The question Who Lived in Palestine and Who Should Have Rights to Palestine?resonates in the ears of many people to this day and is the basis of one of the most important current conflicts.
Palestine and the right to exist
By Cristobal Leon ampos: The year 2024 has come to an end, but the genocide of the Palestinian people and nation continues.On December 30, 450 days have passed since the intensification of the war campaign of Israeli Zionism and US imperialism, which has lasted more than seven decades and for which there is no end in sight, as part of the world remains impassive, watching the massacre and crimes against humanity that are already spreading to Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, among other nations, and which have set off alarm bells in the face of the ever-increasing possibility of a global war.The Middle East is burning and this only benefits the imperialist and neocolonialist forces, that is, the inhuman logic of death of the most rancid capitalism
The genocide is increasing in truly inhuman ways and only shows the bloodlust of the Zionist and imperialist murderers, and this statement, although harsh, is real, it is enough to quote the new report released last Sunday (December 30) by the Gaza Information Office, which mentions that in the 450 days of the current war campaign “Israel has used 88 thousand tons of explosives against the civilian population and has carried out 9,973 massacres” (Resumen Latinoamericano, 12/30/24), leaving in its wake the death of 1,413 entire Palestinian families.The total number of murders as of the cut-off date of the report cites 45,514, since October 7, 2023, with the chilling data of 17,818 children and 12,287 women who have lost their lives as a result of war actions, such as bombings and ground incursions by Zionist troops, with at least 70 percent of the victims being children and women.And so we ask ourselves, if these figures do not correspond to a genocide, then what do they represent?
The brutality of the genocide is increasing, and in Gaza and other areas of Palestine it is no longer possible to speak of “war zones” because the entire territory is under siege, the shelters are deliberately attacked by the Zionist occupation troops, millions of dollars continue to be sent from Washington and the flags of terror are waved by Zionist soldiers, who, mocking the Palestinian and human pain, upload videos to social networks laughing at their actions.Thus the human degradation as we enter the second third of the third decade of the 21st century, a time when the utopia of “prosperous human development” was once imagined, and today we only see the systemic crisis that is reflected in global conflicts, wars and economic crises that plunge the world population into darkness;a crisis of humanity that must be taken very seriously.
The report also states that 1,068 doctors and/or health personnel have been killed;2 million people have suffered from being displaced from their homes;488 educational centers have been totally or partially destroyed;more than 700,000 students have no access to education;904 teachers and educational and scientific personnel have died;thousands of hospitals, mosques and homes are totally or partially destroyed;and among other figures, the terrifying number of 2,300 corpses stolen by Zionist troops (for what purpose?) is mentioned, which speaks very clearly of the inhuman perversity that occurs in Gaza and Palestine.In addition, the number of deaths from cold, hunger and disease is increasing day by day, along with the murder of journalists and an international media blockade that does not allow people to speak freely about what is really happening in Palestine and the Middle East.But in the face of these and other figures, the United Nations (UN) has only given recommendations, warnings and has had to recognize the genocide, but international political actions, sanctions and/or the use of other means to end the genocide have not arrived, they remain absent, while the European colonialist countries remain silent and support the criminal regime of Benjamin Netanyahu, and continue to be subjected to US imperialism, which will soon intensify its hate speech with the arrival of Donald Trump to power.And in the face of all the above, and much more, there are still shameless and “distracted” voices that dare to question the right of the Palestinian people and nation to resist, their right to continue the struggle for their liberation, to exercise all possible forms of resistance to the crime they suffer.Today, a genocide is taking place in Palestine. We are experiencing the greatest crime against humanity of this century. We are also witnessing the heroic Palestinian resistance, which is fighting battles in every sense against the Zionist invasion, against the plundering of its territory, culture and identity, and against the fierce campaign of death by imperialism.
