{"id":128011,"date":"2025-07-28T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=128011"},"modified":"2025-07-25T19:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T23:04:48","slug":"cchrs-legacy-exposing-psychiatric-abuse-and-advancing-global-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/cchrs-legacy-exposing-psychiatric-abuse-and-advancing-global-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"CCHR’s Legacy: Exposing Psychiatric Abuse and Advancing Global Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 28, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR)<\/a>, a mental health industry watchdog founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, is reaffirming its legacy of restoring human rights in the mental health field\u2014one that spans more than five decades of exposing psychiatric coercion and abuse, helping drive legal and policy change. With nearly 200 laws influenced through its work, CCHR\u2019s campaigns have led to landmark bans on dangerous practices such as electroshock treatment on children, Deep Sleep Therapy (DST), and other coercive procedures now denounced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations agencies.<\/p>\n

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Image caption: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) is reaffirming its legacy of restoring human rights in the mental health field – one that spans more than five decades of exposing psychiatric coercion and abuse, helping drive legal and policy change.<\/em><\/p>\n

From the first U.S. law in California in 1976 banning electroshock and psychosurgery on children under 12 and banning it for minors under age 14 in Western Australia with criminal penalties if administered, to outlaw DST in Australia with criminal penalties for violators, CCHR\u2019s work has helped shape the global mental health landscape\u2014often in the face of intense opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the reforms we fought for were achieved despite industry resistance to challenging psychiatric coercion and power,\u201d said Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International. \u201cThat legacy continues today, recognized by survivors, lawmakers, health agencies, and UN experts worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the late 1970s, CCHR helped expose the deaths of 48 patients subjected to Deep Sleep Therapy at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia. The practice involved drug-induced comas and repeated electroshock. Most patients were never told they had been shocked, and no informed consent was obtained.<\/p>\n

After a 10-year campaign by CCHR and DST survivors, a Royal Commission of Inquiry confirmed the practice was abusive and medically indefensible. In 1983, DST was banned under the NSW Mental Health Act, with criminal penalties imposed for its administration. Justice John Slattery, who led the inquiry, determined that electroshock without consent or by deception is \u201can assault.\u201d[1]<\/p>\n

He credited CCHR for making the investigation possible, stating the group had \u201ccontributed considerably to advance the cause of the Chelmsford patients.\u201d[2]<\/p>\n

An award-winning 60 Minutes Australia program was credited to CCHR for the documents that made its landmark expos\u00e9 possible.[3] Prominent attorney Patrick Griffin called CCHR\u2019s work \u201cthe most sustained and thorough exercise in whistleblowing, investigatory reporting and public interest work in the history of this country\u2014bar none.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1986, a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights stated: \u201cCCHR has been responsible for many great reforms\u2026 Laws throughout the world which would otherwise have inhibited even more the rights of patients or would have given psychiatry the power to commit minority groups and individuals against their will, have been defeated by the actions of CCHR.\u201d[4]<\/p>\n

Since then, nearly 200 laws have been passed worldwide as a result of CCHR\u2019s advocacy. These include:<\/p>\n