The international human rights organization Safeguard Defenders has released a report exposing how the CCP forcibly commits political dissidents to psychiatric hospitals under the pretext of “mental illness.” Over the seven years from 2015 to 2021, at least 109 “Ankang” (peace and health) hospitals across China illegally detained 99 political victims, turning psychiatric institutions into a tool of the CCP's “stability maintenance” apparatus.
Safeguard Defenders, headquartered in Spain, released a 75-page report titled “Involuntary Medication and Detention: China's Psychiatric Prisons” on the 16th, stating that the CCP, without any medical basis, forcibly commits Chinese human rights defenders to psychiatric hospitals known as “Ankang” facilities. The report covers 109 such hospitals across 21 Chinese provinces and municipalities, which together have detained 99 political prisoners—some of them repeatedly, for a combined total of 144 instances of detention—and notes that these figures are merely the tip of the iceberg.
The report notes that, under strong international condemnation, China passed a Mental Health Law a decade ago and amended its Criminal Procedure Law to oversee police conduct—but in practice, this oversight exists in name only and has never been implemented. Coerced by the authorities, or colluding with them outright, Chinese police, doctors, and hospitals have allowed extremely inhumane methods to continue being used against dissidents. Some victims have endured years of torment; nine of them have already been held inside for more than a decade, while others have been detained again and again—of the 99 victims, nearly one-third were committed more than twice.
The report also exposes the various forms of torture victims endured while detained, including beatings, electric shocks, being strapped to beds, and injections of unidentified drugs—some were even forced to sleep in their own waste. Others were held in isolation, cut off from contact with family members or lawyers, and denied visits or phone calls.
As one example, the report cites Dong Yaoqiong, a 28-year-old woman who was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital in 2018 after posting a video of herself splashing ink on a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping. She briefly resurfaced in 2020 before disappearing again shortly afterward. Her father was also beaten to death in prison.
Safeguard Defenders is calling on the international community to once again pay attention to this serious human rights violation and to press the authorities in Beijing over it.