The Palestinian people and nation exercise their right to exist every day, they defend it, and we, the rest of the world, must redouble our forces, regroup our voices and continue to denounce by all means the genocide, the crimes against humanity and the inhuman bestiality that today is called Israeli Zionism and American imperialism.We are entering a new year, 2025, a crucial time period, where belligerence will increase and the people will have to build more lasting bridges of solidarity and internationalism to resist with greater strength.
The human rights defender and father of the Restrepo brothers died at the age of 81, leaving an indelible legacy in the history of the country.
Pedro Restrepo, father of the missing brothers Santiago and Andrés Restrepo, died on December 24 in Quito.His tireless fight for truth and justice after the forced disappearance of his children made him an icon of human rights in Ecuador and Latin America.
Pedro Restrepo, the man who dedicated more than 36 years of his life to demanding answers for the forced disappearance of his children, died at the age of 81 due to respiratory complications.The Restrepo case marked a before and after in the history of human rights in Ecuador, making visible the abuses committed by the State and the failures in the judicial system.
In January 1988, his sons Santiago (17) and Andrés (14) were arrested by the National Police and, since then, their whereabouts remain a mystery.Despite evidence of torture and murder, the brothers' bodies were never found.In 2010, the Truth Commission confirmed that the teenagers were victims of forced disappearance at the hands of state agents.
Restrepo, along with his wife Luz Elena and his daughter María Fernanda, led marches, sit-ins and international campaigns to demand justice.For 19 consecutive years, he protested in front of the Carondelet Palace every Wednesday, becoming a figure of resistance and courage.
Santiago and Andrés Restrepo
Pedro Restrepo: An eternal symbol of the fight for justice in Ecuador
His daughter, María Fernanda, captured this fight in the documentary Con mi corazón en Yambo (2011), a work that portrays the pain, love and resilience of the family in the face of impunity.
Although the Ecuadorian State officially acknowledged its responsibility in the case and offered reparations, the crime remains unpunished.In 1998, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned Ecuador, highlighting the state's negligence in the investigation.
After his death, institutions such as the National Assembly, the Ecuadorian House of Culture and the Ombudsman's Office issued messages of condolence, highlighting his legacy as a tireless defender of human rights."His struggle leaves an indelible legacy," the Assembly said in a statement.
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Civil organizations also remembered him as an example of strength.The Regional Foundation for Human Rights Advice (Inredh) described him as "a symbol of hope for those facing the search for missing loved ones."
Paradoxically, his departure occurs in a context of new tragedies in Ecuador, such as the disappearance of four children in Las Malvinas, Guayaquil.This parallelism highlights the need to continue fighting against impunity and forced disappearances in the country.
Pedro Restrepo lived and died with a mission: to seek justice for his children and ensure that other families do not face the same tragedy.His struggle transcended borders and generations, leaving an indelible mark on Ecuador's history.Will the State be able to honor his memory by solving the Restrepo case and preventing new disappearances?
Canada should focus on its own human rights issues
By Arnold August: China has decided to impose countermeasures against two Canadian organizations as well as 20 personnel from these organizations in accordance with the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law. The decision took effect on December 21, 2024.
China's measures responded to the Canadian government's Human Rights Day announcement on December 10. On a day devoted to honoring human rights, rather than examining Canada's human rights records, the Justin Trudeau government imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for the so-called violation of human rights in Xinjiang and Xizang. The slanders against China regarding Xinjiang and the Uygurs have been widely debunked, including by countless visitors there.
Even the U.S. government has Executive Order 9066 (the executive order issued by FDR to 110,000 Japanese Americans) wasCthe supposed utopia--has NEVER publicly acknowledged the Canadian governments culpability or even awareness of the horror...
As
part of this disinformation campaign, Canadian authorities, Western
"Tibetan" advocacy groups and corporate press refer to the "suppression
of Tibetans." They point to boarding schools or "camps" in Xizang and
neighboring Qinghai Province, where approximately one-fifth of the
population is Tibetan. In a baseless charge made on December 10, Ottawa
claimed that Tibetans held in "camps" faced "psychological, physical, or
sexual violence" and lacked "freedom of religion and expression."
