Psychiatric treatment used to silence Chinese critics

[Guest guest]

Psychiatric treatment used to 'silence' Chinese critics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/08/china-forcible-psychiatric-treatment-silences-critics

Claims that at least 18 people who complained about issues such as police brutality are being held against their will in psychiatric hospitalsTania Branigan in Beijing guardian.co.uk,

Monday December 8 2008 17.07 GMT Article history

Local officials in China appear to be increasingly using forcible psychiatric treatment to silence critics, a leading expert said today amid claims that at least 18 complainants were held in a mental hospital in Shandong province against their will.

Authorities in Xintai district committed people who had pursued grievances ranging from police brutality to property disputes, according to the Beijing News, well known for its investigative journalism. Some were force-fed drugs.

"Until the early 90s, the practice of police forcibly sending people to mental asylums without justification was mainly carried out against political dissidents," said Robin Munro, author of China's Psychiatric Inquisition: Dissent, Psychiatry and the Law in Post-1949 China.

"Since then we have seen a very different trend - fewer are of that variety, and more and more, they are petitioners or whistleblowers exposing corruption, or simply persistent complainants.

"It's a covert way to silence people ... There is no accountability or oversight. The person disappears, effectively; and with them, whatever evidence they have compiled against officials."

Once a police or civilian psychiatrist has certified someone as mentally ill, the patient loses all legal rights and can be held indefinitely.

Munro said that while it was impossible to tell how widespread the practice was, the authorities seemed to be using it more frequently.

He added: "The Beijing News article is in itself very unusual because it's rare for authorities to allow reporting on the subject to appear."

According to the report, the Shandong victims were petitioners - aggrieved residents who take complaints about local officials to provincial capitals or even Beijing after failing to get redress. Because officials fear embarrassment, and are under pressure to show that their area is under control, they often attempt to intercept such complainants.

The list of petitioners was compiled by an 84-year-old man, Lao Shi, who was sent to the Xintai Mental Health Hospital in 2006 after travelling to Beijing over a property dispute. He was released earlier this year.

Sun Fawu, a 57-year-old who campaigned for years to win compensation for land spoiled by mining, told the newspaper he was force-fed drugs and injected during a three-week stay in October.

"My head was always dizzy and I could not stay up," he said. The paper added that he was released only after signing a document saying he was mentally ill and would not petition again.

According to the newspaper, the hospital's director Wu Yuzhu said it had misgivings but was under pressure to take petitioners.

Mr Hu, office director of the hospital, told the Guardian it was impossible its doctors would say such a thing.

He said the institution had accepted patients sent by officials or the police, but only with expert testimony and relatives' approval.

He added: "We don't know about signing a contract on 'not petitioning again' ... Our job is to cure people."

Xintai municipal government's publicity and petitions offices refused to comment. A notice on the petitions office website, dated last month, urged officials: "Show care for mentally ill petitioners, help them to get legal evaluation, and send those not in a sound mind to hospital for treatment."

[Guest guest]

Psychiatric treatment used to 'silence' Chinese critics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/08/china-forcible-psychiatric-treatment-silences-critics

Claims that at least 18 people who complained about issues such as police brutality are being held against their will in psychiatric hospitalsTania Branigan in Beijing guardian.co.uk,

Monday December 8 2008 17.07 GMT Article history

Local officials in China appear to be increasingly using forcible psychiatric treatment to silence critics, a leading expert said today amid claims that at least 18 complainants were held in a mental hospital in Shandong province against their will.

Authorities in Xintai district committed people who had pursued grievances ranging from police brutality to property disputes, according to the Beijing News, well known for its investigative journalism. Some were force-fed drugs.

"Until the early 90s, the practice of police forcibly sending people to mental asylums without justification was mainly carried out against political dissidents," said Robin Munro, author of China's Psychiatric Inquisition: Dissent, Psychiatry and the Law in Post-1949 China.

