Burnaby BC – Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services filed a human rights complaint on behalf of Perry DeFazio against the Correctional Service Canada for discrimination based on mental health disability.
Perry has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a history of self-harm and suicide attempts. He is a survivor of childhood physical and sexual abuse.
On January 28, 2020, Perry was put in an isolation cell for suicide monitoring at Correctional Service Canada’s Regional Mental Health Centre in Quebec. Correctional officers forcibly tackled Perry, held him down on the bed and cut off his clothes.
Later the same day, Perry was strapped to Pinel restraints to prevent self-harm, where he was taunted by a correctional officer. He spent hours in the restraints. A nurse saw that his foot was injured and asked officers to adjust the straps. An officer accused Perry of spitting at him, although officers were wearing face shields. An officer then punched Perry in the head twice. Another officer hit him in the face three times. He was eventually taken to the hospital where he saw in a mirror that his face was swollen like a balloon. Hospital records confirm that officers used so much force that the bone around Perry’s eye was fractured and his nose was injured.
“I feel traumatized and I am afraid when guards come near me” Perry says in his complaint. He also describes experiencing anxiety attacks.
The Correctional Service Canada reviewed the use of force and concluded that the force was not necessary or proportionate. The Office of the Correctional Investigator confirmed these findings.
“It is appalling that physical violence is used at a Treatment Centre against someone in emotional distress. Treatment centres should be safe and therapeutic environments where people are treated compassionately by health care professionals. Instead we see people facing isolation and violence when they feel suicidal,” said Jennifer Metcalfe, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services.
CSC health care staff did not speak with Perry about this violent experience, or help him to process it.
“Trust is an essential foundation to any therapeutic health care relationship. How can people in prison have trust with mental health care providers if they fail to acknowledge the trauma of these kinds of abusive practices?” said Jennifer Metcalfe.
Prisoners’ Legal Services takes the position that correctional officers should not be on living units of treatment centres unless called in by health care staff for assistance, and that interventions for people in emotional distress should be led by health care staff.
Media contact:
Jennifer Metcalfe
604-636-0470