Media Alert
The Chinese Authorities' Psychiatric Torture of Falun Gong Practitioners
What: On December, 2007, the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (www.falunhr.org) submitted a report to four United Nations human rights Special Rapporteurs of multiple cases of Chinese authorities forcibly administering nerve-damaging drugs to Falun Gong practitioners. Brief summaries of these cases are provided at the end of this alert.
Brief Description: While recent reports that punitive psychiatry is staging a comeback in Russia have drawn media attention, the widespread use of psychiatric torture in China has largely been ignored. At great risk to their lives and safety, Falun Gong practitioners have been sending substantial and detailed accounts out of China about the Chinese authorities' incarceration and violent abuse of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in psychiatric hospitals. Over the years, the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group has submitted multiple reports to the United Nations and to world governments on China's psychiatric torture of Falun Gong practitioners.
This latest report has been submitted to the following United Nations Special Rapporteurs: Torture, Freedom of Belief and Religion, Violence against Women, and Arbitrary and Summary Execution.
The following is a summary of cases submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteurs:
1. Ms. Fan, Lihong: While she was incarcerated at Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Fan was sent to a mental hospital where she was force-fed harmful drugs and passed away.
2. Ms. Zhang, Xuefeng: While she was detained at Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Zhang was injected with nerve-damaging drugs resulting in her mental disorder and death
3. Ms. Luo, Fang: While at the Qinghai Province Women's Drug Rehabilitation Forced Labor Camp, Mr. Luo was injected with unknown drugs. She became mentally disordered, gnawed at the table and crawled under the bed and table.
4. Ms. Li, Jing, in her 60s: While she was detained the Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Jing became delirious and gnawed at the table.
5. Ms. Wang, Shujuan: While she was detained at the Qinghai Women's Forced Labor Camp, the police stealthily put toxic chemicals into Ms. Wang's bowl of soup, causing her mouth to foam and her tongue to become numb. Her hands, legs and feet felt cold, numb, and painful.
6. Mr. He, Wanzhu: While he was detained at the Qinghai Men's Forced Labor Camp, the police surreptitiously poisoned Mr. He's meal. As a result he had tightness in his chest and his mouth became numb.
7. Ms. Li, Yuanping: While she was detained at the Qinghai Province Women's Drug Rehabilitation Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Li was forced to take white pills. Afterwards she had nausea, was numb, and could barely walk. Her speech and movement were stunted, and her reaction time and memory declined.
8. Mr. Ping, Chunfeng, a staff member at Qinghai Normal University: While he was detained at a labor camp, he was injected with poisonous drugs and his food was laced with poison Mr. Ping died.
9. Ms. Meng, Lijun: After 1999, she was detained several times, and twice tortured to the brink of death. In 2005, she was sentenced to 10 years in jail. While incarcerated in Shangdong Women's Jail, she was injected with and fed nerve-damaging drugs, causing her to lose her memory.
10. Mr. Jiang, Guobo: While he was detained at Weifang Forced Labor Camp, he was force-fed harmful drugs that caused severe damage to his mind and body. He experienced severe dizziness that lasted for long periods of time, causing him to faint. His resting heartbeat reached 110 to 120 beats per minute; he had difficulty urinating, and was at the brink of death. To escape responsibility of having him die in detention, the police took Mr. Jiang home and put him under house arrest.
11. Ms. Lv, Xia: To prevent Ms. Lv from defending herself at a previously arranged show trial, the police injected her with drugs that caused her to lose her ability to speak. In the Jinan Women's Prison, the police injected her with drugs that damaged her nervous system. Her tongue was stiff, she drooled and she could not speak.
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Contact Information: Arleen Freeman - Phone: 619-280-5177; Fax: 619-280-4931.
The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group's purpose is to publicize the severe abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in China in an effort to reduce the persecution and save lives. This is the first time the Working Group has organized cases around the subject of administering drugs as a form of torture.
