Peter Humphrey blames prison in China for worsening his health

Peter Humphrey (photo), former Reuters correspondent turned private investigator in China, disclosed he has cancer and said it got worse during nearly two years incarceration in a Shanghai prison.

Humphrey, who was released and deported in June, said in a statement and telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal that the prostate problem he experienced while imprisoned was untreated and recently diagnosed as a malignant cancer.

“It wasn’t caught early enough because I was denied the medical attention that I needed,” said Humphrey, 59, who now lives in Britain.

He has begun treatment but it could take up to two years to know its success.

Humphrey worked in China for over two decades on behalf of multinational corporations. Prosecutors alleged that along with his wife and partner, US citizen Yu Yingzeng, he violated various statutes related to Chinese personal privacy. The two were released around the same time.

Humphrey said he was making public his health condition as part of a formal complaint by his family in a 50-plus-page report addressed to China’s State Council, or cabinet. He said the report, which documents his treatment and asks the central government to investigate, was recently delivered to Chinese authorities through diplomatic channels.

Among Humphrey’s allegations is that prison officials as often as weekly requested his signature on a confession before they would permit him to get a full diagnosis and treatment of his prostate, which was giving him trouble.

Chinese officials have defended their handling of Humphrey.

His statement calls on China’s central government to punish those involved in decisions relating to the case, as well as an unnamed “individual who manipulated” the authorities. It calls for unspecified compensation to him and his family. ■