A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 developed insomnia and paranoia and has become increasingly anti-social as a result of his confinement. Mr. Kenneth Wright has been repeatedly confined to SHU as punishment for using marijuana, despite proactively seeking treatment from the Department of Corrections health service. Allegedly, after Mr. Wright’s latest infraction, authorities subjected him to six additional months in SHU and failed to take steps to assess his medical condition and provide necessary treatment. It is reported that Mr. Wright has struggled with depression, hopelessness and thoughts of suicide during his time in SHU. In addition, isolation in the SHU changed his behavior: he became more aggressive and started talking to himself. On the basis of the information available to him, the Special Rapporteur concludes that the rights of Messrs. Blake, Poole and Wright to be free from torture have been violated, and that the practice of solitary confinement in New York State violates the international obligations of the United States of America. He reminds the US Government that paragraph 6 of General Comment No. 20 of the Human Rights Committee states that prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person may amount to acts prohibited by article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In addition, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to his interim report to the General Assembly of 5 August 2011 (A/66/268) stating that where the physical conditions and the prison regime of solitary confinement cause severe mental and physical pain or suffering amount to torture or cruel inhuman or degrading treatment if the resulting social isolation is prolonged or indefinte, whether used as punishment or during pre-trial detention. Solitary confinement of any length of time is similarly a violation of international law when used on juveniles, pregnant women or persons with mental disabilities. On the basis of scientific evidence, his report established 15 days as the limit between “solitary confinement” and “prolonged solitary confinement” because at that point, according to the literature surveyed, some of the harmful psychological effects of isolation can become irreversible. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur reminds the US Government that Rule 22 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners provides that, “(s)ick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Furthermore, Rule 25(1) provides that, “(t)he medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.” The Committee against Torture and the Human Rights Committee have consistently found that conditions of detention can amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. The Specail Rapporteur welcomes the recent positive developments regarding disciplinary segregation in New York State prisons. However, he urges the authorities (State and Federal) to similarly look into the regime of administrative segregation. Futher, while acknowledging recent developments in New York State, the Special Rapporteur urges the United States Government and individual State Governmetns to take all measures necessary to ban the use of prolonged solitary confinement for juveniles, pregnant women and persons with mental disabilities.The Special Rapporteur calls on the US Government to undertake a prompt and independent investigation of the allegations of prolonged solitary confinement, leading to its immediate termination, and to provide full redress to the victims. (b) AL 08/05/2013 Case No. USA 4/2013 State Reply: 13/08/2013 Alleged prolonged solitary confinement policies at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado. 168. The Special Rapporteur thanks the government of the United States for its reply, dated 5 May 2013, to this communication in reference to alleged use of prolonged solitary confinement in polices in the Florence, Colorado penitentiary. The communication referred to the alleged practices at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado, that subject between 400 and 500 inmates to prolonged solitary confinement and inhuman or degrading conditions in detention, including the denial of adequate medical treatment. According to the information received, inmates at 123