Protect those seeking rights from being branded mad

The Ministry of Public Security last week stressed that clinics should not hospitalize people without mental illness without examinations by and the approval of the public security departments. The announcement was made during a national work conference on mental health in Wuhan, Hubei province.

Such news made a stir among the public immediately after it appeared on the Web and in various publications. There have been numerous cases in which local government departments sent healthy people to mental hospitals by force. These are people who insisted on making complaints to higher-level governments by letters and by visits and those who resorted to legal means to simply protect their own rights and interests. These citizens' right of freedom is deprived through this compulsory treatment.

That is why the public was shocked by the public security ministry's new announcement. With the new rule, it will be more convenient for local governments to deal with complainers, rights fighters and others who are "disobedient".