1999 marked the official celebration of fifty years of the founding of the People’s Republic of China as well as forty years of the “liberation” of Tibet. The symbolic importance of both these events was characterised by various attempts by the Chinese government to display its authority and legitimacy. Within China and in Tibet there was a tightening of the…
Torture against Tibetan political prisoners has been used as a method of repression since the Chinese occupied Tibet in the 1950s. Despite China’s claim that it adheres to international law which effectively bars the use of torture, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has gathered numerous testimonies from former political prisoners which demonstrate that torture is still…
A Tibetan monk from Drepung monastery in Lhasa, Ngawang Samphel (33), was arrested in early April 1999 for suspicion of political acts. At present his whereabouts are unknown. This is the second time that Ngawang has been arrested. His first detention in Gutsa Detention Centre was for taking part in a peaceful demonstration on 27 September 1988, with five other monks from Drepung monastery.
On 27 September 1988, Ngawang Samphel and five other Drepung monks, Ngawang Zegen (22), Ngawang Chemey (30), Ngawang Thosam (28), Jamphel Wangchuk (28) and Jamphel Sherab (31) staged a peaceful demonstration in the Barkhor in Lhasa, shouting slogans calling for Tibetan independence. The officials of the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) immediately arrested them. They were taken to Gutsa Detention Centre, located to the east of Lhasa. While in detention, the six monks were subjected to severe torture. As a result of the torture Ngawang’s friend Ngawang Zegen from Toelung County, died in 1989 approximately one month after his release.