(Minghui.org) A retired high school teacher in Wuhan City, Hubei Province was arrested on March 20, 2019 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999.
Ms. Ouyang Ruyun was seized by officers from Wuhan City Domestic Security Division. This is the 15th time that she has been arrested for her faith during the past two decades.
The 73-year-old woman was abused at Wuhan City No.1 Detention Center following her latest arrest. Her health quickly declined, but her family's repeated requests to have her released on bail on medical grounds were all denied. They were told that Wuhan is gearing up to host the Military World Games in October and that the authorities would not allow a Falun Gong practitioner like Ms. Ouyang to be released.
It is confirmed that Ms. Ouyang was recently transferred to Ankang Hospital in Wuhan. Her family is growing more concerned about her condition, given the notoriety of Ankang hospitals, which translate as “peace and health facilities [for the mentally ill].”
According to an article published on Minghui.org, “It is well known that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) frequently uses mental health facilities to torture dissidents or political activists. Although abuses have been reported at a wide variety of mental health treatment facilities in China, only ankang hospitals are officially designated as able to hold patients against their will and restrict their freedom.”
The article also pointed out, “Ankang hospitals, psychiatric hospitals directly administered by the Ministry of Public Security, have an extra-legal structure and process strikingly similar to the former labor camp system that was declared shut down in 2013: Police can arbitrarily send anyone to the hospitals for unlawful incarceration without due process.”
“More ankang hospitals were established after the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999. In September 2004 the Ministry of Public Security issued a public notice requiring provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to set up ankang hospitals as soon as possible if they didn't have them already,” wrote the article.
Ms. Ouyang had been held at mental facilities before for her faith in Falun Gong. In July 2000, she was sent to Wuhan Mental Hospital, where she was given psychiatric drugs that damaged her central nervous system. She said, “After being given the injection, I started to drool, my hands started to shake, my tongue became stiff, and I lost my balance when I walked.”
Even though she is suffering from deteriorating health, Ms. Ouyang has no mental illness at all. Her family worries that she may face even worse psychiatric abuse this time around at the police-controlled Ankang hospital.
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