World Psychiatric Association Urged By Committee To Investigate Chinese Use Of Mental Hospitals In Cracking Down On Falun Gong

The Committee on Misuse and Abuse of Psychiatry is appealing to the American Psychiatric Association board of trustees to urge the World Psychiatric Association to

look into the reports of Falun Gong practitioners being detained and tortured in psychiatric hospitals. In their statement, the committee "expressed outrage at many reports of alleged involuntary detention of non-mentally ill Falun Gong practitioners, and urged that the board of trustees formally request the World Psychiatric Association to investigate the matter." The committee, chaired by Dr. Renato Alarcon of the Atlanta VA Medical Center, is responsible to the Council on Professional Values and Human Dignity of the APA.