Cases of Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in Psychiatric Hospitals

Below are selected cases of mentally healthy practitioners who were sent to psychiatric hospitals.

 

Beijing

Retired Railway Police Officer Sent to Mental Hospital

Mr. Li Guozhi worked as a railway police officer in Beijing for 19 years before he retired. On March 21, 2020, he was arrested while on his way home and taken to the Fengtai District Police Station.

The police took Mr. Li to Anding Hospital (a psychiatric hospital) in Chaoyang District the next day. He was taken to a room where a female doctor examined him. The police told him, “Answer whatever questions the doctor asks.” Mr. Li replied, “I didn’t request to see a doctor. Why did you bring me here?” The police didn’t answer him.

When the doctor asked Mr. Li about his family, he said he did not wish to answer. The doctor threatened to admit him if he didn’t comply. As Mr. Li knew that Anding Hospital is a psychiatric hospital, he said, “I don’t have any illness or mental illness. If you claim that I am mentally ill, you have to show me the medical evidence.”

Mr. Li stood up and walked out. Afterwards, the doctor told the police, “I can’t draw the conclusion that he’s mentally ill.”

Mr. Li later returned home with his daughter.

Police Perform Psychiatric Examination on Woman After Arresting Her

Ms. Zhang Fang from Chaoyang District, Beijing, was sentenced to one year and two months on February 25, 2023, after being detained for nearly a year. She was also fined 2,000 yuan.

Ms. Zhang, 67, was arrested at home on March 9, 2022. The police claimed that someone reported her for talking to people about Falun Gong on a bus. After checking surveillance videos, the police saw someone at the bus station that looked like Ms. Zhang and thus decided to arrest her.

Ms. Zhang was first held at the Beijing First Detention Centre and forced to sleep on the concrete floor for nearly three months. Only after her arrest was approved on June 2, did the guards allow her to sleep on a bed. The police conducted a psychiatric examination on Ms. Zhang even though they were not medical professionals. Their intent was to accuse her of having mental issues because she practiced Falun Gong.

 

Hebei Province

Man Injected With Unknown Drugs in Mental Hospital

Officers from Jianshejie Police Station forced their way into Mr. Quan Wuzhou’s home in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, on July 2, 2016. Without showing any identification, four officers ransacked his home and arrested him.

Mr. Quan was taken to the Qinhuangdao Mental Hospital, where he was injected with toxic drugs, forced to take nerve-damaging drugs orally, and shocked with electric batons every day. When his family visited him about 10 days later, they noticed his memory had declined and his eyes were dull. Seeing he was unable to remember basic things about his life, his family was in tears. The police told his family that Mr. Quan would be held for two months. The police also demanded that Mr. Quan’s older brother sign some documents. The family was forced to pay 10,000 yuan per month for his “treatment.”

Teacher Sent to Mental Health Centre for Treatment

Ms. An Guiying, a 73-year-old retired senior teacher at the Qinhuangdao No.7 Middle School, was distributing materials about Falun Gong in March 2017 when she was arrested. She was taken to a police hospital for a physical exam and was diagnosed with high blood pressure and high blood lipids. The detention centre refused to accept her and she was released on bail.

That same month, Ms. An was taken to the Qinhuangdao City Mental Health Center for treatment. She was released after it was determined that she was not mentally ill. Her family, who cooperated with the authorities in trying to force her to give up Falun Gong, took her to the mental health centre again at the end of 2017. She was held there for at least two years and forced to take nerve-damaging drugs every day.

Woman Transferred From Detention Centre to Psychiatric Hospital, Held for a Week

Ms. Li Ronghua of Yi County was arrested by officers from the Tanghu Town Police Station on July 22, 2021. Even though she had high blood pressure and did not pass the detention centre entry physical exam, she was still admitted.

After she was detained for one week, she was transferred to the Baoding City Psychiatric Hospital where she was held for another week and then released.

 

Hubei Province

Two Wuhan Men Arrested at Private Gathering, Sent to Psychiatric Hospital

Five Wuhan City, Hubei Province, residents were arrested at a private home on June 16, 2022 for practicing Falun Gong. Two of them, Mr. Li Chunlian and Mr. Chen Jun, were held at a psychiatric hospital where they were given drugs.

