A former political prisoner of 13 years, (name withheld for security reasons) recently fled Tibet, arriving in India in late 1996. He reported the arrest of three monks from Rabten Monastery in Rong Village under Nagchu, in the beginning of 1996. They were charged for pasting wall posters which condemned the Chinese choice of Panchen Lama and praised the Dalai…
The following is the testimony of Rinzin Choenyi, a 26-year-old nun of Shugseb Nunnery, who spent six years in Drapchi Prison. She, and other female political prisoners, suffered a variety of torture methods whilst in prison and, in some cases, this has resulted in death. Rinzin Choenyi was expelled from her nunnery in 1988 because of her participation in a…
According to new arrivals from Tibet, on 19 April 1996 female political prisoners in Drapchi Prison went on a hunger strike as a protest against a prison order forbidding the families of the prisoners from bringing them food. The prisoners also protested against the poor prison diet. 81 of the 145 female political prisoners in Drapchi participated in this hunger…
Phuntsok Yangkyi, a 20-year-old nun of Michungri Nunnery, died on 4 June 1994. Choenyi reports that, while in hospital, Phuntsok Yangkyi was injected twice in her back and a Chinese doctor extracted a body fluid (Tibetan: Geychu). Chinese believe that this fluid is good for increasing vitality. Phuntsok Yangkyi went into a coma after the doctor extracted this fluid from…
On 1 July 1997 Hong Kong’s democratically elected Legislative Council will be replaced by a Beijing backed provisional body. Plans to amend laws so as to ban protests on the grounds of “national security” have prompted grave concerns that Hong Kong will be subjected to many of repressive policies imposed on Tibet. While China has vowed to allow Hong Kong…
Sonam Dekyi is 59 years old, is suffering from tuberculosis and poor health, and has just one wish before she dies: to see her son, Ngawang Choephel, who has recently been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment by Chinese authorities. Sonam Dekyi fled Tibet in 1968. Heavily pregnant at the time, she made the treacherous journey across the Himalayan mountains with…
Lobsang Tenzin, a former student of Tibet University, is also in Powo Tramo. He was arrested on 19 March 1988 having been implicated as the “principal culprit” in the death of a People’s Armed Police officer during the independence demonstrations in Lhasa on 5 March 1988. Lobsang was first given a death sentence but due to strong international pressure this…
A TCHRD source has reported that there are about nine political prisoners in Powo Tramo’s labour camp. All are serving long sentences and are subject to deplorable prison conditions. Powo Tramo, situated near Kongpo-Nyingtri (Chinese: Linzhi) about 500 km east of Lhasa, holds prisoners serving long term sentences. Despite a very poor diet the prisoners are put to hard labour.…
Ngawang Jampa, aged 24 from Lhatse, Palbar Dzong, arrived in Dharamsala on 30 December 1996. He is one of the victims of the ongoing “strike hard” campaign presently being implemented by the authorities of the PRC. He was expelled from Lhatse Monastery and was then again expelled, along with 500 other monks, from Chamdo Monastery. The total number of known…