Tomorrow-25 June 2006- is UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) commemorates the day in support of victims of torture throughout the world. TCHRD hopes that a day will dawn when the practice of torture will be completely eradicated and the abusers brought to justice.

In Chinese occupied Tibet, torture is endemic in the network of prisons on the plateau. The systematic practice of torture is aimed to breakdown the spirit of nationalism of the Tibetan people. Towards this end, rampant use of torture has resulted in the death of 88 known Tibetan political prisoners since 1987. According to TCHRD’s documentation there are currently 132 known Tibetan political prisoners languishing in various prisons in Tibet. Torture being a regular feature in the Chinese administered prisons, the Centre is highly concerned about the well being of the political prisoners upon whom the worst of torture is afflicted. Electric shocks, pricking cigarettes on the face, hand or thumb cuffs, feet manacles, suspension from ceiling, exposure to extreme temperature, long period of solitary confinement, deprivation of food, water and sleep, forced labour and forced exercise drills are few of the torture techniques employed by the authorities to defeat the nationalist spirit of the Tibetans.

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The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has received information from a reliable source that, Rinzin Wangyal a.k.a Rinwang, 59, died in prison at the end of 2004. There has been no official confirmation of Rinzin Wangyal’s death. It has been reported that his body was not handed over his family.

Rinzin was serving a life imprisonment term in Pawo Tramo Prison, 250 km east of Lhasa. According to the most recent information received by TCHRD on 31 May 2004, his health condition was known to have gravely deteriorated due to constant torture over the years in prison.

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The People’s Republic of China (PRC) initiated the “Strike Hard” Campaign in China in 1983. It is a unique campaign which demonstrates China’s hardline approach against its exercise of fundamental human rights. The campaign left huge scars on its people and it dramatizes China’s image of an oppressive and ruthless state. The “Strike Hard” campaign drew huge criticism from the…

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Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) commemorates the seventh United Nations international day in support of victims of torture on 26 June 2004. The UN proclaimed day is in support and solidarity with those who have suffered from torture and undergone physical pain and mental trauma. The day also calls for the end of torture throughout the world.

Torture is a regular feature in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) despite the fact that the PRC ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in October 1988 and outlawed certain forms of torture in the revised Chinese Criminal Procedure Law, that came into effect in 1997. Systematic torture is still endemic in the Chinese administered prisons in Tibet. Torture is still being used for purposes of extracting confessions, to defeat Tibetan prisoners nationalist spirit, to intimidate prisoners and to cause humiliation and mental trauma that affect the prisoners for the rest of their lives.

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TCHRD has learned through reliable sources the demise of Nyima Drakpa, 29, in his home on 1 October 2003. Nyima Drakpa, who was serving nine years’ imprisonment sentence, was released in early September 2003 on medical parole. At the time of his release from the prison, Drakpa was reportedly in severe health complications. Drakpa was arrested in May 2000 and subsequently sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment on charges of “endangering state security” and “incitement against the masses”.

In late 1999, Drakpa pasted pro-independence posters on the gates of a Memorial Garden in Tawu County, Kardze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (“TAP”), Sichuan. The posters contained slogans such as “Free Tibet”, “Tibetans in Tibet have no freedom”, “Tibet is not a part of China”, was signed at the end with his name. The County Public Security Bureau (“PSB”) officials started investigations the very next day and detained another person with the same name from Drakpa’s monastery, Nyitso Monastery.

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According to reliable information received from Tibet, Lobsang Dhargyal suddenly died Monday morning on 19 November 2002 in a Manufacturing Unit for Hydro-Electricity Power Plant, a “reform through labour” camp located in Siling Village, Machen County (Ch:Maqin xian), Golog “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture”, Qinghai Province. He was serving almost 19 years’ prison term including his earlier two and a half years’ imprisonment.

Although TCHRD is yet to receive detail information, it is almost certain that Lobsang Dhargyal’s sudden demise is due to torture and maltreatment in the forced labour camp. He is believed to have suffered brain haemorrhage at the time of death. More updates on his death shall follow upon receiving further information.

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