When Mr. Chen’s family visited him, they noticed he was emaciated, and he said that he often fainted. Similarly, Mr. Li also experienced significant weight loss. He was unable to recognise his family when they visited him in early October 2022.

Because of the two families’ persistent efforts to seek their release, both men returned home on April 8, 2023. Mr. Chen lost consciousness not long after and was resuscitated at the hospital. The doctor installed a stent in his heart.

Mr. Li’s son has a disability and is unable to support himself, so Mr. Li went back to work after he was released, despite his physical condition. He suddenly passed away on November 11, 2024. While his family couldn’t afford and aren’t allowed to get an autopsy done on his body, they suspected that he died from the toxic drug given to him at the psychiatric hospital.

Mentally Healthy Woman Held in a Psychiatric Hospital for Two Months Before Being Transferred to a Brainwashing Center

Ms. Hu Yanhua, a retiree of Wuhan No. 2 Printing and Dyeing Factory, was arrested around 10 a.m. on May 31, 2023, right outside her apartment building when she returned home from work. She was held in lockup for ten days and then taken to a mental hospital, even though she had no mental illnesses. After she was held there for nearly two months, she was transferred to a brainwashing center on August 8, 2023.

Ms. Hu’s family wasn’t informed of her whereabouts. They learned from an insider that the police officers who checked her out from the lockup were from the Laodong Police Station. They drove her straight to Youfu Hospital (a mental hospital east of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan), where she was kept for nearly two months.

On August 8, three officers from the Laodong Police Station led some community workers to pry open the door to Ms. Hu’s home. They confiscated several flash drives, a computer tower, some clothes, and other personal belongings. Hours later, they picked her up from the mental hospital and took her to the Jianghan District Brainwashing Centre.

Ankang Psychiatric Hospitals Facilitate Torture of Falun Gong Practitioners

Ankang hospitals—high-security psychiatric hospitals administered directly by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security—have been heavily involved in the persecution of Falun Gong since their inception in July 1999. Police can arbitrarily send anyone to these hospitals where they are illegally incarcerated without due process.

An internal CCP reference document “Methods to ‘Transform’ Falun Gong Practitioners” reads, “Drugs can be used if necessary in order to achieve the goal of scientific ‘transformation’ through medical approaches and the policy of clinical experiments.”

Practitioners who refuse to renounce Falun Gong after being incarcerated in detention centres, labor camps, and brainwashing centres are usually transferred to Ankang hospitals for more brutal psychiatric abuse.

In the name of “psychiatric therapy,” officials and medical professionals in Ankang hospitals inject nerve-damaging drugs, apply electroacupuncture, force-feed, beat, and restrain Falun Gong practitioners on iron chairs to try to force them to give up their beliefs. Drug injection is the worst of these tortures. It’s not only extremely painful but can also lead to mental disorder or death. Besides injections, other drugs were also given regularly to either intensify the torture or, in some cases, cause mental disorder in order to cover up previous brutalities.

 

Hunan Province

Woman Brutally Tortured at Elderly Care Centre

Ms. Liu Yu’e from Huaihua City, Hunan Province, was arrested in her hometown on July 31, 2021, for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was taken to the Zhongxinyi Elderly Care Centre, where she endured 3.5 months of torture, including beatings, being force-fed unknown drugs, having her nipples pinched, her pubic hair pulled, and being jabbed with needles. She was also forced to pay 18,000 yuan for her stay at the care centre.

The Zhongxinyi Elderly Care Centre is a nursing home that provides both health and personal care services. It’s owned by the Zhongxinyi Nursing Home Group and the Huaihua Zhongxinyi Hospital, the former facility was launched on August 24, 2020, and the latter on December 29 that year.

Hunan Woman Arrested Twice In Four Months, Held in Mental Hospital Before Being Sentenced

Ms. Huang Juxiu, from Yueyang City, Hunan Province, was arrested and had her home ransacked on March 16, 2020. She was put on criminal detention on March 18 and released on bail on April 21. The Lou District Procuratorate approved her arrest on June 2.

On July 7, she was taken back into custody and sent to the Yueyang Psychiatric Rehabilitation Hospital.

The judge sentenced her to one year in prison with a 3,000 yuan fine on September 29. She was sent to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison in October.

