15 December 1996
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Torture of Tibetan prisoners
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Tibetan refugees shot by Nepalese police
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Religious "re-education"
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Ngawang Choephel in Sangyip
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Monk serves 19 years for human rights and democracy publications
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Religious repression continues:
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... "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 the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official
... (article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture to
which the People's Republic of China is a State Party)
Jampel Tsering
(layname - Kalsang), 27, and
Ngawang Rinchen
(layname - Tashi Delek), 32, are former Drepung monks.
They escaped Tibet in October 1996 and were interviewed in
Dharamsala, India, in December 1996 by both the TCHRD and
a visiting medical delegation from the Physicians for
Human Rights, an organisation of health professionals,
scientists and citizens based in Boston, USA.
On 27 September 1987, 22 Drepung monks led a demonstration
in the Bharkor area of Lhasa. This triggered the massive
demonstrations of 1987. Both Jampel Tsering and Ngawang
Rinchen were arrested and detained for four months, first
in Lhasa's Gutsa Detention Centre, then transferred to
Sangyip Prison from where they were again moved to Gutsa.
On 18 July 1989 a group of Drepung monks including Jampel
Tsering and Ngawang Rinchen were arrested for demonstrating
in Lhasa. Jampel reports that police came to his monastery
and found human rights pamphlets in his room. He was
subsequently imprisoned, first at Sangyip Prison and then
transferred six months later to Drapchi Prison.
Jampel was sentenced to five years with loss of political
rights for three years while Ngawang Rinchen was initially
sentenced to nine years, later reduced to six and half
years and loss of political rights for five years. (It is
once a person is released from prison that he or she faces
loss of political rights so a former prisoner is not free
in the true sense even after release).
According to the two monks, from 1990 to 1992 the political
prisoners of Drapchi were required to work for over 10
hours each day although the Chinese authorities claimed
that it was only eight hours work each day. The prisoners
were put to hard labour without pay, mostly construction
and other forms of manual work.
From 1992 onwards the prisoners were required to cultivate
vegetable gardens. The authorities expected a maximum
produce equivalent to 18,000 yuan and a minimum of 14,000
yuan. If the prisoners failed to raise that amount they
were heavily punished for allegedly "avoiding work".
Working in the plastic enclosed vegetable gardens which
were heavily sprayed with pesticides proved very unhealthy
for the prisoners. Many prisoners complained of declining
eye sight and frequently fainted while working.
Upon his arrival at Drapchi Jampel says, "My clothes and
personal belongings, including Buddhist scriptures, were
burned. I was subsequently beaten mercilessly, repeatedly
punched all over my body, including on my face, and kicked
in the back."
He suffered similar severe beatings over the next several
days and then less severe beatings almost every day
thereafter. He was also shocked with a cattle prod on his
face and mouth. During these reports Jampel reports the
Chinese guards would say, "You are not allowed to talk
about freedom".
In April 1991, a German human rights group came to the
prison. Jampel reports that prior to the visit the Chinese
authorities transferred several prisoners suffering
torture-related problems out of the prison so that they
would not be seen. Jampel says he tried to pass a note to
the Germans about the problems in the prisons but it was
intercepted by the Chinese officials.
When Jampel and other prisoners demanded to know where
the other prisoners had been sent, they were told, "You
have no right to ask questions" and were then shackled
by their hands and feet bending over. Jampel reports,
"I was hit all over my body with fists, I was kicked and I
was hit with the butt of a gun". Jampel and several other
prisoners were subsequently taken to very small separate
cells without light. He was kept in the cell for 12 days.
Jampel remained imprisoned for a total of five and a
half years and reports that, in addition to the physical
abuse, he also suffered frequent verbal abuse during his
imprisonment. The security guards reportedly told him
that "you and your friends are the ones causing trouble
in Tibet" and would frequently make derogatory comments
about the Dalai Lama.
Jampel reports frequently witnessing other persons being
beaten including an old man who he saw being beaten
and stepped on. On one occasion, Jampel and some other
prisoners brought a fellow prisoner to the prison doctor
saying the man was very sick. The doctor reportedly said
that there was nothing wrong with the man and sent him
away. Five days later the man died.
During his seven years in prison, Ngawang reports that
he was tortured severaal times. This included: beatings
(kicking, pucnhing, used of sticks, rifle butts and whips);
electric cattle prod shocks, prolonged exposure to extreme
cold; blood drawing; verbal abuse including death threats
to himself, family and freinds, deprivation of sleep,
food water toilet and bathing facilities and medical care;
solitary confinement for six months from July 18th 1989;
forced labour and exercise for prolonged periods without
rest and forced standing for prolonged periods of time.
Ngawang currently suffers severe post-traumatic stress
disorder and complains of back pains and headache
associated with psychological stress.
Ngawang also reports, "There was a very prominent political
prisoner, my friend Lhakpa Tsering, who died in 1990 due
to a lack of medical care. He was in the cell next to mine
and I saw him being tortured". The two monks report that,
in 1994, the prison authorities introduced a new form of
torture in the guise of strenuous exercise in addition
to even more stringent regulations. Barring meal hours,
all prisoners were required to line up and were forcibly
made to run from 8.00 am to 12.30 pm and then from 3.00
pm to 6.00 pm.
