Publications

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Closing the Doors: Religious Repression in Tibet (1998)

• Abbeviations
• Glossary of terms used
• Introduction
• "Strike Hard” campaign in Tibet"
• Origin of “Strike Hard” campaign
• Aims of the “Strike Hard” campaign
• Dalai Lama photographs banned
• Patriotic re-education” campaign
• Issuing of ID-cards for monks
• Re-education” sessions
• “Re-education” manuals
• Work-teams in Tibetan monasteries and  nunneries
• Work-team meetings
• Cases of work-teams in monasteries and nunneries
• Arrests of monks and nuns
• Cases of arrests (by name of monastery or nunnery)
• Expulsions from monasteries and nunneries
• Cases of expulsions from monasteries and nunneries
• Closed and unauthorised monasteries
• Monks on probation
• Reluctant resignation: leaving monasteries and nunneries 
• Executions and deaths
• Other restrictions on religious practices
• The 11th Panchen Lama dispute
• Taxing faith: taxation on religious practices
• Conclusion

CCP:     Chinese Communist Party
CPL:      Criminal Procedure Law
CRC:     United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child
DL:        Dalai Lama
DMC:    Democratic Management Committee
ICCPR:  UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICESCR:UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
PAP:     People’s Armed Police
PL:       Panchen Lama
WT:      Work-team
PRC:    People’s Republic of China
PSB:    Public Security Bureau
TAP:    Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
TAR:    Tibet Autonomous Region
TCHRD:Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
TIN:      Tibet Information Network
UDHR:  Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
WTN:   World Tibet Network

Barkhor - central circumambulation and market area around the Jokhang Temple
                 in Lhasa
County -  (Tib: dzong or shen, Ch: xian) - administrative division approximately 
                equivalent to district
Circumambulation - Buddhist practice of walking in a circle around a sacred body
Detention Centre (Ch: kanshousuo) - place where prisoners are held without 
               charge and subject to investigation prior to sentencing.
Democratic Management Committee - administrative organs established from 
               1962 in monasteries and nunneries in Tibet and reconstituted under
               China’s  “patriotic re-education” campaign
Geshe - spiritual title; doctorate of Buddhist philosophy
Gyama (Tib) - unit of measurement equivalent to 500 grams
Khel - the load that can be carried by a yak; equivalent to 28 gyama (14 kg)
Lhasa - Tibet’s capital city
Momo - Tibetan stuffed dumpling
Monlam (Tib) - short form of Monlam Chenmo, the Great Prayer Festival, 
                traditionally held in the third week of the Tibetan new year
Motherland - Term used by Chinese authorities to refer to the Chinese “nation”
               in which Tibet is included
Norbulingka - Summer palace of the Dalai Lama located on the outskirts of Lhasa
Re-education - indoctrination of Chinese Communist ideology and national unity; 
              carried out extensively in monasteries, nunneries, prisons and labour 
              camps in Tibet
Potala Palace - official residence of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa
Prefecture - administrative area below the level of province and above the level
              of county
Prostration - Buddhist practice of lying down in respect before any sacred body
PSB - Public Security Bureau (Ch: Gong An Ju); local level police force 
             responsible for detaining and arresting suspects and for pre-trial custody
Rukhag (Tib) - work unit; small unit within a village
Shang (Tib), (Ch: xiang) - township
Splittist (Tib: khadrel ringluk) - Term used by China to refer to those who
             advocate independence for Tibet or support for the Dalai Lama
Stupa (Sanskrit; Tib: choeten) - monument holding sacred objects and relics
TAR - Tibet Autonomous Region; formally created by China in 1965, this area of 
            central and western Tibet is the only area recognised by China as “Tibet”
Trulku (Tib) - incarnate lama
Tsuglhakhang (or Jokhang) - the most sacred temple in Tibet, located in central 
               Old Lhasa
Tsug (Ch) - group of 10 to 15 people
Work team (Ch: gongzuo dui, Tib: lae doen ru khag) - specially formed, temporary
              units of Party members sent to conduct investigations or give 
              re-education in an institution or locality
Yartsa Gumb - a Tibetan medical plant (Botanical name: Sinesis)
Yuan - Chinese currency; eight yuan is equivalent to US$1

Tibetan Buddhism is not simply the “religion” of the Tibetan people. Over the centuries, Tibetan national and cultural identity became indistinguishable from religious identity to the extent that Buddhism regulated the life of all Tibetans. Monasteries and nunneries were places of learning where students studied not only for their own practice but also to impart knowledge to the community. Prior to China’s 1949 invasion of Tibet, there were over 6,000 monasteries throughout the country accommodating around 600,000 monks and nuns. By 1979 only 13 monasteries survived, and most monks and nuns had either died, of natural or unnatural causes, or had been forced to disrobe at some point by the Chinese authorities.

