The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture calls on Obama Administration to take action to end torture at Massachusetts school for children with disabilities

Washington, DC – March 5, 2013 - Juan Méndez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council yesterday in Geneva holding governments around the world accountable for violations of the UN Convention Against Torture. The report cited the United States, calling on the federal government to bring an end to the use of electric skin shocks and restraint at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts.

ACTION ALERT: Support Needed to Help US Ratify CRPD

Disability Rights International (DRI) has played a leading role in pushing for US ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) through its work with the US International Council on Disabilities (USICD), a coalition of US-based organizations, federal agencies and individuals committed to advocacy and action on behalf of the global disability rights age

The United Nations calls again for investigation of JRC's shock treatments

Washington, DC-- A scathing article concerning the abuses against children with disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) was published Saturday by the Guardian of London. Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, told the Guardian he is "very concerned," about the use of electric shocks as aversive treatment on children with disabilities at JRC.

DRI Calls for Speedy US Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

May 25, 2012--Washington, DC-- Disability Rights International (DRI) applauds the bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who earlier today released a unified statement urging the U.S. to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

JRC Banned from Shocking New Admissions

November 7, 2011-- Washington, DC -- This week we can celebrate a major victory against torture of people with disabilities in the United States.   The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) adopted new regulations last week that greatly restrict the intentional use of pain as a form of treatment - including the use of electric shock, seclusion, and restraints on young children and adults with disabilities.

The Guardian Exposes the Truth about the Judge Rotenberg Center

Washington, DC -- March 14, 2011 -- Last year, Disability Rights International published the report Torture not Treatment: Electric Shock and Long-Term Restraint in the United States on Children and Adults with Disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center. The report resulted in a top United Nations human rights official declaring that the school's practice of shocking children to control behavior was, in fact, torture--and a