Ankang (asylum) explained

Ankang
Location:China
Type:Psychiatric hospital or asylum

Ankang is a name shared by a number of psychiatric hospitals or asylums in China. The term literally means "peace and health [for the mentally ill]". Many of these institutions are prison-hospitals for holding prisoners judged to be mentally ill, and operate directly under the local Public Security Bureau.[1] As a result, "ankang" is sometimes used in the Western press to denote the system of prison-hospitals in China. However, not all ankang hospitals are prison-hospitals, and some offer conventional psychiatric and medical treatment services.

Some patients sent to these institutions are political prisoners or Falun Gong practitioners. By some estimates 3,000 political prisoners are held in about 25 ankang institutions across China.[2]

List of ankang hospitals

According to the United States Department of State, there were 20 ankang hospitals in China in early 2009, which are overseen by the Ministry of Public Security.[3]

According to an August 2022 report by Safeguard Defenders, there are 25 ankang hospitals in China.[15] In addition to these ankang facilities, the police also make use of general psychiatric facilities run by China's Ministry of Health and Ministry of Civil Affairs and of the 144 cases in the report, only four took place in an Ankang facility.

Controversies

Wang Wanxing, a prominent democracy activist with a history of anti-government protest, was again arrested on June 4, 1992, when he unfurled a banner in Tiananmen Square on the third anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He was swiftly arrested and locked up in a psychiatric hospital near Beijing, for alleged "political monomania".[16] Following his release in 2006, Wang was examined for two days by Dr. Raes and Dr. van der Meer, who said in a statement: "He was not suffering from any mental disorder that could justify his admission." Human Rights Watch says it has documented 3,000 cases of psychiatric punishment of political dissidents since the early 1980s.[17]

In 2000, Robin J. Munro drew attention when he made allegations of abuses of forensic psychiatry in China.[18] In 2002, Human Rights Watch and the Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry issued a report which alleged that Chinese dissidents, independent labour organisers, whistle-blowers and individuals who complain about official misconduct have been labelled "political maniacs" and locked up in mental hospitals simply for opposing the government. Symptoms of "political mania" as defined by the police include "shout[ing] reactionary slogans, writ[ing] reactionary banners and reactionary letters, mak[ing] anti-government speeches in public, and express[ing] opinions on important domestic and international affairs". Such individuals may be detained indefinitely in ankang centres.[19] [20]

In August 2022, Safeguard Defenders issued an 85-page report on forced hospitalization in psychiatric hospitals between 2015 and 2021 based on 144 cases involving 99 victims.[21] Almost a third of the 99 victims had been sent to psychiatric facilities two or more times. Once inside, victims may stay there for months, even years. Nine victims have been inside for ten or more years. According to the report, victims are mostly petitioners and activists.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Ankang: China's Special Psychiatric Hospitals . Human Rights Watch . 14 December 2012 . 13 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150313161942/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/china02/china0802-08.htm . live .
  2. Web site: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau) . United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor . 25 February 2004 . 17 November 2008 . 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practice. Section 1d: "Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile."
  3. Web site: 25 February 2009 . 8 May 2009 . . 2008 Human Rights Report: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau) . https://web.archive.org/web/20090226175344/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eap/119037.htm . dead . 26 February 2009 . "Respect for Human Rights" Section 1c: Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
  4. http://www.sp120.com/hospital/4179/ Beijing Ankang Hospital
  5. http://www.edeng.cn/data/china/sichuan/chengdu/business/medical/378761.html Chengdu Ankang Hospital
  6. http://hzak.psycard.net/auto/data/11381/detail.php?thisid=6823 Hangzhou Ankang Hospital
  7. http://www.jsylby.cn/news_view.asp?newsid=637 Jinan Ankang Hospital
  8. http://www.zssou.com/hospital/13668.html Nanjing Ankang Hospital
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20110707040852/http://www.nbws.gov.cn/big5/ztzl_view.aspx?CategoryId=98&ContentId=2502 Ningbo PSB Ankang Hospital
  10. http://yyk.39.net/sh/zonghe/doctor/4d847.html Shanghai PSB Ankang Hospital
  11. http://www.zssou.com/hospital/9209.html Tianjin Municipal Ankang Hospital
  12. http://www.health114.com.cn/hospital/detail/ff8080810cfc3eea010cfc481d950078 Tianjin Municipal Ankang Hospital
  13. http://www.koioo.com/jk/_p1/gediyiyuan/hebeiyiyuan/56289.html Wuan Ankang Hospital
  14. http://sosyao.com/hospital/html/shanxisheng/xianshi/14_32_39_922.htm Xian Ankang Hospital
  15. Web site: August 2022 . Drugged and Detained: China's Psychiatric Prisons . December 5, 2023 . safeguarddefenders.com.
  16. https://www.theguardian.com/china/story/0,,1671211,00.html In the grip of the Ankang
  17. Joseph Kahn, Sane Chinese Put in Asylum, Doctors Find, March 17, 2006
  18. Sunny Y. Lu & Viviana B. Galli, "Psychiatric Abuse of Falun Gong Practitioners in China", The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 30:126–30, 2002
  19. John Gittings, China 'sending dissidents to mental hospitals, The Guardian, August 13, 2002
  20. News: McDonald . Hamish . Former inmate tells of torture . The Age . November 7, 2005 . 2008-02-28.
  21. Web site: August 2022 . Drugged and Detained: China's Psychiatric Prisons . December 6, 2023 . safeguarddefenders.com.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ankang (asylum)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.