After 1980, limited liberalisation in China’s religious policy in Tibet allowed Tibetans to begin rebuilding monasteries and resuming their religious practices. This also enabled the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to boast to the international community of China’s adherence to “human rights”, as well as to boost tourism revenue in the Tibetan region. Since 1996, however, a subtler but equally repressive policy has been adopted by China in order to neutralise religious influence within the Tibetan community.

From China’s perspective, Tibet’s strong religious traditions fuel three persistent nuisances. Firstly, Tibet’s religious strength is closely linked with its defiant independence movement: underground political groups have burgeoned in Tibet’s monasteries and nunneries; and Tibetan monks and nuns fill Tibet’s Chinese-administered prisons and detention centres, making up 68.83 per cent of Tibetan known current political prisoners. Secondly, Tibet’s Buddhist religion unifies and defines the Tibetans as a distinct people; distinct in particular from Communist China and its coercive strategies to “unite the Motherland”. Thirdly, it constitutes an obstacle to China’s economic “development” of the region: in November 1995, in an article in China’s official newspaper, monks were attacked for “not contributing to economic growth”.

In January 1996, Chinese religious authorities warned, “(t)hose who make use of religion to interfere  with administrative, judicial, martial, educational and other social affairs, especially those who take advantage of religious reasons to split the country, must be severely cracked down upon according to law.” Three immediate tasks were identified in order to “clean-up problems in religion” in 1996: to order all places of worship to register; to deal with difficult religious problems of public concern; and to cultivate contingents of young patriotic religious leaders.

Three months later, on April 28, 1996, China’s national “Strike Hard” campaign was launched inside Tibet. While “Strike Hard”’s official aim was to crack down on general crime and corruption, in Tibet the campaign was targeted at “splittists” who supported Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lama. An integral part of “Strike Hard” in Tibet is its attendant “re-education” drive which has drastically suppressed religious freedom in monastic institutions. Chinese “work-teams” have been sent into monasteries and nunneries in all parts of Tibet to forcefully “re-educate” monks and nuns in how to think and act.  Those who resist face punishment in the form of expulsion or arrest.

The core of the “re-education” sessions is to oppose notions of Tibetan nationalism and to denounce the Dalai Lama. Those who refuse risk severe repercussions: since China launched the “Strike Hard” campaign in Tibet in April 1996, 3,993 expulsions, 294 arrests and 14 deaths have been reported as of February 1998. Regulations allowing entrance into monasteries have been tightened—for example,  the imposition of minimum and maximum age restrictions—thereby further reducing the monastic population and discouraging religious studies.

China reports that so far some 30,000 of Tibet’s 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns have received “patriotic re-education” and out of 1,787 monasteries and temples, a reported 1,780 monasteries and temples have been covered by the work-teams. Chinese authorities have also announced that they are determined to extend the campaign from monasteries and nunneries into all parts of Tibetan society.

In November 1996, following a week-long “extraordinary meeting” of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, 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. The committee’s report stipulated that the “anti-splittist” campaign in Tibet, already launched in the monasteries in 1996, must be broadened to the lay community.

Suggested measures included the adoption of “administrative measures to resolve the uncontrolled proliferation of religious festivals and shrines” and the strengthening of controls over daily life such as arts and literature to ensure that they fulfil the socialist role of “serving the people” rather than propagating “spiritual garbage”. The committee vowed to deal severely with any monks or nuns “whose religious activities or superstitions affect industrial production or daily life” and, identifying Tibetan youth as the key battleground, called on every school “to push socialist teachings and focus on political and ideological education.”

