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott, called the findings 'very disturbing,'

The study looked at how often inmates were placed in those cells, how long they spent there, and whether they received any meaningful human contact during their stay."

Solitary Confinement Continues in Canada Under a Different Name

Link to Article

Reports by Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott:

Understanding the Operation of Correctional Service Canada's Structured Intervention Units: Some Preliminary Findings

Is there Clear Evidence that the Problems that have been Identified with the Operation of Correctional Service Canada's "Structured Intervention Units" were Caused by the COVID-19 Outbreak? An Examination of Data from Correctional Service Canada

"Exactly one year ago, in November 2019, Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) were implemented by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in federal prisons to replace the old solitary confinement system. The new regime was supposed to abolish what is typically defined as segregation. Individuals placed in an SIU would receive four hours out of their cells and two hours of meaningful human contact. Solitary confinement is often defined as isolation for 22 hours or more in a given day and no more than two hours of human contact.

However, an independent report using CSC data released at the end of October 2020 shows that SIUs are in fact solitary confinement under a different name and with fewer restrictions."