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…
In 1996, reports of grave human rights violations against Tibetans in occupied Tibet continued on a monumental scale. The brutal repression of freedom of religion is outstanding in Tibet where the peaceful beliefs and customs of Buddhism play such a profound role in cultural life. Under the aegis of the national “Strike Hard campaign”, the authorities of the People’s Republic…
On 14 May 1995, His Holiness The Dalai Lama announced the discovery of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a six year old boy from Lhari in Nagchu, northeastern Tibet, as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second highest spiritual figure. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is believed to have seen escorted to Beijing by Chinese security forces from his home within days…
January – Nine Monks of Palgon Chorten arrested in January for burning photos of Gyalstsen Norbu, the Chinese appointed Panchen Lama rival. One monk and one layperson arrested in Shigatse on Jan. 18. 1996 “communicating with the Dalai Lama regarding the Panchen Lama reincarnation issue’. March – Jigme Gyatso (also known as Gangya Jigme), a 3-year-old Amdo Businessman, and Jamyang…
In April 1996, the government of the PRC launched the nation-wide “Strike Hard” or “Crack Down Severely On Crimes” campaign (Chinese: Yan Da), targeted at crushing corruption and crime. Within Tibet Chinese authorities have focused on the so-called “splittists” – individuals who support Tibetan independence and the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Implementation of sub-campaigns such as the…
In July 1996, Dorjee (Family name; Khangtsiri), a 66 year-old man of Tse-Gorthang, 124 km south-west of Chabcha Dzong in Amdo (ch: Qinghai Province), died after he was beaten up by members of the people’s Armed Police and the public Security Bureau. The authorities who visited the town raided all of the houses and imposed fines on those Tibetans in…