In another instance of the Chinese government almost actively recognizing the inconsistencies in their prison policies, Chen Cuilin, a woman detained by authorities in a mental hospital (ankang) in Jiangsu province was released for 50,000 Yuan earlier this week.  While the policy of using Mental Hospitals as temporary holding cells is certainly nothing new, it has recently come back in vogue, as this is the second instance this month of a mentally capable person being placed in one of these facilities as a kind of makeshift detention center.  While Chen Cuilin is not as well known as He Jian, a signer of Charter 08, her story also has a unique twist: she was released, albeit in exchange for a hefty sum. 

After being detained and moved through several black jails, and with her family constantly searching for her, they were finally informed by officials that she was being detained.  As there were concerns for her health, the family gathered 50,000 Yuan and submitted a written promise that Chen would no longer attempt to petition Beijing.  However, despite her slow recovery from an assortment of health problems that developed during her time in the various improvised detention centers, Chen remains certain that she will continue to appeal to Beijing to at least set up a trial for the men who killed her husband years ago.

According to a Radio Free Asia report, He Jian, one of the approximately 300 signatories of Charter 08 still residing in China, was placed in a local mental hospital by authorities earlier this week.  After tweeting about his detention in “black jails” and the abuse of his mother by police, He was finally taken in to custody by government officials.  His detention comes a day after revealing that the local police had informed his mother that he needed to report to the police station. 

The use of psychiatric hospitals as make-shift detention facilities for petitioners and dissidents is a longstanding practice within the party, according to a 2002 report from Human Rights Watch and the Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry.  While detained in these facilities under the guise of mental illness, people that the Communist party views as incendiary are frequently forcibly medicated and tortured.  There is no word yet on how long he will be confined nor recognition of the government’s role in the matter.