Gyaltsen Kelsang was the tenth political prisoner after 1987 to have died shortly after being released on medical parole. Gyaltsen reportedly suffered severe beatings in Gutsa Detention Centre and then in Drapchi prison where she was transferred soon after her two year prison term was passed. She was consequently bed-ridden for more than 20 days in prison but received little attention during that time. After serving only three quarters of her prison term, Gyaltsen Kelsang passed away at the age of 24.
Gyaltsen Kelsang, whose lay name is Kelsang Dolma, was from village in Nyandren township in the northern-western outskirts of Lhasa. Her father’s name Jampa Tsetan and her late mother was called Chung Chung Lhamo. Gyaltsen had three older sisters, two older brothers and one younger brother and a sister.
In 1987 Gyaltsen joined Garu Nunnery. On June 14, 1993, when she was 22, she participated in a peaceful pro-independence demonstration in Lhasa’s Barkhor area. Eleven other Garu nuns also took part.
As soon as they had begun, the nuns were arrested by officials of the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau and taken to Gutsa Detention Centre. A trial was later held and Gyaltsen was sentenced to two years imprisonment and transferred to Drapchi prison.
A source reported that Gyaltsen was badly beaten and forced to do hard labour during that time and that she became very weak. Her health worsened and she was confined to bed for more than 20 days in prison but, the source reported, “the prison guards just did not care.”
By the time Gyaltsen was transferred to Drapchi Prison she was suffering from severe diahorrea and complained of sharp pain in her abdomen and sides. Sometime later her kidney became infected. Regardless of frequent complaints of kidney pain, Gyaltsen was not provided with necessary treatment. Gradually, she began to walk with a limp as it was too painful and difficult for her put her foot down properly.
In October 1994, European diplomats visiting Lhasa raised the case of Gyaltsen Kelsang and the 11 other Garu nuns with Yang Chauantang, the Vice-Chairman of the “Tibet Autonomous Region” who told the diplomats that the nuns had been convicted of “Separatists activities.” The diplomats appealed for clemency and sought further information about the nuns’ condition, but without success.
In late November 1994, Gyaltsen was taken from Drapchi Prison to be hospitalized. Once admitted in the hospital, she was given an injection of medication. After that, instead of getting better, her health deteriorated to such an extent that she lost movement in both lower limbs and her speech was impaired. Often she would pant and grasp for breath.
When one of her old friends went to the hospital to visit her, she was appalled by Gyaltsen’s condition. Gyaltsen told her friend: “Initially I fell sick with diahorrea, followed by pain in my kidney. I was not given satisfactory medication and as a result my sickness became worse. After being admitted in the Public Hospital, I was given an injection and since then I can’t make my legs walk. I think I will never get better.”
A month passed by without any improvement in Gyaltsen’s health. She was sent home to her parents’ house on medical parole who were obliged to report once a week to the prison authorities on her state of health.
Gyaltsen’s parents immediately arranged for her to see a traditional doctors who diagnosed a chronic problem and placed her in a Tibetan hospital for nine weeks. Although her health improved slightly, a complete recovery was a hopeless. Upon Gyaltsen’s wish she returned home to stay.
Gyaltsen was said to have maintained her good nature despite her pain. Both her feet were cold and numb and she was given a bottle filled with hot water to use as a heater. Even when her feet were covered with blisters Gyaltsen did not complain of nay burning sensation.
After so many months of pain and prison negligence, Gyaltsen Kelsang passed away just after mid-day on February 20, 1995.