By November 1997, the drive to eradicate the influence of the Dalai Lama had escalated to the level that Raidi (Tib: Ragdi), Executive Deputy Secretary of the “TAR” Party Committee, announced on Chinese regional television that “we must declare a total war, in thinking and theory and in the ideological realm, on Dalai Lama and his separatist force.”

The “re-education” campaign was further extended in December 1997 when Chinese officials announced a new drive to eliminate the “influence of Dalai Lama from the Tibetan masses” within agricultural communities, towns, cities, government organs and schools. The head of the Tibetan Ethnic Religious Committee declared, “if the patriotic re-education is carried out only in the temples then the instability will continue.”

It is not only the Dalai Lama who is under attack by Chinese authorities, but Buddhism itself. In July 1997, in a radical re-writing of a history that goes back centuries, Tibet’s top leader, “TAR” Party Secretary Chen Kuiyuan, declared that “Buddhism is a foreign culture” and claimed the idea that Tibetan culture is Buddhist—to be  “totally absurd”. This was followed by the announcement in November in China’s official newspaper that the ideological “re-education” campaign could continue for the next three to five years, stressing that, “(r)eligion must adapt to the development needs of socialism and not socialism adapting to the needs of religion.”

Religious and cultural rights are internationally recognised human rights. The incorporation of these rights into international law is a recognition that the preservation of these values are of concern to the entire world community. The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and thereby represents an international standard applicable to all nations. The inseparability of religion and culture in Tibetan society means that the Tibetan people’s freedom of religion is also protected under Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (signed by the People’s Republic of China in October 1997) which recognises the right of everyone “[t]o take part in cultural life”.

China regularly claims that the Tibetan people’s human rights are being observed and that they do enjoy religious freedom. It is common for visitors to Tibet to be guided through well-populated monasteries and nunneries full of smiling monks and nuns worshipping and studying with apparent freedom. Monks and nuns who have fled into exile testify that such visits are carefully pre-arranged by Chinese authorities; religious artefacts previously confiscated are again displayed and the monks and nuns are thoroughly briefed on the consequences of failing to display a happy front to the foreign visitors.

This report of the current situation regarding religious freedom in Tibet focuses on China’s “Strike Hard” and “re-education” campaigns as they have been implemented in Tibet since 1996. The principal part of this report is based on testimonial gathered in interviews with Tibetan refugees who have arrived in exile since 1997. The brunt of China’s religious repression is currently borne by Tibet’s monks and nuns and, as such, their stories comprise the majority of testimonial used in this report.

As with any research into conditions in Tibet currently under Chinese occupation, the contents of this report are necessarily limited by the difficulty of accessing information from Tibet. Yet testimonies reflect a fairly uniform pattern of “re-education” policy and stem from all parts of Tibet. These stories from monks and nuns who have been forced to leave their monasteries and nunneries and to seek freedom of religion outside their homeland indicate that China’s crackdown on religion is widespread, systematic, and - most critically - extremely effective.

In April 1996, the Government of the PRC launched its national “Strike Hard” or “Crack Down Severely On Crimes” campaign inside Tibet. In China the campaign was aimed at crushing corruption and crime; but in Tibet?under an additional sub-campaign called “patriotic re-education”?it focused on curbing “splittist” activity, such as support for Tibetan independence and the leadership of the Dalai Lama.

“The Chinese government had initially proclaimed that, after the annexation of Tibet was under way, no restrictions would be imposed on the practice of religion.”  The ‘Seventeen Point Agreement’, which Tibet was forced to sign by the Chinese government in 1951, also made a formal pledge to protect and respect Tibet’s religious tradition, “the policy of freedom of religious beliefs will be protected.”  In an interview with Zhongguo Xinwen She News Agency on October 23, 1997, Mr Xiangbagadeng, Chairman of Tibet’s Nationalities and Religious Affair Commission, proclaimed “the Tibetan people are enjoying full religious freedom”.