The
following is a testimony of a youth in a boarding school, also known as
a residential school: The authorities constantly berated him, beat him,
barred him from speaking his language and practicing his culture, and
sexually assaulted him. Did this incident occur in China? No, it
happened in Canada. Moreover, multiply this by hundreds of thousands.
It
has been revealed that in Canada, more than 150,000 Indigenous children
were forced to attend residential schools and an estimated 6,000
children died in these institutions. However, experts suggest the number
based on unmarked graves could be higher. These children were
constantly berated and prohibited from speaking their language and
practicing their culture. Some were also sexually assaulted.
Prior
to these scandals, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Women and Girls, commissioned by the Trudeau government
itself, issued its report in 2019. It concluded that violence
experienced by thousands of Indigenous women and girls is part of a
"genocide." The Canadian government formally received it but did not act
on it. Its de facto denialism sparked a New Democratic Party opposition
member of Parliament to table a bill to end residential school
denialism, making it a criminal offense. Yet, this was also ignored.
Furthermore,
in the 1960s and 1970s, industrial pollution contaminated the water in
the Indigenous Grassy Narrows (Asubpeeschoseewagong) in northern
Ontario, with mercury, making it one of Canada's worst environmental
disasters. The contamination in this community of about 1,000 residents
has affected three generations and is still causing death.
Among
the Indigenous exists extreme poverty and persistent mental and
physical scars resulting from the miserable death-riddled residential
school experience. This has caused drug and alcohol dependence,
disproportionately high suicide rate, police violence, murder, and
imprisonment of Indigenous peoples compared to the rest of Canadian
society.
In its Human Rights Day statement, Ottawa also accused
China of violating "freedom of expression" in Xizang, 11,640 kilometers
from Ottawa. However, based on my visit there, I informed the Canadian
government and corporate press of my experience in Xizang and with the
Tibetans in neighboring Qinghai Province through social media, but I was
ignored.
The cafeteria in a boarding school I visited in a
Tibetan minority area of Qinghai Province lies in sharp contrast to the
contaminated drinking water in the Indigenous Grassy Narrows area.
Furthermore, the quality and variety of the food and beverages available
in the boarding-room school would be the envy of many Canadian students
from working-class families.
Canada should focus on the
well-being of its people. The country would benefit from further
developing economic ties with China rather than erecting roadblocks that
only serve the interests of US policy to "contain China."
The author is a Canadian author and journalist
“If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in
a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the
judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the
unprotected — those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most! —
and listens to their testimony.” – James Baldwin
ENSAYO: LOS TERRORISTAS SIEMPRE SON MUSULMANES PERO NUNCA BLANCOS: EN LA INTERSECCIÓN DE LA TEORÍA CRÍTICA DE LA RAZA Y LA PROPAGANDA
Caroline Mala Corbin: Cuando escuchas la palabra “terrorista”, ¿a quién te viene a la cabeza? Lo más probable es que no sea una persona blanca. En Estados Unidos, abundan dos narrativas comunes, aunque falsas, sobre los terroristas que atacan a Estados Unidos. Las vemos en la televisión, en las películas, en las noticias y, actualmente, en la administración Trump. La primera es que “los terroristas siempre son musulmanes (morenos)”.
La segunda es que “los blancos nunca son terroristas”. Diferentes vertientes de la teoría crítica de la raza pueden ayudarnos a entender estas dos narrativas. Una vertiente examina el papel de los sesgos cognitivos inconscientes en la producción de estereotipos, como el estereotipo del “terrorista musulmán”. Otra vertiente se centra en el privilegio blanco, como el privilegio de evitar la etiqueta de terrorista.
