According to a reliable source in Tibet, on 16 October 1996 Ngawang Choephel was transferred to Sangyip Prison. He is presently being held in cell 2, block 3.
On 18 November 1996, three Tibetan asylum-seekers were shot and wounded when Nepalese police opened fire on a group of escapees shortly after they crossed the border at Lamabhagar, 100 km north-east of Kathmandu. Several Tibetans were injured after being beaten by police batons. Two Tibetans, including a child, sustained head wounds. Police said they opened fire on the group…
The following testimony was taken from an interview conducted on 5 December 1996 by TCHRD. Tenzin Bhagdo, aged 23, from Lhokha of Drepung monastery, arrived in Dharamsala, India on 5 December 1996. He is one of the many monks who voluntarily left the monastery as a result of the threat of imprisonment by the Chinese authorities. Tenzin reports, “In order…
… “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering , whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining … information or a confession, punishing him … intimidating or coercing him … or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at…
According to a reliable source, Sholpa Dawa, who was arrested for the third time in August 1995, has finally received a sentence of 9 years. Sholpa Dawa, a tailor in Lhasa, was arrested for the first time on 29 September 1981 and sentenced to two years imprisonment for allegedly distributing pamphlets on the independence of Tibet. He was deprived of…
Following a week-long extraordinary meeting of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party in Lhasa, the Tibet Central Committee launched a “Last Battle” against the Dalai Lama, aimed at eradicating any vestiges of the exiled spiritual leader’s influence from all levels of society. Their report stipulated that the anti-splittist campaign, launched in the region’s monasteries this year, must be broadened.…
A farmer from Eastern Tibet (name withheld) arrived in India this month and described the difficulties faced by Tibetan farmers under the discriminatory Chinese occupation. “A good harvest brings a farmer about 10,000 gyamas [1 gyama is approximately equal to 2 kgs]. The farmers are required to pay a tax of about 500 gyamas to the Chinese authorities. The farmers…
Rev. Palden Dhondup, the 80-year-old abbot of Chubsang Nunnery north of Lhasa, was expelled from the nunnery in July 1996. According to our source, on July 1 (“Zamling Chisang”, or the festival of incense offering) four Chubsang nuns were arrested for demonstrating in the Barkhor area of the Jokhang Temple. They were; Phuntsok Youdon (20) from Medro Gong, Thinley Yangkyi…
About 105 Tibetans, at least ten suffering from severe frostbite, were arrested for illegal entry in West Nepal after fleing Tibet, a Nepali daily newspaper reported on 17 November. The refugees entered Nepal via a little-used route from Manang (about 360 kilometres north-west of Kathmandu) while most Tibetan refugees use an eastward route along a mountain pass near Mount Everest.…
Ngawang Sangdrol, a nineteen-year-old nun, has had her sentence extended by nine years. With a total of 18 years behind bars, she will be the longest imprisoned female political prisoner in Tibet. Ngawang Sangdrol (layname Rigchog) was born in Lhasa in 1977, and later joined Garu Nunnery (5 kilometres north of Lhasa). She was first arrested in 1987 when she…
This week the Tibet Information Network (TIN) reported a Tibetan artist who specialised in painting portraits of the Dalai Lama had been found in a state of severe shock in a public toilet in the Lhasa Barkor area soon after being released from a police Detention Centre. Yungdrung, an artist aged 24 or 25 years from Nyemo, 150 km west…