Over the decades since invasion  in 1949, independent sources have revealed a different picture of the measure of religious “freedom” in Tibet.  Monasteries and nunneries were looted of their priceless scriptures, statues and artefacts, most of which were taken to Beijing. It is believed that many were sold off on the international market and some of the precious metals melted down. Some of the monasteries and nunneries were used as butcher yards and granary stores.  At present the Chinese government claims to have rebuilt about 1,787 monasteries and nunneries with about 46,000 monks and nuns in residence. These religious institutions have in fact been built largely at the expense and with the labour of local Tibetan people. Today these religious institutions are controlled and managed by Chinese-appointed “Democratic Management Committees”  (DMC) which play an important role in limiting the religious freedom of the monks and the nuns.

China’s “patriotic re-education” campaign was introduced as a means of suppressing politically restive monks and nuns. According to a recent arrival from Tibet the campaign was to last for three years, covering the whole of Tibet and this was also declared by Raidi, one of the three executive deputy secretaries in the Tibet Communist Party and the highest ranking Tibetan in the region.

To enforce the campaign Chinese-appointed work-teams have been sent into religious institutions throughout Tibet to “re-educate” the resident monks and nuns on the religious and patriotic beliefs as prescribed by the Chinese government. To do this work-teams require monks and nuns to sign a five point political pledge in which they must denounce the Dalai Lama, oppose Tibetan independence and recognise the Chinese government.  To refuse means possible arrest and/or expulsion. The work-teams have the power to set limits on the number of resident monks and nuns, the minimum age limits of monks and nuns permitted in monasteries and nunneries, and enforce bans on the display of photographs of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama recognised by the Dalai Lama.

The First Forum on Tibet was held in April, 1980, in which the Chinese authorities announced a six-point reform, including the re-establishment of “Tibetan rights to religious and cultural pursuits”.   The Third National Forum on Work in Tibet was held from July 20 to 23, 1994, in Beijing and was attended by China’s most senior leaders. They discussed the implementation of economic developmental policies in Tibet. The Third Work Forum produced a set of guidelines which were later published by the “TAR” Party in a publication called A Golden Bridge Leading to a New Era in which the authorities expressed deep concern at the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Third Forum identified that Tibetan monasteries were “fomenting opposition to the state” and that this opposition had become “more aggressive than ever before”,   and issued a call for stricter control over the monastic institutions?with expressions such as “strengthening the administration of the temples”. In practice that meant that the lay authorities were ordered to increase the extent of official intervention in the running of religious institutions. This was achieved through control of the ‘Democratic Management Committees’, supposedly elected organs installed  within each monastery, originally created in 1962, to replace the traditional authority of abbots and lamas. The state authorities gave these committees responsibility over monastic admission rules, the areas of curriculum, and discipline within the monasteries and nunneries.

The Third Forum called for four steps to be taken in each religious institution :

• vetting the political position of each member of every Democratic Management Committee and appointing only pro-Chinese monks to those committees;
• enforcing a ban on the construction of any religious buildings except with official permission;
• enforcing limits set some years earlier on the numbers of monks or nuns allowed in each institution;
• obliging each monk and nun to give declarations of their absolute support for the leadership of the Communist Party and the integrity of the “Motherland”.

Tibet’s Executive Deputy Secretary (“TAR” Party Committee) Raidi outlined the aims and methods to be employed by state agents in the implementation of the campaign:

The current nation-wide struggle to “crack down severely on crimes” is a strategic arrangement of the Party Central Committee to strengthen the  management of social order.

The roots of the “patriotic re-education” are found in an earlier campaign aimed at removing all photographs of the Dalai Lama from public and private places. A drive to dissuade people from having these photographs was first launched in 1980. Later the anti-Dalai Lama campaign was re-initiated during the Third National Forum on Work in Tibet. The aim of this new campaign was to call an end to the Dalai Lama’s influence in religious as well as political areas.

The monasteries and nunneries and public places in Tibet were the first areas where it became forbidden to display photographs of the exiled Dalai Lama. Later, this ban was extended to all areas: hotels, restaurants, private homes including those of political cadres, and so on.  This drive was launched with the aim of weakening the Dalai Lama’s dominant position in Tibet.

The first wave of restrictions was the ban on the display of pictures of the Dalai Lama which was launched in May 1994. Party members were told to “remove any altars or signs of devotion from homes” and government officials were banned from displaying pictures of the Dalai Lama in their homes, offices and cars.