Estas narrativas falsas desempeñan un papel crucial en la propaganda de Trump. Como revela el análisis crítico de la raza, estas dos narrativas encajan con dos partes constitutivas de la propaganda: ideologías defectuosas y mitos aspiracionales.
La propaganda se basa en ideologías falsas preexistentes, que es otra forma de describir los estereotipos racistas. La propaganda también se basa en ciertos ideales y mitos, en este caso, el mito de la inocencia blanca y la superioridad blanca. Por lo tanto, la invocación intencional de ambas narrativas por parte de la administración Trump equivale a propaganda en algo más que el sentido coloquial.
La Parte I ilustra cada una de las dos narrativas. La Parte II las analiza a través de una lente crítica de la raza, mostrando cómo se relacionan con dos vertientes de la teoría crítica de la raza. A continuación, la Parte III examina cómo estas narrativas habilitan y constituyen simultáneamente la propaganda. Finalmente, la Parte IV argumenta INTRODUCCIÓN
Cuando escuchas la palabra "terrorista", ¿a quién te imaginas? Lo más probable es que no sea una persona blanca. Si bien muchos de los ensayos de este simposio examinan el conflicto entre nuestro compromiso con la libertad de expresión y nuestra necesidad de proteger al país contra los terroristas, este ensayo se centrará en el discurso sobre los terroristas en los Estados Unidos.
Más específicamente, examinará la representación de los terroristas a través de una lente de teoría crítica de la raza y a través de una lente de propaganda.
En los Estados Unidos, abundan dos narrativas comunes aunque falsas sobre los terroristas que atacan a Estados Unidos. Los vemos en la televisión, en las películas, en las noticias y, actualmente, en la política gubernamental. La primera es que "los terroristas siempre son musulmanes (morenos)". La segunda es que "los blancos nunca son terroristas". Estas narrativas probablemente influyeron en la imagen que evoca en respuesta a la pregunta inicial: "Cuando escuchas la palabra 'terrorista', ¿a quién te imaginas?"
Distintas vertientes de la teoría crítica de la raza pueden ayudarnos a comprender estas dos narrativas. Una vertiente examina el papel de los sesgos cognitivos inconscientes en la producción de estereotipos, como el estereotipo del "terrorista musulmán". Otra corriente se centra en el privilegio blanco, como el privilegio de casi nunca ser etiquetado como terrorista.
Estas falsas narrativas desempeñan un papel crucial en la propaganda gubernamental. La propaganda se basa en ideologías falsas preexistentes, que es otra forma de describir los estereotipos racistas. La propaganda también se basa en ciertos ideales y mitos, en este caso, el mito de la inocencia blanca y la superioridad blanca.
Ambas narrativas falsas —“todos los terroristas son musulmanes” y “ningún blanco es terrorista”— socavan nuestra seguridad en lugar de mejorarla. En primer lugar, y lo más obvio, los estereotipos negativos ponen en peligro la seguridad de los estadounidenses que son
2017] TEORÍA CRÍTICA DE LA RAZA Y LA PROPAGANDA 457 Musulmanes o que son percibidos como Musulmanes. En segundo lugar, la creencia errónea de que los blancos no son terroristas genera puntos ciegos de seguridad que hacen que Estados Unidos sea menos seguro.
La Parte I ilustra cada una de las dos narrativas. La Parte II las analiza a través de una lente racial crítica, mostrando cómo se relacionan con dos La tercera parte examina cómo estas narrativas posibilitan y constituyen simultáneamente la propaganda. Por último, la cuarta parte sostiene que la propagación de estas narrativas falsas perjudica la seguridad nacional.
The Devil offers a Warm Place in Hell But Not Canadian Regimens
Horrors that continue not only with the Duplessis orphans who were used as guinea pigs and subjected to psychiatric experiments, but also - why not denounce another of the Canadian atrocities that have been committed for more than a century and continue to be committed every day - by the regimes in power in complicity with the terrorist groups of the Children's Aid Societies and CPS, three highly dangerous criminal groups that are dedicated to the kidnapping and trafficking of children to obtain profits from the blood of children belonging to vulnerable families.