72-year-old Woman Sent to Mental Hospital After Tenth Arrest for Her Faith

Ms. Guo Danxia, 73, a retired accountant, was arrested at her home on March 17, 2020. She was held at the Yueyang City No.2 Detention Centre after her arrest and was sent to the Yueyang Rehabilitation Psychiatric Hospital in late June, where she was forced to take psychiatric drugs. Shortly after, she began to experience shortness of breath, insomnia, and was often in a delirious state. She was denied family visits the entire time she was there.

She was later sentenced to three years and two months, fined 5,000 yuan, and was sent to the Changsha Women’s Prison.

Practitioner Sent to Mental Hospital, Family Kept in the Dark

Mr. Lu Yongliang, 62, was arrested at home on May 27, 2019, while studying Falun Gong’s teachings with several other practitioners.

Mr. Lu was sent to the Yueyang Rehabilitation Psychiatric Hospital in early June 2020. When his family recently went to the detention centre to ask about his situation, the guards told them that Mr. Lu was doing well in the detention center, but did not tell them that he had been transferred.

He was sentenced to four years and fined 5,000 yuan on July 20, 2020.

 

Sichuan Province

Sichuan Woman Repeatedly Arrested and Force-fed Toxic Drugs in Psychiatric Hospital

Ms. Pan Xiaoping from Shifang City, Sichuan Province, was arrested in July 2015 for giving out DVDs about Falun Gong to people. The Shifang Court sentenced her to three years in prison on September 16, 2015. She was taken to the Sichuan Women’s Prison on November 11, 2015.

Two months before her prison term ended, the guards started calling her psychotic. They force-fed medicine to “cure” her psychiatric problem, sometimes on a daily basis and sometimes every other day. She couldn’t remember how many times she was force-fed, but she knew that she was still force-fed the “medicine” the day before she was released.

The drug caused pain in her hands, feet, and teeth. Her body became stiff and she suffered hearing loss and heart palpitations.

Ms. Pan suffered a mental breakdown in early October, 2019, a few months after she was released. Her husband had to lock her up inside their home so he could go to work.

Police from the Chengdong Police Station took her to Shifang Mental Hospital on October 18, 2019.

Ms. Pan continued to suffer from the effects of the drugs after she returned home in July 2018. She began to show symptoms of mental disorder and was getting worse by the day. The police committed her to a mental hospital in October 2019.

On October 18, 2019, the police arrested Ms. Pan again and held her in the Shifang City Psychiatric Hospital for over two months. The doctor ordered her to take some unknown medicine. When she refused, they force-fed her and in the process, broke her front tooth.

Just one month after she was released, the police arrested her again, on January 26, 2020, the second day of the Chinese New Year. She was held in the Shifang City Psychiatric Hospital for nearly six months and was released in July. The doctor continued to force-feed her unknown drugs. Four of her front teeth were knocked out during force-feedings in the past two detentions.

It took Ms. Pan’s husband several days to find out that she was taken back to the psychiatric hospital for a third time. When she refused to take the unknown medicine, the doctor force-fed her again and knocked out another front tooth.

After she was released on December 29, 2020, she hasn’t been able to take care of herself and her husband has to frequently stay home to take care of her.

Healthy Woman Held in Psychiatric Hospital for 27 Days

Ms. Wu Xiuying, a resident of Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province, was arrested at home by agents from her local village committee, township government, and police on October 5, 2021. They confiscated her Falun Gong books and forced her to fingerprint a document about her case.

Ms. Wu was then held in the Pengzhou City Psychiatric Hospital for 27 days. She was forced to take psychiatric drugs three times during her stay and was beaten when she resisted. The authorities continued to harass her after she was released.

Woman Taken to Psychiatric Hospital for Mental Health Evaluation After Arrest

Ms. Luo Chuan, a resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on August 9, 2022 and held at the Chengdu City Detention Centre. The police took her to a local psychiatric hospital on October 12 to evaluate her mental health. Knowing that many healthy Falun Gong practitioners were labeled “mentally deranged” and subjected to involuntary drug administration at the psychiatric hospital, Ms. Luo strongly resisted the evaluation, but the doctor forcibly finished the procedure. The police tried to pressure her daughter into signing her mental health evaluation result and to dismiss the lawyer she hired for Ms. Luo.

