Human Rights Update 1996

According to a TCHRD source of  Tibet, during late 1995 and  early 1996 the Health Department of “TAR” conducted an inspection of all private hospitals and clinics in and around Lhasa. The inspection team confiscated the practicing license of Lodoe Choedak, former director of Lhasa’s Zhigong (chinese) hospital. After his retirement, 50 year old Lodoe Choedak haad opened a private clinic. Along with Lodoe, the practicing licenses of nine of his colleagues, all Tibetans, were confiscated. The inspection team claimed that Lodoe’s clinic did not fulfill certain criteria and thus forced the  closure of the clinic. Some of Lodoe’s colleagues …

After  15 months of detention without charge, Ngawang Choephel, a 30 year old Tibetan musician and scholar, has been sentenced to 18 years prison and four years deprivation of political rights after visiting Tibet to research traditional musical customs. Sonam dekyi carried her two year-old son Ngawang on her back over the Himalayas and out of Tibet at the onset of the Cultural Revolution. Ngawang’s  father was to follow but when he later tried to escape he was arrested and tortured by Chinese authorities. It is not known today whether he is alive or dead. Ngawang learnt the art of …