"Since then we have seen a very different trend - fewer are of that variety, and more and more, they are petitioners or whistleblowers exposing corruption, or simply persistent complainants.

"It's a covert way to silence people ... There is no accountability or oversight. The person disappears, effectively; and with them, whatever evidence they have compiled against officials."

Once a police or civilian psychiatrist has certified someone as mentally ill, the patient loses all legal rights and can be held indefinitely.

Munro said that while it was impossible to tell how widespread the practice was, the authorities seemed to be using it more frequently.

He added: "The Beijing News article is in itself very unusual because it's rare for authorities to allow reporting on the subject to appear."

According to the report, the Shandong victims were petitioners - aggrieved residents who take complaints about local officials to provincial capitals or even Beijing after failing to get redress. Because officials fear embarrassment, and are under pressure to show that their area is under control, they often attempt to intercept such complainants.

The list of petitioners was compiled by an 84-year-old man, Lao Shi, who was sent to the Xintai Mental Health Hospital in 2006 after travelling to Beijing over a property dispute. He was released earlier this year.

Sun Fawu, a 57-year-old who campaigned for years to win compensation for land spoiled by mining, told the newspaper he was force-fed drugs and injected during a three-week stay in October.

"My head was always dizzy and I could not stay up," he said. The paper added that he was released only after signing a document saying he was mentally ill and would not petition again.

According to the newspaper, the hospital's director Wu Yuzhu said it had misgivings but was under pressure to take petitioners.

Mr Hu, office director of the hospital, told the Guardian it was impossible its doctors would say such a thing.

He said the institution had accepted patients sent by officials or the police, but only with expert testimony and relatives' approval.

He added: "We don't know about signing a contract on 'not petitioning again' ... Our job is to cure people."

Xintai municipal government's publicity and petitions offices refused to comment. A notice on the petitions office website, dated last month, urged officials: "Show care for mentally ill petitioners, help them to get legal evaluation, and send those not in a sound mind to hospital for treatment."

[Guest guest]

Psychiatric treatment used to 'silence' Chinese critics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/08/china-forcible-psychiatric-treatment-silences-critics

Claims that at least 18 people who complained about issues such as police brutality are being held against their will in psychiatric hospitalsTania Branigan in Beijing guardian.co.uk,

Monday December 8 2008 17.07 GMT Article history

Local officials in China appear to be increasingly using forcible psychiatric treatment to silence critics, a leading expert said today amid claims that at least 18 complainants were held in a mental hospital in Shandong province against their will.

Authorities in Xintai district committed people who had pursued grievances ranging from police brutality to property disputes, according to the Beijing News, well known for its investigative journalism. Some were force-fed drugs.

"Until the early 90s, the practice of police forcibly sending people to mental asylums without justification was mainly carried out against political dissidents," said Robin Munro, author of China's Psychiatric Inquisition: Dissent, Psychiatry and the Law in Post-1949 China.

"Since then we have seen a very different trend - fewer are of that variety, and more and more, they are petitioners or whistleblowers exposing corruption, or simply persistent complainants.

"It's a covert way to silence people ... There is no accountability or oversight. The person disappears, effectively; and with them, whatever evidence they have compiled against officials."

Once a police or civilian psychiatrist has certified someone as mentally ill, the patient loses all legal rights and can be held indefinitely.

Munro said that while it was impossible to tell how widespread the practice was, the authorities seemed to be using it more frequently.

He added: "The Beijing News article is in itself very unusual because it's rare for authorities to allow reporting on the subject to appear."

According to the report, the Shandong victims were petitioners - aggrieved residents who take complaints about local officials to provincial capitals or even Beijing after failing to get redress. Because officials fear embarrassment, and are under pressure to show that their area is under control, they often attempt to intercept such complainants.

The list of petitioners was compiled by an 84-year-old man, Lao Shi, who was sent to the Xintai Mental Health Hospital in 2006 after travelling to Beijing over a property dispute. He was released earlier this year.

