Claire Muir, from Silverton, told the Reporter the NHS’s ‘forced’ treatment of mental health patients is ‘barbaric’ and is in contravention of UN law.

She added that although Adolf Hitler’s actions in the treatment of Jewish people were ‘wrong’ – it wasn’t illegal because he changed the law.

The 53-year-old told the Reporter: “The main reason I’ve decided to stand is politicians aren’t taking a stand on human rights. A psychiatrist can decide to force treatment even if the patient refuses.

“They use electroconvulsive therapy, where they strap you up and fire electricity through your brain until you can’t remember your own name.

“It’s like Hitler and the Jews. Hitler changed the law so what he did wasn’t illegal, it was wrong, but it wasn’t illegal. Jews began leaving Germany after Hitler changed the law because they didn’t like what was happening.

“What the politicians have done is illegal, under the Scotland Act it’s illegal to create laws that aren’t compatible with the UN’s human rights legislation. To treat someone against their will is torture, however the doctor is protected by this legislation and can treat people however they like if they’re sectioned.” Ms Muir’s comments have been condemned by Scottish Government representatives.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “These are deeply distasteful and inappropriate comments.

“The law covering patient treatment has been carefully designed to ensure that patients’ rights are not violated. The law is underpinned by 10 principles which require that any actions must be carried out in a manner that involves the minimum restriction on the patient, encourages patient participation and that the person’s past and present wishes must be taken into account as far as possible.

“Compulsory orders can only be applied for if a mental health officer, who is independent of the medical team, is satisfied it is in the best interests of the patient.

“Patients and their families can also seek advice from the Mental Welfare Commission, an independent supervisory body established to monitor use of the legislation.” A spokesman for a Jewish charity said it would ‘always caution’ references to the Holocaust.

The Council of Christians and Jews spokesman said: “We would always caution the use of Holocaust imagery. The terrible events should never be used as a sound-bite or a political tool. We need to be aware sensitively of the lessons of the Holocaust for our own society.” Lawyer Hunter Watson, who has made representations to Scottish Government committees on the mental health act, supports Ms Muir’s legal claims.

He said: “The 2003 Act is not law because it is not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights as is required by the Scotland Act.

“For example, it permits an individual to be subjected to involuntary treatment prior to that person’s appeal being heard. Given that case law has established that competent adults have a right to refuse treatment, and that there must be a presumption of capacity, that is clearly wrong: the 2003 Act should not be based on the false premise that psychiatrists never make mistakes especially since there is evidence that, as is the case with other professionals, it is inevitable that mistakes will sometimes occur.

“Further, it is known that those mistakes can result in the deaths of patients.” Although the 2003 Act is currently being amended, Mr Watson said the changes failed to take into account the ‘various human rights issues’.

Ms Muir’s campaign stems from personal experience. In 2006 she campaigned to have the Christie Ward in the Vale of Leven hospital closed after she was sectioned under the mental health act.

In 2011, she failed in a bid to sue Scotland’s largest health board over claims she was wrongly detained in the psychiatric ward.

She added: “There is no such thing as a human rights lawyer in Scotland – no one would represent me. I was sectioned illegally, and we need to end the stigma, but you only end stigma if you have human rights. As soon as you get human rights, the stigma leaves.

“Being gay used to have a stigma — it was seen as a mental illness. Now they’re protected by human rights, there is no stigma. It’s like witchcraft trials, everyone has human rights – except the mentally ill.” Ms Muir’s husband Andrew stood for West Dunbartonshire council elections in 2011 and she said she’s been planning to stand since then.

The Cardiff-born mother-of-one said West Dunbartonshire Council’s handling of their recent budget has let down people in the area.

She added: “The Labour administration has plunged Dumbarton into £543m of debt from not listening to people. They are talking about cutting the school day and taking away hot dinners.

“We all went to a public consultation to vote on the budget and it was a waste of a baby-sitter to be honest. All these passionate people had good ideas and they were being ignored.” Ms Muir added: “We should invest more in small businesses and more jobs, we don’t want everyone being a public sector worker, we don’t want to be dependent on Westminster.”