 

Liaoning Province

Prison Sent Woman to Mental Hospital

Ms. Jiang Wei filed a criminal complaint in June 2015 against Jiang Zemin, former Chinese leader who launched the persecution of Falun Gong. She was arrested on November 9 that year. She was sentenced to 12 years and taken to Liaoning Women’s Prison in October 2016.

A guard frequently punished Ms. Jiang and forced her to stand still for prolonged periods of time. The guard also repeatedly instigated prisoners to curse, beat, and abuse her. She was also put in solitary confinement.

Ms. Jiang was admitted to a mental hospital in May 2021. The guards called her daughter and informed her that her mother was being treated at a psychiatric hospital.

Woman Detained At Psychiatric Hospital for 1.5 Months

Ms. Wang Qiuping, 65, was arrested on February 22, 2020 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. After Ms. Wang managed to escape from the police station that night, the authorities dispatched several police officers to look for her, but she escaped again.

After she was held for more than one month at a mental hospital, the police took Ms. Wang for a physical examination on April 13, 2020, in preparation to transfer her to the Shenyang City No. 2 Detention Centre. The guards forbade her family from sending her clothes or money. Her lawyer wasn’t allowed to visit her either.

Ms. Wang was tried by the Heping District Court on December 9, 2020, and sentenced to four years on December 28, 2020.

 

Jilin Province

After Woman Became Ill, Prison Attempted to Send Her for Mental Treatment

Ms. Jin Min, a Changchun City resident, was sentenced to six years and sent to Jilin Province Women’s Prison on August 28, 2022. She was held in Cell 311 of the 8th Division. When her health rapidly declined, inmate Sun Yingjie forced her to take medicine. The prison officials also demanded that her family pay for her treatment.

Ms. Jin developed high blood pressure, and could not speak. When her family visited her, the guards told them she would get medical treatment if the family agreed, but doctors would treat her as mental patient. If the family did not agree, she would be sent back to a strict management cell. The family did not agree.

During her previous imprisonment, Ms. Jin witnessed a practitioner who was fed some unknown liquid by guards, begin twitching.

Man Accused of Being Mentally Ill for Complaining After Torture in Prison

Mr. Fu Renjiang was putting up Falun Gong posters on the night of May 10, 2018, when a police car stopped in front of him. The Huadian City Court tried Mr. Fu without notifying his family in November 2018. Not long after, he was sentenced to five years. He was released from Gongzhuling Prison on May 9, 2023.

While he was in prison, an inspection team came and Mr. Fu complained about the torture he and the other jailed practitioners suffered. An inmate reported him to the guards, who then accused him of being mentally ill and moved him to a cellblock for the mentally ill.

 

Shanghai

Cancer Patient Cured by Practicing Falun Gong Dies after 20 Detentions in Mental Hospitals

For upholding her faith, Ms. Lu Xiuli was involuntarily held in mental hospitals 20 times, and each time she was tortured and injected with unknown drugs. Although she remained clear-headed after most of the detentions, her last detention in a senior facility turned out to be deadly. After a few months there, she became mentally incoherent and incapacitated.

After struggling with mental disorder and other medical conditions, Ms. Lu passed away at the age of 72 in February 2021 during the Chinese New Year holiday, three months after her husband became ill and died.

Because Ms. Lu actively spread information about Falun Gong, she was arrested ten times and held in mental hospitals about 20 times between 2002 and 2018. She was held from four months to over a year, although usually less than a year. Every time, she was force-fed unknown drugs.

In late 2018, shortly after Ms. Lu was discharged from a mental hospital, she was arrested again and taken to Songjiang Blue Harbor Senior Centre on the outskirts of Shanghai.

According to local Falun Gong practitioners who visited Ms. Lu at the mental hospital, despite the persecution she suffered before, she remained clear-headed and could communicate clearly with them. But when they visited her at the senior centre shortly after she was admitted, she was delirious and confused. The only thing she could express clearly was that she wanted to get out of there.

It was also reported that the police warned some local practitioners that they [the practitioners] wouldn’t be able to find Ms. Lu again until she died.

When Ms. Lu was released from the senior center a few months later in the spring of 2019, she was completely confused. She was unable to cook or do laundry. She also could not remember what happened while she was held in the senior centre.

When Ms. Lu’s husband was hospitalised in critical condition in November 2020, she was taken back to the senior center. She passed away in February 2021, three months after her husband died.