Sun Fawu, a 57-year-old who campaigned for years to win compensation for land spoiled by mining, told the newspaper he was force-fed drugs and injected during a three-week stay in October.

"My head was always dizzy and I could not stay up," he said. The paper added that he was released only after signing a document saying he was mentally ill and would not petition again.

According to the newspaper, the hospital's director Wu Yuzhu said it had misgivings but was under pressure to take petitioners.

Mr Hu, office director of the hospital, told the Guardian it was impossible its doctors would say such a thing.

He said the institution had accepted patients sent by officials or the police, but only with expert testimony and relatives' approval.

He added: "We don't know about signing a contract on 'not petitioning again' ... Our job is to cure people."

Xintai municipal government's publicity and petitions offices refused to comment. A notice on the petitions office website, dated last month, urged officials: "Show care for mentally ill petitioners, help them to get legal evaluation, and send those not in a sound mind to hospital for treatment."

[Guest guest]

Psychiatric treatment used to 'silence' Chinese critics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/08/china-forcible-psychiatric-treatment-silences-critics

Claims that at least 18 people who complained about issues such as police brutality are being held against their will in psychiatric hospitalsTania Branigan in Beijing guardian.co.uk,

Monday December 8 2008 17.07 GMT Article history

Local officials in China appear to be increasingly using forcible psychiatric treatment to silence critics, a leading expert said today amid claims that at least 18 complainants were held in a mental hospital in Shandong province against their will.

Authorities in Xintai district committed people who had pursued grievances ranging from police brutality to property disputes, according to the Beijing News, well known for its investigative journalism. Some were force-fed drugs.

"Until the early 90s, the practice of police forcibly sending people to mental asylums without justification was mainly carried out against political dissidents," said Robin Munro, author of China's Psychiatric Inquisition: Dissent, Psychiatry and the Law in Post-1949 China.

"Since then we have seen a very different trend - fewer are of that variety, and more and more, they are petitioners or whistleblowers exposing corruption, or simply persistent complainants.

"It's a covert way to silence people ... There is no accountability or oversight. The person disappears, effectively; and with them, whatever evidence they have compiled against officials."

Once a police or civilian psychiatrist has certified someone as mentally ill, the patient loses all legal rights and can be held indefinitely.

Munro said that while it was impossible to tell how widespread the practice was, the authorities seemed to be using it more frequently.

He added: "The Beijing News article is in itself very unusual because it's rare for authorities to allow reporting on the subject to appear."

According to the report, the Shandong victims were petitioners - aggrieved residents who take complaints about local officials to provincial capitals or even Beijing after failing to get redress. Because officials fear embarrassment, and are under pressure to show that their area is under control, they often attempt to intercept such complainants.

The list of petitioners was compiled by an 84-year-old man, Lao Shi, who was sent to the Xintai Mental Health Hospital in 2006 after travelling to Beijing over a property dispute. He was released earlier this year.

Sun Fawu, a 57-year-old who campaigned for years to win compensation for land spoiled by mining, told the newspaper he was force-fed drugs and injected during a three-week stay in October.

"My head was always dizzy and I could not stay up," he said. The paper added that he was released only after signing a document saying he was mentally ill and would not petition again.

According to the newspaper, the hospital's director Wu Yuzhu said it had misgivings but was under pressure to take petitioners.

Mr Hu, office director of the hospital, told the Guardian it was impossible its doctors would say such a thing.

He said the institution had accepted patients sent by officials or the police, but only with expert testimony and relatives' approval.

He added: "We don't know about signing a contract on 'not petitioning again' ... Our job is to cure people."

Xintai municipal government's publicity and petitions offices refused to comment. A notice on the petitions office website, dated last month, urged officials: "Show care for mentally ill petitioners, help them to get legal evaluation, and send those not in a sound mind to hospital for treatment."