At the start of 1996, photos of the Dalai Lama could still be found in monasteries throughout Tibet although they were not found for sale in the Barkhor area in central Lhasa.  On January 26, 1996 the order was given by the “Tibet Autonomous Region”’s Department of Culture to the Norbulingka (summer palace of the Dalai Lamas, Lhasa) and Potala Palace (official residence of the Dalai Lamas, Lhasa) to remove all photographs of the Dalai Lama.

The ban on the display of the Dalai Lama’s pictures was announced in all the leading Tibetan newspapers on April 15, 1996.  On May 7, 1996 a Chinese work-team arrived at Ganden Monastery near Lhasa, with the aim of removing all photographs of the Dalai Lama. The Ganden monks refused to co-operate and military reinforcements were called in.

As one monk described the scene: “at around 10:00 p.m., we heard and saw a lone jeep which drove up the hill towards Ganden. It was followed by a long line of vehicles. We saw soldiers with torches and guns climbing up the hill. Some of the soldiers carried loudspeakers and told us to return to our rooms. Then the soldiers threw flares up in the sky to brighten the area and started shooting in our direction. The monks did not have even one single needle as a weapon against the soldiers. One of them was Gelek Jinpa (14 years old) from Medro Gyama. A bullet caught him in the posterior. Another monk had a bullet in the leg and two of them died later.”

The riot sparked off at Ganden Monastery resulted in two deaths and reports of Ganden monks arrested ranged from 85 to 90. A few months later a number of monks were expelled as “fugitives”. While some of those arrested were released in the following months (eight in June, three on July 23 and 15  on August 30), 15 are known to be still in custody.

On the same day, May 7, a number of monks from Sera, Lhasa, and Ramoche, Lhasa, were beaten when police officials arrived to remove photographs of the Dalai Lama. In Lhasa one week later, 80 people were injured?including 30 young nuns—when demonstrators clashed with police. Over 40 people had to be taken to hospital.

Monasteries and nunneries in the Chamdo administrative divisions and Kumbum County in Tso Shar “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” are not allowed to display pictures of the Dalai Lama. The ban in Kumbum came into effect after the hand-over of Hong Kong.

Reports of monks’ and nuns’ rooms being ransacked by work-teams searching for photographs of the Dalai Lama have been received. According to a nun from Sa Ngag Simbuk Nunnery in Tsethang in Lhoka Region, the work-team searched the rooms of the nuns and confiscated 21 photographs of  the Dalai Lama and destroyed them. The work-team threatened that if the nuns did not follow the directives from the government then their numbers would be reduced and gradually the nunnery would be “wound up”. The ban also applies in Rebkong Nunnery in Sog County, Nagchu Region. The nuns were told to submit the photographs to the work-team and threatened if any photos were found later.

In Namkhang Monastery, under Llo Monastery in Taktse, all the pictures of the Dalai Lama were taken away and burnt. Work-teams collected the pictures about four times.

Police in plain clothes were seen circulating around hotels and restaurants in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on April 22 and 23, 1996. An unconfirmed report indicated that the police were making house to house searches for photographs of the Dalai Lama. The reports of searches in private houses indicated that the campaign to root out support for the exiled leader had been widened.

A report by the Tibet Information Network (TIN)  discusses the ban imposed on pictures of the Dalai Lama in length. The photos in the Jokhang, the main temple in Lhasa, have been taken down and at present there is only one picture left in the Potala Palace. At Gyu-me Tantric College in Lhasa monks were forced to remove a famous picture of the Dalai Lama from one of the shrines but they resisted pressure from the work-team to remove the remaining smaller photographs.

The photographs have been banned because they are now deemed to be generating “reactionary propaganda” . TIN also mentions in their report that the anti-Dalai Lama campaign has also been extended to the schools in Lhasa. Students in the city’s middle (secondary) schools were called to a meeting on May 16, 1996, and they were told that  possession of Dalai Lama picture is no longer allowed. They  were also told not to wear the song-du, the red sacred blessing cord, commonly worn around the wrists and neck by the Tibetan Buddhists.