Shanghai Artist Sent to Brainwashing Centre After 20 Months of Psychiatric Abuse

Ms. Tang Weimin, 50, was an artist who worked at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. She was arrested multiple times for practicing Falun Gong. Her seventh arrest took place on May 14, 2016. She was kept at a detention centre for 30 days, followed by detention in a mental hospital for 20 months. As a result of being forced to take unknown drugs, Ms. Tang had auditory hallucinations and her hair turned gray.

Less than six months after Ms. Tang was released, the Xuhui District police broke into her apartment on August 7, 2018, confiscated her personal belongings and took her to the Xuhui Detention Centre. Two days later, Ms. Tang was sent to a brainwashing centre.

According to a Minghui.org report published on February 2020, Ms. Tang Weimin was detained in a mental hospital for refusing to stop practicing Falun Gong. She was held there for a long but unspecified period of time.

 

Jiangsu Province

Woman Arrested and Sent to Mental Health Centre

Ms. Wang Yanyu, from Changchun City, Jilin Province, stayed in her daughter’s home in Shanghai City. She was arrested by two police officers on June 25, 2022, and was held in the Bacheng Mental Health Centre in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province.

Prison Attempted to Send Man to Mental Hospital After Torturing Him

Mr. Liu Rongping, 62, of Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province, was released on July 13, 2021, after serving 3.5 years in prison for practicing Falun Gong.

During his imprisonment, Mr. Liu was subjected to more than ten torture methods, including being shocked with electric batons, restrained with a straitjacket, forced to sit on a small stool, and starved. There was a period of time when Mr. Liu was unrecognizable due to the brutal torture.

Because Mr. Liu was malnourished, deprived of sleep, and tortured, he became disoriented. After the initial two months of torture, he was emaciated and had severe anemia. At one point he was unrecognisable; his eyes bulged and his legs were swollen.

The prison wanted to send Mr. Liu to a mental hospital but the hospital refused to accept him when they saw that he was still speaking logically. Later, Mr. Liu was sent to the prison hospital and hospitalised for two months.

 

Zhejiang Province

Ningbo Woman Sent to Psychiatric Hospital After Arrest

Ms. Yang Qinghua was arrested by officers from the Zhongma Police Station on the morning of March 11, 2020. She was then sent to Kangning Psychiatric Hospital, the same hospital where she had been repeatedly detained.

 

Anhui Province

75-Year-Old Anhui Woman Died Months After Being Held in Psychiatric Ward for Eight Months

Ms. Hu Hongmei, a 75-year-old woman in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, died on March 26, 2023, just months after she was released from an eight-month involuntary hospitalisation in a psychiatric ward.

Ms. Hu did not have a mental disorder and was targeted simply because she practiced Falun Gong, Ms. Hu was committed to a psychiatric hospital on February 25, 2022, when the Youdian Township Police Station and the Youdian Township Government seized her from her home and took her straight to the psychiatric department of Baiyun Hospital.

They put her in a ward with eight other people, including human rights activists. The management of the hospital was similar to that of a prison. Ms. Hu was never given enough food, and she was forced to take three pills of an unknown drug three times a day, every day. When she refused to take the drugs, the nurses grabbed her neck and slapped her face.

Sometimes, five nurses held Ms. Hu while forcing her to take the drugs. Her ribs were almost broken as a result. The nurses also force-fed her, accusing her of eating too slowly. Sometimes they blew air into her stomach through the feeding tube to increase her suffering. While other detainees could go outside to have a break, Ms. Hu was never allowed to leave the room. The guards kicked her and tied her up. A sample of her blood was taken every month.

After she was detained for more than eight months, the police videotaped Ms. Hu and took her photo. They also ordered her to sign a statement promising never to practice Falun Gong again.

As Ms. Hu was never married, her brother was asked to pick her up from the hospital in October 2022 and take her to the Youdian Township Nursing Home, where she was placed under residential surveillance. The nursing home president Wang Longfei and his staff kept pressuring Ms. Hu to renounce Falun Gong after she was admitted there in October 2022. While still suffering from the complications of involuntary drug administration done at the hospital, she struggled to cope with the relentless pressure and died on March 26, 2023.

