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Will the campaign of punitive psychiatry be executed on Klonis Street?

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Klonio gatvei rengiamas „baudžiančiosios psichiatrijos“ reidas?

Some sources from the camp of those who are determined to “take” the girl have reported that the help of psychiatrists will be used in this campaign. The plans to “take the girl” quickly have been falling apart, since the police forces do no want to be solely responsible for everything, and the Ministry of Social Affairs has not been completely supportive of this plan. Investigation of the failed attack against the girl on March 23 highlighted the fact that the people surrounding the girl’s house were looking favorably at the ambulance and

emergency personnel and did not block this approaching vehicle. Thus, there are plans to use the cover of an ambulance to bring the psychiatrists to the girl’s house. This action will be justified by an explanation that the girl is experiencing so called  “Stockholm Syndrome” – describing a victim that is identifying herself with her captors, which would be the Kedziai family (her aunt and grandparents) in this case. Thus, their force against the girl would be justified, since it would be a lesser evil than to leave the girl “behind the fence” (that is, in her current secluded situation). The authors of such a plan are several psychiatrists from Vilnius who have been frequently expressing their views publicly. The psychiatrists from Kaunas refused to take a part in such campaign, since they think that the girl will end up with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder that may result in the long term if not life long suffering of this child from psychiatric problems.

Jan Vium, the president of the Denmark Association of Social Pedagogists that unite 35,000 members, have addressed Lithuanian government recommending that Article 12 of the United Nations Child Rights Convention would be followed and the institutions that defend the rights of child would appropriately guarantee this rights that belong to this girl. This association of pedagogists recommends that the solution in this situation would be chosen according to the child’s wishes, needs, and ONLY WITH THE CHILD’S AGREEMENT to avoid harming her. A deaf ear to the child’s needs (especially this vulnerable child who has already experienced physical, spiritual, emotional, psychological, or sexual abuse) can violate her sense of trust, damage her self-esteem, and increase her self-deprecation. This can result in more serious consequences to the child’s health, social development, and to her psychological and emotional state.

This association offered their help to provide a specialist, but the advocates of force against the girl responded with silence. Now it is 2012.  Soon, on May 14th, we will commemorate 40 years after Romas Kalanta burned himself. Festive commemoration will take place in Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament).  At that time, Soviet psychiatry was used to defame the sacrifice of this young person that made the name of this profession dirty for many following years. This dirt has not been washed away even during the years of independence, since names were not made public and the psychiatrists that executed the punitive psychiatry have not been publically condemned.  Young people may not even know that the punitive psychiatry (in Russian: “karatelnaja psichiatrija”) was called one of the most horrifying inventions of the Soviet regime – in the form of punishment in psychiatric prison.  Even tough political prisoners who were not afraid to end up in the Moldova camps were afraid of this psychiatry.  The threats to send someone to Chernichovsky where there was a psychiatric hospital-prison used to break people down more than any other threats.  The KGB even created its own version of “progressing schizophrenia” (in Russian: “vialo tekuscaja”) that only they and the psychiatrists that served them could diagnose, since it was not identifiable by others.

Are we coming back to those times? Are the psychiatrist going to serve the immoral, deceptive, and entangled governmental officials?

Instead of protecting law and truth, judicial institutions are becoming internal enemies and bandits with a good looking suit.  Will the most despicable methods of force damaging to individuals’ psyche be used against this little child?

I would also like to share a few words about my personal experience.  Soon we will be commemorating another event.  With the help of psychiatrists there, Mindaugas Tomonis was killed in 1975.  He was a poet, dissident, thinker, and my childhood friend. The diagnosis that was described earlier was applied to him.  The result of it was that he was found under the train with his head severed from his body. His trial was headed by a young investigator at that time, Stasys Indriunas, who was also later in charge of other similar and very important cases of dissidents.  Nothing was resolved.  On the contrary, Mindaugas’ archive was taken away and all the incriminating notes disappeared from his medical file.  Now, Stasys Indriunas works as chief deputy prosecutor at one of the departments.  Are we talking about the Prosecution Office again going hand in hand with psychiatry? Will I need to start a personal war with the regime again or its servants that have distorted it and placed themselves above the law?

Let’s return to Klonis street.  The main argument by the psychiatrists that justify the use of force against the child is that the child is growing “behind the fence.”  Well, take away the fence! You yourselves have erected this fence!  Everyone who spent more than a couple of hours – more like two weeks – in Klonis street could see a child who was enjoying herself by playing with other children and playing a flute.  What are you offering to this child you propagator’s of force? The guardianship by the governmental institutions?  It’s a lie, since you would never trust them to take care of your own child.

There is no more a crowd on Klonis street, but an independent and free community from all Lithuania.  By no means are they angels. This community has a range of diversity, but that represents the layers of the wider community.  Everyone is united by the same values in this community, with the most important one being the truth.  They are proud to be called “bums,” (in Lithuanian: “patvoriniai” – direct trans.  “people at the fence”) because to these bums it is not the same what is going on behind the neighbor’s fence and what is going on with Lithuania (from their proclamation).  These people are not afraid because they do no have anything to lose, but only the dignity of a human and citizen.  Have you thought about what is waiting for you, if you are going to take this child by force?  What are you going to do next?  Do you think that the Klonis community and the straight and truthful Lithuania will be silent? 

Everything is just starting.

***Redakcijos prierašas. Šį labai svarbų str. į anglų kalbą savanoriškai išvertė dr. Vilija Ball iš: http://www.bernardinai.lt/straipsnis/2012-04-30-algirdas-patackas-klonio-gatvei-rengiamas-baudzianciosios-psichiatrijos-reidas/81401