El diablo ofrece un lugar cálido en el infierno, pero no los regímenes canadienses
El diablo ofrece un lugar cálido en el infierno, pero no los regímenes canadienses
Horrores que continúan no sólo con los huérfanos Duplessis que fueron utilizados como conejillos de indias y sometidos a experimentos psiquiátricos, sino también -por qué no denunciar otra de las atrocidades canadienses que se han cometido durante más de un siglo y siguen cometiéndose cada día- por los regímenes en el poder en complicidad con los grupos terroristas de las Sociedades de Ayuda a los Niños y CPS, tres grupos criminales altamente peligrosos que se dedican al secuestro y tráfico de niños para obtener ganancias de la sangre de los niños pertenecientes a familias vulnerables.
AN
CANADIAN HISTORY NEVER TOLD HAS NEVER PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGED THE
CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS CULPABILITY OR EVEN AWARENESS OF THE "DUPLESSIS
HORROR
How Psychiatry Used Quebec’s Orphans as Guinea Pigs
By Christine Hahn: Special to Freedom
For many people, sitting near a body of water is a relaxing experience. For Clarina Duguay, it inspires terrifying memories from her childhood—memories so painful she can scarcely find words to express them more than 50 years later.
The shy, soft-spoken, 65-year-old Duguay is one of Quebec’s infamous Duplessis Orphans, a group of more than 5,000 children whose parents handed them over to Catholic orphanages during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, promised their children would receive a “good education.”
Instead, psychiatrists falsely declared them mentally ill or severely retarded and warehoused them in psychiatric hospitals, enabling the Quebec government under former Premier Maurice Duplessis to receive a bounty of federal funding for their care.
To date, investigations into the Duplessis Orphans have focused primarily on actions of Catholic Church officials who managed the orphanages and psychiatric hospitals.
But in an apparent move to stymie any further probing into past crimes or misconduct and those responsible, on September 26, 2001, the Quebec government passed legislation to bar Orphans from taking legal action against the Quebec government or Catholic Church officials, in exchange for a paltry settlement of $10,000 per person. If an Orphan refuses to sign the agreement, he forfeits his right to even that compensation.
As a result, Orphans say, one key group never held accountable for its fundamental role in their abuse may now get away with it too: the psychiatrists who signed bogus orders labeling them “mentally ill”, committing them to a living hell.
Human Guinea Pigs?
The need for further inquiry into the case of the Orphans is apparent, as an investigation supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism in Washington, D.C., has revealed something even more sinister on the part of psychiatrists than signing away the lives of normal, healthy children as mental misfits—invoking the specter of psychiatric programs under the Nazi regime in Germany.
The Orphans’ medical records and recollections of the Orphans themselves suggest the children were exploited as human guinea pigs for a new drug, chlorpromazine.
Chlorpromazine—known today by its trade names of Largactil in Canada and Thorazine in the United States—was synthesized in France before World War II for use as an anesthetic. In the years since, it has been invested with such epithets as the “chemical billy club” or “chemical lobotomy” because of its mental and physical consequences—including a “complication” known as tardive dyskinesia, a central nervous system disorder that includes involuntary, grotesque facial and body movements.
For the children, the drug submerged them in a nightmare from which they could never awaken. The purpose for the drugging and the extent and consequences of testing, including deaths, are continuing to be investigated by Freedom.
Some of the Orphans interned at St. Jean-de-Dieu Hospital remember being treated by Ewen Cameron, the psychiatrist who conducted appalling and inhuman experiments on human subjects at Allan Memorial Institute of McGill University as part of the notorious “mind-control” programs of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency from the late 1940s through the early- to mid-1960s.
