Psychiatry in Russia again a regular method of repression

The international foundation Human Rights in Psychiatry – FGIP (FGIP) has published a new report on the resumption of political abuse of psychiatry in the Russian Federation. The report includes more than two dozen new cases in which psychiatry was used as a means of silencing a human rights activist, political opponent or a religious believer, and also provides information on abuse of psychiatry within the penitentiary system and forced sterilization of psychiatric patients.

The report is the fourth published by FGIP over the past decade and the most disturbing one. Because of the fact that political abuse of psychiatry is gathering a systematic nature, FGIP has requested the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) to review the information and take appropriate action.

FGIP was originally established in 1980 to organize the international campaign against political abuse of psychiatry in the USSR. In 1983 it managed to force the withdrawal of the Soviets from the WPA, and six years later successfully lobbied to have the Soviets return only under conditions of reform and releasing all victims of political abuse of psychiatry.

In Soviet times approximately one-third of all political prisoners wound up in psychiatric hospitals.

The report can be downloaded in English here

The report van be downloaded in Russian here