Russia
Editorial
The Soviet fad of locking up dissidents in insane asylums is back in vogue, said the Moscow weekly Profil. Three years ago, journalist Larisa Arap described abuses she’d witnessed in a psychiatric hospital near Murmansk. Medical staff, Arap claimed, would force children to “kiss their feet” and would zap them with electric shocks if they resisted. Some inmates weren’t ill at all: One woman had been declared insane merely so her family could get its hands on her house; another woman was committed after accusing a bureaucrat of abusing her daughter. Arap heard no feedback about her reports until this year, when she went for a routine medical checkup. Her doctor, recognizing her as a “troublemaker,” promptly committed her to the very institution she had criticized. Her colleagues and friends, who have lobbied for her release, say that doctors have threatened to “arrange things” for them, too. The Soviets may be gone, but their legacy of “punitive psychiatry” lives on.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
England’s ‘dysfunctional’ children’s care systemIn the Spotlight A new report reveals that protection of youngsters in care in England is failing in a profit-chasing sector
-
Cider farms to visit this autumnThe Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the USUnder the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
