COMMUNIQUE FROM THE ETHICS COMMITTEE OF THE FCCSM
ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY (10/12/20)
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Ethics Committee From the Catalan Mental Health Congress Foundation, we want to denounce the unacceptable setback that has been occurring in recent times in the treatment of people in situations of agitation or distress by law enforcement agencies.
A few weeks ago in Barcelona, Municipal Police shot a drunk homeless man twice who was carrying a knife. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. Neighbors said he was very afraid of the Urban Guard...
Recently in Sabadell, when a patient was denied accompaniment to a medical appointment at the clinic (due to CV19), she became agitated. A minimum of six police officers showed up, and while four prevented the public from approaching, two of them shot her three times with a Taser. She was already screaming on the ground in pain from the first shot.
From our point of view, both cases are extremely serious. They represent another step in the degradation of the attention provided by our police to individuals in a state of significant personal fragility, whether due to psychiatric causes, social conditions, or other factors. In both cases, there are recordings of police brutality. And in both cases, the highest officials of both forces maintain that the police action was “measured,” as if agitated patients were wild animals and as if we citizens hadn't seen the images. We absolutely disagree with classifying the police action as proportionate. This is the action that the relevant authorities have attempted to use to justify the assaults received and to overlook the inadequacy and irregularity of the actions of these members of the police forces.
Aside from the deep indignation stirred by the two interventions, our perplexity is maximal due to the fact that two members of our Committee participated in the drafting of a Protocol for the Urgent Transfer of Psychiatric Patients in 2002 for the Ministry of Health. This document was subsequently made public in 2007 by the then Minister of Justice. In the aforementioned document (pp. 10-12), it explains how patients suffering from agitation crises (and by extension, whether or not they were patients with mental health issues) should be transferred. This protocol was ratified by the then Minister of Health, President of the High Court of Justice, Chief Prosecutor of the High Court of Justice, heads of all police forces in Catalonia, head of the Medical Emergency Service, directors of the main specialized hospitals... It goes without saying that the philosophy of the document has nothing to do with the current form of police action.
Therefore,
We recommend that current police leaders do not ignore the regulations of their predecessors and the advancements they brought, and also, very especially, that the Ministry of Health pronounce itself on these matters, which affect the Human Rights of patients, for whom it should be responsible.
We recommend that administrations unequivocally make up for lost time and carry out what was clearly established years ago, notably regarding the planned training of the actors involved, so that no one can be so seriously harmed.
On this International Human Rights Day, we finally recommend that psychiatric patients and/or people in situations of psychological or mental vulnerability receive the same care and efficiency as any patient with any other illness or etiology, and that the equal treatment required in all cases by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (approved and signed by the Spanish State in 2008) be fulfilled.
Barcelona, December 10, 2020.