Bruno Roy, president of the Duplessis Orphans Committee, examined records of hundreds of Orphans, and said that Cameron’s name, indeed, showed up in children’s records.
Cameron was known to use chlorpromazine in his experiments, combining drugs, electric shock, lobotomies and other savage incursions on patients.
His associate Heinz Lehmann, who did undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at McGill and became clinical director at Allan Memorial in 1958, is regarded as the psychiatrist who discovered the use of chlorpromazine on psychiatric patients in 1953 (see accompanying story).
Yet today, evidence reveals the Duplessis Orphans, railroaded into psychiatric hospitals as retarded and mentally ill, were being administered the powerful drug as early as 1947 with debilitating effects.
As defenseless children, unaware of their rights and without a voice, the horrifying truth about their experiences were hidden from public view.
Wasted Lives
Two years after arriving at her orphanage in 1946, Clarina Duguay was transferred to St. Julien Hospital, an insane asylum more than 1,000 kilometers from her home.
Duguay experienced appalling treatment at St. Julien.
“They would plunge our heads into ice-cold water if we did something wrong,” she said, adding that to this day, water terrifies her. She described being tied to a bed with a collar, and having to scrub floors seemingly without end.
Duguay was told by the nuns that her mother had become psychotic and had died as a patient in another psychiatric hospital. In fact, her mother died of tuberculosis two years after the nuns claimed she had passed away.
Two weeks after arriving at St. Julien, Duguay vividly recalls being given medicine that the nuns said would make her sleep. The medicine, however, did much more than that.
“It made me into a zombie,” she said. “I had no energy, I was always feeling sleepy, had a hard time getting up. I was getting the drug every night. I have a hard time remembering, which I think is because of the drug.”
Duguay and other Orphans say that while the province failed to provide them with records from their first years at their institutions, the drug they received was the same one all along, identified as chlorpromazine in later records.
Francois Lantagne was a frightened, 9-year-old boy in 1946 when he was sent to St. Michel Archange psychiatric hospital. Born out of wedlock, his mother did not have enough money to raise him.
Lantagne was regularly placed in a straitjacket and subjected to ice-cold showers. Like Duguay, he received chlorpromazine every night at bedtime.
Today, Lantagne has been on welfare for 35 years.
“They have wasted my life,” he said.
Joseph Martin was only 5 1/2 years old in 1938 when his parents placed him in Montreal’s Buisonnet Institute. Shortly after that, he was transferred to St. Jean-De-Dieu Hospital, where he remained until 1956. Martin said he was given a variety of “purple and pink pills” and chlorpromazine.
Alice Quinton said she started to receive chlorpromazine when she was 13—three times a day by pill and injection.
“I felt sleepy all the time, like when you get operated on,” she said. “When I woke up, I did not know where I was. I was having nightmares and my heart was always beating fast. I felt anxious.”
The drugging continued behind the walls of St. Julien until Quinton was 23.
Justice Sought
Rod Vienneau, Clarina Duguay’s husband, investigated his wife’s past and said that from the early 1990s, when the Orphans began fighting for justice, they all told the same story: from the time they arrived at the psychiatric facilities until they left, they received chlorpromazine.
When they requested their medical records, the early ones—during the period the drug would have been undergoing testing—were not provided to them, said Vienneau.
However, he said, “every one of the Orphans has told the same story. They all say that the drug was the same one they were given all along. They have no reason to lie. Three thousand people cannot all be lying.”
Vienneau said the Orphans have demanded that the psychiatrists involved—some of whom are still living—be charged with crimes against humanity.
“We would like to see real justice for the thousands of innocent young children and survivors who day after day had to endure unimaginable torture, being used as guinea pigs for experimental drugs at the hands of criminal psychiatrists and religious orders,” said Vienneau.
Hundreds of Unexplained Deaths
Vienneau compared the cold water plunges and the drug use to experiments performed on children in Nazi-run concentration camps in Europe.