The same hours applied whether there be hot sun or heavy
rain and, according to the two monks, many prisoners
became physically weak as a result of these strenuous
exercises combined with the poor prison diet.
In one case a monk of Ganden Monastery (layname - Tenzin)
was crippled as a result of being made to run forcefully in
spite of a knee problem. As Tenzin's condition worsened,
he was given medical leave from the prison as his bills
began to accumulate. Today Tenzin has to walk with the
help of crutches.
According to the monks, another prisoner, 49-year-old
Kalsang Thutop, died the day after he was interrogated for
two hours. Kalsang Thutop could not speak after he returned
to his cell from the interrogation and later that night
he was rushed to the hospital. The next day, 5 July 1996,
he died. Kalsang was serving an 18 year sentence for his
involvement in the 1989 demonstrations in Lhasa along with
the 21 other monks of Drepung Monastery.
Kalsang Thutop was given a sky burial. It was observed
by the Topdhen (the person who performs the sky burial)
that one of Kalsang's testicles had been brutally squeezed.
Similarly, the two monks reported that Sangye Tenphel,
a 19-year-old monk of Dhamshung Khangmar Monastery, died
on 6 May 1996 as a result of severe torture. While in
Drapchi Prison, he was beaten up with an electric baton
and a cycle pump by two prison officials named Paljor
and Penpa. Sangye Tenphel's ribs were broken during the
course of interrogation. He also reportedly suffered from
brain damage and showed signs of mental disturbance before
his death.
Article 11 of the Convention Against Torture specifies
that each State Party is to keep under systematic review
interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices
as well as arrangements for the custody and treatment
of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention
or imprisonment in the territory under its jurisdiction,
with a view to preventing any cases of torture.
In 1993 and again in 1996 the UN Committee Against Torture,
a team of legal experts, asked China to set up a genuinely
independent judiciary and to change its laws to ban all
forms of torture. In May 1996 the Committee stated, "there
has been a failure to incorporate a definition of torture
in China's domestic legal system in terms consistent with
the provisions of the Convention."
Chinese criminal law only specifically bans torture that
is used to extract confessions. Yet in its report to the
Committee, the PRC responded that, in China, "the law deems
torture to be a criminal act. There is no circumstance
that may ever be used to justify its use."
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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 of 32 Tibetans,
mostly Buddhist monks and including eight children aged
between seven and 13, after they defied an order to stop
and began throwing stones at the police. Tibetans in the
group said that police stopped them and immediately began
to beat them, including the children. The escapees said
that some members of the group then threw stones in an
attempt to halt the beatings.
A Tibetan involved in rescuing the group alleged that
police and government officials did not attempt to
administer treatment to the wounded, nor arrange for
medical assistance, and only later informed their
superiors at the district office from where the
Superintendent contacted Kathmandu. The office of the
Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Kathmandu was contacted and
officials were able to reach the area within a day. They
negotiated for the refugees to be brought to the Nepalese
capital where they come under the auspices of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The group was kept under police escort until late on the
night of 27 November when they arrived in Kathmandu, having
journeyed mostly by foot. The wounded were not transported
by helicopter, despite helicopters being used regularly in
Nepal for rescue work, and their first medical treatment
was not received until ten days after the incident.
One of the Tibetans was shot in the right hip, the bullet
exiting through the buttock and narrowly missing his
femoral artery, another was shot through the knee cap,
and the third was shot in the thigh. This incident
not only violates the principle embodied in article
14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which
states: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy
in other countries asylum from persecution", but also
the principles of the Convention Against Torture and
other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(CAT) to which Nepal is a State Party. The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Nepal is
a signatory, specifically protects the rights of child
asylum-seekers. Article 22 states: "States Parties shall
take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is
seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee
... shall, whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or
her parents or by any other person, receive appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of
applicable rights set forth in this Convention and in other
international human rights or humanitarian instruments to
which the said States are Parties."
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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 to carry out the
full-scale campaign to re-educate the monks, a "work team"
was sent in to Drepung monastery on 2 August 1996. During
the campaign each monk was called to a secluded place
and was individually interrogated by a member of the
"work team". The questions aim to oppose His Holiness the
Dalai Lama and to denounce the Panchen Lama reincarnation
recognised by His Holiness. Each monk was interrogated
three times. If one does not give a satisfactory answer
on the third time, he will not only be debarred from the
monastery but is also sure to be put behind bars. I was
interrogated on two occasions and both times refused to
give the answers wanted by the Chinese." Tenzin left the
monastery before his third interrogation for fear of being
imprisoned. The series of interrogations conducted by such
"work teams" aim to bring the monks within the ideological
fold of the Chinese authorities.
When Tenzin first joined the monastery at the age of 19
there were more than 800 monks at Drepung but at present
there are only about 500 monks. To date, 300 monks have
been expelled since the launch of the present campaign.