 

Fujian Province

Mentally Healthy Man Held in Psychiatric Hospital for Two Years for His Faith

Mr. Weng Changgui, a 49-year-old resident of Fuqing City, Fujian Province, was admitted to the Fuqing City Psychiatric Hospital in 2022 after he was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was still held at the psychiatric hospital as of May 2024.

 

Jiangxi Province

Twice Imprisoned Woman Transferred to Mental Hospital for Further Persecution for Upholding Her Faith

Ms. Wu Zhiping, a 67-year-old retired steel factory worker in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province was harassed by the police and residential committee director on April 14, 2021. They ordered her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to comply, two more groups of people harassed her twice on April 1.

On the evening of April 19, she left home and wandered from place to place. She was arrested shortly afterward and taken to the local brainwashing centre. Liu Zhibin, the deputy director of Nanchang City 610 Office, personally hosted the brainwashing sessions and ordered practitioners to give up their faith. Because Ms. Wu refused to comply, she was transferred to a mental hospital.

 

Shandong Province

Two Falun Gong Practitioners Held in Mental Hospital After Mass Arrest

The police in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, conducted a mass arrest on September 16, 2022. More than ten Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and their homes were ransacked.

Ms. Xu Delan was taken to the psychiatric ward of the Fourth People’s Hospital (Psychiatric Hospital) after her arrest. When her family requested she be released, the authorities used various excuses to avoid their questions. She was released on bail in December 2022 and sentenced to one year with two years probation in July 2023.

Ms. Li Hongling was arrested at home and many of her personal belongings were confiscated. She was also taken to the psychiatric ward of the Fourth People’s Hospital. In November 2022, she was transferred to the Liaocheng City Detention Centre. She was sentenced to one year on January 10, 2023.

 

Henan Province

Man Held in Psychiatric Department in Health Centre After Arrest

Mr. Yang Jinhan was arrested by officers including Shao Mingke, head of the Bobi Police Station, on April 25, 2022. He was held in the psychiatric department of the Baiquan Health Centre in Hui County and was discharged on January 10, 2023.

Women Held in Psychiatric Ward After Arrest

According to a Minghui.org report published in August 2019, Ms. Wang Fengyun and Ms. Yue Julan were held in a psychiatric ward in Xinxiang Women’s Prison, Henan Province. They persevered in doing the Falun Gong exercises. One of them was forced to wear a straitjacket, while the other was put in solitary confinement.

 

Heilongjiang Province

Falun Gong Practitioners Detained in Jiatai Hospital

According to a Minghui.org report published in August 2023, several Falun Gong practitioners were held on the fourth floor of the Jiatai Hospital in Wuchang City.

 

Shanxi Province

Man Sent to Mental Hospital for Telling People About Falun Gong

Mr. Zhai Yinxiang was arrested on February 3, 2020 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong on the street. He was released around 12 a.m., only to be arrested again two days later with another practitioner Mr. Gao Xiaohong, after they were followed by the police while they put up information about Falun Gong. Mr. Zhai was held in the Yangquan City Psychiatric Hospital until August 2020.

Both practitioners appeared in the Pingding County Court on September 26, 2020. Mr. Zhai was sentenced to one year with two years’ probation. He was taken to the Pingding County Mental Hospital after the trial. Mr. Gao was sentenced to 1.5 years and taken to the Meng County Detention Center the same day.

 

Inner Mongolia

25-year-old Woman Sent to Psychiatric Hospital After Being Suspended From School

In April 2021, Ms. Yan Ziting, 25, from Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, was suspended from school for telling people about Falun Gong while she attended the school.

The police officers harassed her in early June 2021. Two months later, she was deceived by her family and local authorities and sent to a brainwashing centre for nearly three months. Afterwards, she was sent to the Hohhot City Detention Centre and was detained there for eight days.

On November 28, she was taken to two psychiatric hospitals in Beijing, the Huilongguan Hospital and Peking University Sixth Hospital, for “medical consultation.” She returned to Hohhot City on November 30.

 

Guangdong Province

Family Found Woman in Psychiatric Hospital Two Months After Being Arrested

Ms. Li Yanqun, 65, was arrested at home on March 17, 2020. It took her daughter two months to find out that she was detained in the Foshan City No. 3 People’s Hospital, a well-known local psychiatric hospital. The Chancheng District Court sentenced Ms. Li to a seven-year prison term on October 21, 2020.

