World Psychiatric Association Investigation Stymied Again

The President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), Dr. Okasha, received a letter from the President of the Chinese Society of Psychiatry (CSP) cancelling the WPA's plan of going to Beijing on April 4th. The trip was to conduct an independent investigation on China's psychological torture against Falun Gong practitioners. Dr. Okasha did not release specifics from the letter, which was received on March 26, only saying that the WPA had to cancel its investigation involuntarily.

WPA Investigation Was Planned in Yokohama, Japan, in August 2002

The investigation was originally planned at the annual meeting of the WPA held in Yokohama, Japan, on August 26, 2002. The plan was to begin the investigation on April 4, 2004. There were about 6,000 psychologists and doctors of psychiatry in attendance at the WPA meeting.

According to a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) on August 27, 2002, the WPA released a 300-page report in July 2002 and listed specific cases proving the existence of the abusive psychiatric treatment in China. The report also stated that Chinese authorities detained political dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners in psychiatric hospitals. The meeting representatives voted and agreed to send an investigation team to China and expected to finish the investigation by 2003.

An Investigation Was Planned As a Mild Alternative to Cancelling China's Membership

The British Royal College of Psychiatrists had proposed that Beijing should accept the decision for the investigation into China's psychiatric hospitals, according to a Central News Agency's (CNA) report from Paris on August 28, 2002. If China refused to accept the examination, China would be lose WPA membership. This proposal did not pass, however. Most of the members voting on the proposal suggested a milder way to make China "willing" to accept the proposal.
According to a special report from CNA, the Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted the Chair of the Science Committee of WPA, Juan Lopez-Ibor, saying that Beijing had agreed to accept the examination. The trip was most likely to be scheduled before May 2003. The WPA was planning to have a detailed meeting with Beijing to ensure the independency of the experts conducting the investigation.

Lopez-Ibor received and accepted an invitation from the CCP to visit China in Feb 2002. He even met with the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health. The AFP reported in Aug 2002 that the CCP had succeeded in softening the attitude of the WPA by giving the invitation. Lopez-Ibor was quite supportive with the strong proposal from the British Royal College of Psychiatrists, but he eventually decided to take the milder alternative and conduct the investigation.

However, the plan made at the annual WPA meeting in Yokohama did not get China's cooperation in the following year and a half. The situation did not change until Dr. Okasha met with the President of the Chinese Society of Psychiatry (CSP) and the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Health in Beijing in January 2004. However, Dr. Okasha received a letter from the President of the CSP on March 26, 2004, and had to unwillingly cancel the trip to Beijing.

The China Mental Health Watch Reports to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the psychological abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in China

The China Mental Health Watch wrote a letter to WHO on January 8, 2004, reporting the ongoing psychological persecution against Falun Gong practitioners and the abuse of psychiatric treatments in China.

The China Mental Health Watch asked the international society to help stop the persecution against the doctors and workers in the Chinese medical society. The letter also asked WHO to participate in stopping the brutal and inhumane persecution happening in China, for maintaining the moral standard of the world's medical society, as well as for the human rights.

The China Mental Health Watch was established in New York on Nov 21, 2003. It is a non-governmental organization composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, lawyers and volunteers from all over the world. The goal is to advocate mental health workers in China to resist and stop participating in this persecution and help collect evidence. The organization also advocated the international society to help stop the persecution and to help the international human rights and legal organizations to investigate individuals and organizations participating in psychological persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.