Novice monks below the age of 16 were all expelled from
the monastery. The monks who were left behind at the
monastery were all weak, aged and incapable of performing
their duties to the full. According to Tenzin, on 1 October
1996 four monks from Drepung monastery were imprisoned for
their calls of "Free Tibet" and for pasting wall posters
calling for "Tibet Independence". Their names are:
- Ngawang Tharchin, 25
- Ngawang Gyatso, 34
- Ngawang Sangpo, 30
- Name not known, (sub unit Me-nyak), 25
All four are presently in Gutsa detention centre. Tenzin
reports too that the Chinese authorities have announced
the imprisonment of Jamyang, aged 24, also from Drepung
monastery. The sentencing details and the present
whereabouts of Jamyang are unknown. Tenzin Bhagdo was
accompanied by Jampa Tsering, a 16-year-old novice monk
from the same monastery. Jampa Tsering had earlier made
an attempt to escape to India, but he was caught by the
Chinese police and imprisoned in Dingri prison, along with
47 other Tibetans, for seven days. All 47 members were
later transferred to Shigatse prison and imprisoned there
for four days during which time no food was served. They
were tortured while in prison by severe beatings and by
the use of electric batons.
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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.
[ top ]
First detained in 1987 for peaceful demonstrations,
Ngawang Phulchung has relentlessly championed the
education of Tibetan people regarding their human rights
and democratic freedoms. The publishing of a complete
Tibetan translation of the Universal declaration of Human
Rights and the reporting of human rights violations within
Tibet resulted in a 19-year sentence which he is presently serving.
Ngawang Phulchung joined Drepung Monastery at an early
age and reached an advanced level of study in Buddhist
philosophy. By 1989 he was just a short step from attaining
the degree of Geshi (Doctor of Philosophy in Buddhism), but
at this point felt compelled to concentrate his energies on
the Tibetan struggle for political and religious freedom.
On 27 September 1987, Ngawang Phulchung and 20 other monks
of Drepung Monastery staged a peaceful demonstration in
central Lhasa demanding human rights including religious
freedom and the right to self-determination for Tibetans.
This was a turning point in the Tibetans' struggle
to be heard and sparked off a series of public freedom
marches. Prior to this day few had dared express concerns
for fear of ruthless Chinese reprisals.
The Chinese authorities dealt violently with the
demonstrators. They were beaten and dragged to prison
and Ngawang was held without charge for four months.
Finally he was released in January 1988 following intense
international media attention and pressure and the personal
intervention of the late Panchen Lama.
Soon after his release Ngawang gave his reasons for
participating in the march as support for His Holiness the
Dalai Lama and a protest against the Chinese condemnation
of His Holiness' Five Point Peace Plan as an attempt to
split the motherland. Asked whether he and the others
were afraid to demonstrate, the reply was "No, we were
not frightened ... we were already prepared to give up our
lives for the six million Tibetans. Anyway, sacrificing
your life is not against Buddhism".
In April 1989 Ngawang Phulchung and three other monks
were arrested for forming a "counter-revolutionary group"
which had clandestinely produced political leaflets from
their monastery.
Amongst the "reactionary literature" published by
the group was a complete Tibetan translation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They also reported
on political unrest in Tibet, criticised human rights
violations by the Chinese and listed names of persons
arrested or killed by the Chinese police and military,
and alerted Tibetans to the international support for
their cause.
Another document entitled "The Meaning of the Precious
Democratic Constitution of Tibet" described a parliamentary
system for an independent Tibet relying on the traditional
principles of Buddhist dialectics to analyse the concept
of democracy and calling on the Tibetans to fight "with
inner strength". The group was branded as "the scum
of religious circles" and, in order to make an example
of them, the Chinese authorities staged a public show of
their trial. Sentenced before a forced public gathering of
1500 Tibetans on 30 November 1989, the crowd was told that
the monks had "venomously slandered our socialist system
characterised by the people's democratic dictatorship".
Ngawang was denounced as the leader of the group and
sentenced to nineteen years in prison followed by
deprivation of political rights for five years.
At the sentencing rally the Lhasa Intermediate
People's Court charged him with "organising and
joining a counter-revolutionary clique and spreading
counter-revolutionary propaganda and inflammatory
disinformation", "seriously undermining national security"
and "collecting intelligence and passing it on to the
enemy".
On the day of the sentencing, the Chinese government
broadcast the following warning: "The crimes committed
by Ngawang Phulchung and other criminals demonstrate that
the so-called human rights, freedoms and democracy played
up by separatists both at home and abroad are nothing but
a pack of deceitful lies ... Let the sentence of Ngawang
Phulchung serve as a stern warning for separatists both
at home and abroad that those who split the motherland
will come to no good end".
On 30 March 1991 an American delegation visited Drapchi
prison and a group of prisoners handed the diplomats a
petition allegedly protesting detention conditions. The
petition was confiscated and after the visit the prisoners,
including Ngawang, were reportedly severely beaten and
placed in solitary confinement.
Undeterred, Ngawang and other prisoners have continued to
protest against the ill-treatment of prisoners, with the
inevitable result that they have been beaten or placed in
dark isolation cells. Ngawang Phulchung is now 36 or 37
years old and is in Drapchi prison.
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