Her family hired two different lawyers, but neither lawyer was able to make appointments with the two detention centres, which denied having Ms. Li in their custody. After the lawyers’ repeated requests, the authorities finally revealed that Ms. Li was currently held in the mental hospital, but they continued to reject her family’s requests to visit her. It took Ms. Li’s daughter more than two months to find out that she was sent to the Foshan No. 3 People’s Hospital, a notorious mental hospital in the region.

 

Yunnan Province

Woman Who Needed Help After a Fall Gets Arrested and Drugged

Ms. Yu Qionghua was an employee at a canned food factory in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. She was taken to the Yueyatang Police Station after she was seized on the street on May 5, 2019. She fell while riding her bike and a passerby called police for help. A few officers arrived and arrested her when they discovered that she had materials about Falun Gong. She was kept in a detention centre for a week and then taken to a mental hospital for another week before she was released.

Ms. Yu’s 92-year-old father was terrified and unable to eat for several days. Ms. Yu’s mother and her other family members went to the police station several times to demand her release. On May 11, they were told to pick her up. When they arrived at the police station, however, they were told she’d have to stay in a local mental hospital for another week.

Ms. Yu’s family asked why the police would send a perfectly healthy person to a mental hospital. Officers threatened to keep her in the detention centre for a longer time if her family refused to have her sent to the mental hospital. They felt they had no choice but to agree to the hospital stay.

Ms. Yu was released one week later.

 

Shaanxi Province

Shaanxi Woman Held in Psychiatric Hospital for Upholding Her Faith

Ms. Zhang Caixia, a resident of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, was held in a psychiatric hospital for more than three weeks for practicing Falun Gong. The police first went to Ms. Zhang’s home to harass her on August 25, 2021. Since she wasn’t there, they arrested her the next day at the Weibin Hospital, where she worked. Ms. Zhang was first held at a hotel after her arrest and then transferred to Wangjiaya Rehabilitation Centre, which is in fact the municipal mental hospital.

Ms. Zhang’s family didn’t know where she was detained until they went to the local police station to ask about her case on September 7. When they went to the psychiatric hospital to visit her, the guards didn’t allow them to see her in person, but only through a video chat. It was reported that the Baoji City Political and Legal Affairs Committee ordered her arrest and would not approve her release unless she wrote a statement renouncing Falun Gong. She was released on September 30, 2021.

 

Gansu Province

Gansu Province Women’s Prison Uses Drugs on Practitioners

Most of the Falun Gong practitioners at Gansu Province Women’s Prison are held in the 7th Division, a division designated to torture and brainwash practitioners in an attempt to break their will and make them give up Falun Gong. Yang Li is the superintendent of the 7th Ward. She was transferred to the division in 2021 and worked with senior guard Liu Xiaolan to torture Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Li Xiulan, in her 70s, was sentenced to three years and was scheduled to be released in January 2023. Yang and Liu forced Ms. Li to take psychiatric drugs every day even though she had no mental illness. When Ms. Li did not want to continue taking the drugs, Yang made Ms. Li squat in front of her and scolded her, demanding that she continue. Other inmates also came and surrounded Ms Li.

Ms. Li Mingyi used to teach in Baiyun Village, Gangu County. She was given five years in prison. The guards claimed that she was depressed so they constantly forced her to take psychiatric drugs. She was released in October 2022.

 

Xinjiang

Resident of Shihezi City Sent to Mental Hospital

The authorities in Shihezi City, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, started harassing Ms. Zhan Ying and her family in early November 2020. She was arrested on November 24 and sent to a brainwashing centre. The police also harassed Ms. Zhan’s daughter, Ms. Zou Xiaoyu, and pressured her father (who had divorced Ms. Zhan) into forcibly removing her from her residence.

Ms. Zou, who also practices Falun Gong, was persecuted for her faith. She was arrested and her home was ransacked in 2018. She was first held at the Shihezi No.1 Detention Centre and then transferred to a mental hospital before she was taken to a brainwashing centre. She was often beaten and forced to stand for long hours during her extended detention at the brainwashing centre.

Unable to bear the pressure, she inflicted harm on herself several times. She was unable to move or speak for a period of time. Although she gradually recovered after she was released, she still had difficulty speaking. She shook involuntarily, and her legs felt weak when she was upset.

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