“This has been a conspiracy of silence from the beginning,” he said. “The province of Quebec was just another Auschwitz.”
Michel Lebel, a former Montreal police officer who specialized in investigating cases against children, said the crimes against the Orphans went far beyond drugging and physical abuse. Lebel has discovered unexplained deaths of hundreds of Orphans and many examples of bogus paperwork in their cases.
When children died, he explained, as yet unidentified persons within the psychiatric system simply came up with phony new identities, fabricating records to replace those deceased so funding could continue. “Some of these kids died and were reborn 10 times,” said Lebel, now a freelance journalist.
Compounding such deception in cases of those who died, he said, is the longtime maltreatment of survivors. According to Lebel, “This was an organized crime against humanity.”
What Vienneau, Lebel and others point to are parallels between occurrences in Canada and Germany, where orphans were warehoused in psychiatric facilities and victimized as experimental subjects. The parallel is drawn not to Nazi atrocities, but rather to the crimes of German psychiatrists in their institutions. As it is now widely known, the eugenics theories in vogue in Nazi-run Germany were not limited to that country.
The practice of removing “undesirables” from Canadian society was already firmly in place before the Duplessis Orphans. In Alberta, starting in 1928, close to 3,000 youth deemed “mentally unfit” were surgically altered without their knowledge or consent under the Sexual Sterilization Act. The sterilizations stopped and the law was repealed in 1972 after the atrocities were exposed by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Canada.
Peter Breggin, psychiatrist, author and founder of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology in Bethesda, Maryland, said that “medical murder” found support at the highest levels of Canadian and American psychiatry. He points to examples like influential psychiatrist Foster Kennedy, who at the 1941 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association called for the extermination of retarded children over the age of five.
Breggin said Kennedy’s goal was to relieve the “utterly unfit” and “nature’s mistakes” of the “agony of living” and to save their parents and the state the cost of caring for them.
These speciously compassionate phrases were virtually the same ones used to describe the Orphans, said Michel Lebel.
A Call for Open Records
University of British Columbia Professor Emeritus Sally Rogow wrote in Hitler’s Unwanted Children that although it has been widely held that Hitler’s regime killed children with actual disabilities, in fact thousands of healthy orphans in Germany were murdered or used for drug experiments.
In both Quebec and Germany, the truth behind what happened to the children was covered up with phony paperwork and bogus reports to parents by psychiatrists. Children were moved without informing families.
In Germany, wrote Rogow, “Children who were transferred to state institutions from religious homes and schools were moved from place to place without informing their families where they were located. Many parents could not keep track of their children.”
Clarina Duguay’s father, who lived in Cape D’Espoir, Quebec, was not even aware his daughter had been transferred from the orphanage to St. Julien Hospital, a psychiatric facility 1,000 kilometers away, until she escaped several years later.
Rogow also reported that German children were used as guinea pigs in drug experiments.
“Many a doctoral dissertation was based on the experiments performed on living, conscious children. ... Children were injected with drugs, sugar and other chemicals to test their reactions. Generous research grants were given to support this kind of research,” she wrote.
The Duplessis Orphans were given chlorpromazine starting in the late 1940s and continuing into the 1960s, as well as other drugs.
In Germany, when children died in the euthanasia institutions, grief-stricken parents tried to bring legal action against them. In response, the Nazi government issued a legal decree in 1941 preventing them from doing so.
So the passage of legislation in Quebec on September 26 brings yet another chilling analogy.
“Enforced secrecy is contrary to democracy and the spirit of freedom,” said Bob Dobson-Smith of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
In the case of the Duplessis Orphans, he noted, those whom secrecy benefits most are the psychiatrists accountable for confining and treating the Orphans. “What is needed,” he said, “is to open all records and find out what happened, who was responsible, who knew about any mistreatment or crimes, and when they knew it. Only then can we bring appropriate parties to justice and finally close this chapter in our history.”
