Zhu Guiqin, a petitioner from Fushun City, Liaoning Province, who has been petitioning for her rights for over 20 years, was again detained in a psychiatric hospital last year, where she has been for over three months. Recently, Zhu Guiqin's friends contacted Radio Free Asia, calling on the international community and human rights organizations to provide assistance to ensure her safety.
Human rights activist Mr. Yao revealed to our station on Thursday (27th) that Christian Zhu Guiqin was detained in a psychiatric hospital twice last year, the last time in December. Mr. Yao said, "Zhu Guiqin from Liaoning Province has been under constant control by the authorities, who have detained her in a psychiatric hospital. She is detained during events like the Two Sessions and the June Fourth Movement. She was also detained in Shenyang's Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, but her detention was lifted after she complained about the evils there, which were reported by international media."
Beating, tying up, and force-feeding drugs
Multiple insiders told this station that between June and November of last year, she was forcibly sent to the Corning Psychiatric Hospital. During her five-month hospitalization, she was subjected to violent beatings, abuse, prolonged restraints, and force-feeding of medication, a serious violation of the detainee's basic human rights. A friend of Zhu Guiqin, Ms. Wang, contacted Radio Free Asia this week to inform her of Zhu Guiqin's recent situation. She said: "From June 12th of last year, Zhu Guiqin was detained at the Kaiyuan branch of the Liaoning Mental Health Center and the Corning Psychiatric Hospital for five months, suffering torture during that time. She was not released until November 12th. However, a month later, she was again detained at the Kaiyuan Psychiatric Hospital. Zhu Guiqin hopes that a public interest lawyer will go to the hospital to provide her with legal assistance and security. She has now been detained for another three months. Please try to bring this matter to the attention of international human rights organizations."
Our reporter called Zhu Guiqin's mobile phone several times to try to contact her, but no one answered.
The police sent him to the hospital on the pretext of "going out for a trip"
Ms. Wang told reporters that on June 12th of last year, officers from the Changchun Police Station of the Fushun Public Security Bureau claimed to be taking Zhu Guiqin on a trip, but instead escorted her to the Tieling Kangning Mental Rehabilitation Hospital. Once there, she was dragged into a ward by two medical staff, beaten, and then tied to a bed for over a month. "Zhu Guiqin resisted, and the hospital staff punched her head, kicked her abdomen and thighs, and even hit her in the face with the bottom of a stainless steel basin. They pried open her teeth with a spoon, strangled her mouth with a towel, and tied her armpits with ropes. They also threatened to stage a fake 'clash between patients and injuries.' This is what I heard from someone who has left the mental hospital."
Our station called the office of the Kaiyuan branch of the Liaoning Provincial Mental Health Center and the Kaiyuan Municipal Health Bureau regarding this matter, but no one answered the phone.
Many members of the family were persecuted
Zhu Guiqin, known as the "representative figure of petitioners in mainland China," has been repeatedly detained, sentenced to reeducation through labor, and imprisoned over the past two decades. Of Zhu Guiqin's five siblings, her eldest brother and second sister were persecuted to death, and three sisters were sentenced to reeducation through labor. Her second brother, Zhu Chuanqing, was twice sentenced to reeducation through labor and was beaten and disabled in the labor camp, suffering from "brain traumatic epilepsy." Zhu Guiqin's efforts to seek justice for her brother have been unsuccessful. In 2004, Zhu Guiqin was sent to the notorious Masanjia Women's Labor Camp in Liaoning Province for three years. During her time there, she was beaten by police and partially disabled. In 2009, she was detained in the Beijing Women's Labor Camp for a year for her advocacy work alongside human rights defender Cao Shunli and others, where she was frequently beaten by police.
Detention in mental hospitals has become a tool for maintaining stability
Petitioner Ms. Zhao told this station that the authorities have used black jails and mental hospitals as tools to maintain stability against petitioners. "I've heard of this person. She's definitely not going to get well there (in the mental hospital). I've met countless people with mental illnesses there. I can't remember some of their names. The police are so despicable. Quite a few have been sentenced or detained."
According to Article 30 of China's Mental Health Law, hospitalization for mental disorders is voluntary and may only be implemented if the patient has been diagnosed with a severe mental disorder and has engaged in, or is at risk of, harming themselves or others. Furthermore, in response to the phenomenon of "being labeled mentally ill," the draft Mental Health Law, submitted for review in 2011, proposed that those who intentionally commit non-mentally ill patients to medical institutions could be held civilly or criminally liable.
Petitioner Detained Indefinitely for "Mental Illness"
Shandong rights activist Ms. Li told this station that many people have been sent to psychiatric hospitals for petitioning in Beijing. "Many people have been diagnosed with mental illness because of petitioning. There's no fixed detention period. This is the current situation. What can ordinary people do? These people hold a certain amount of power. You don't have any tricks. Even reporting in your real name is useless."
Local petitioners: Some have been detained for three years
Mr. Lu, an internet user from Taixing, Jiangsu, told this station that a local petitioner has been detained in a psychiatric hospital for three years for petitioning for his rights. "We have a person here who has been detained for three years. His name is Li Xiaosheng. He used to come to my place to play. I haven't asked him specifically what he's been through in there. But at least for these three years, he hasn't been free. He was sent there by the police, also for petitioning in Beijing."
Over the past 15 years, this station has reported on the experiences of Christian Zhu Guiqin many times. Her continuous struggle for rights has inspired many people who have been wronged to embark on the path of rights protection.