In waging a battle against Tibet’s highly spiritual culture, Chinese authorities have concentrated their assault on Tibet’s numerous Buddhist monastic institutions and shrines. China did not do this simply as an anti-religious drive, but because Tibet’s monasteries and nunneries have greatly fuelled the Tibetan resistance movement which China sought to quash.  As of December 1997, of the 1,216 currently known political prisoners in Tibet, 837 were nuns and monks.

The “patriotic re-education” drive, executed under the aegis of the “Strike Hard” campaign, was specifically aimed at dividing the monasteries along political lines by creating powerful incentives for those who chose the ideological stance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The campaign has two main prongs: the enforcement of laws restricting entrance to monasteries based on age and area of origin; and a political pledge. The effect of both of these measures is to de-populate the monasteries.

A monk’s education traditionally begins from an early age and Tibet’s famous trio of monasteries (Ganden, Drepung and Sera) draw novice monks from all over Tibet as well as Mongolia. The new implementation of regulations (which had reportedly been on the statute books for some years) have denied entrance to monasteries and nunneries to those aged below 18 years, or in some cases 16 years. Entrance has also been restricted to those who originate from the area in which the monastery or nunnery is located.

The political pledge lists five principles. If the monk agrees to these principles he receives a red-card and its attendant privileges; if he refuses he receives a green-card (sometimes referred to as blue-card) with its restrictions. The five principles listed for assent are as follows:

1. Opposition to separatism
2. Unity of Tibet and China
3. Recognition of the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama as the true Panchen  Lama
4. Denial that Tibet was or should be independent
5. Agreement that the Dalai Lama is destroying the unity of the Motherland

ID-cards were issued to monks in Kirti Monastery in Ngapa “TAP” in December 1996 on payment of 36 yuan each. This caused great resentment among the 2,300 monks of the monastery because they were told that only those monks with ID-cards could stay in the monastery and certain restrictions might be imposed on the monks.

The work-team in Diru Monastery in Diru County, Nagchu Region, announced that monks without proper ID-cards would be expelled from the monastery. It is also reported that 516 red ID-cards have been issued to monks in Sera Monastery.

During the work-team sessions two kinds of ID-cards are issued:
Red ID-card - The holder of the red ID-card is considered as a “permanent” or “official monk” of the monastery and enjoys more privileges. Monks are issued red-cards for their assent to the “re-education” principles and the card allows them unrestricted travel within Tibet/China. They are seen by the Chinese authorities as having “great belief and love for their country and religion”.

Recent arrivals from Tibet report that the red card is highly regarded by the people, organisations and also by the Chinese officers and is typically issued in front of a large assembly. Monks are expected to place their loyalty to the nation above their loyalty to religion and are warned that the red-card will be seized if they disobey the rules.

Green ID-card (sometimes described as a “blue” card) - The holder of the green ID-card is considered a “temporary monk” who has been admitted to the monastery without the approval of the “Democratic Management Committee”. The holder of the green ID-card is not allowed to attend the monastery meetings that are held every fortnight and is considered to have “unsatisfactory love for their country and religion”. The green card restricts travel to the region of domicile and the green card holders must prove their loyalty to the nation, generally by refraining from any “splittist” activities, in order to earn the red-card.

Reports indicate that Chinese authorities have extended the use of ID-cards to divide the lay population along political lines as donations from lay people are now to be made exclusively to monks who hold red cards. A group of monks holding red cards were recently sent to a village to collect donations and the villagers were then categorised according to whether or not they had donated anything to the monks.

The “patriotic re-education” sessions conducted by the work-teams have followed a similar pattern in all nunneries and monasteries covered by work-teams. The number of work-team members sent by headquarters (region, county or village level) officials and their period of stay depends on the size of the monastery or nunnery. The period of “re-education” generally ranges from three months to a year and the work-team may make more than one visit.

“Re-education” sessions commonly run from nine in the morning until six in the evening with a break of an hour for lunch. The monastery/nunnery is divided into various groups and each group is headed by a work-team member. The monks and nuns are required to attend the classes regularly and are advised to obey the following rules and regulations laid down by the work-team officials:

• All the students (monks and nuns) should be punctual in attending the class. Nobody is allowed to be late nor to leave early from the class.

• All the students (monks and nuns) are required to be attentive in the class; to take notes and not to whisper in the class.

• No student (monks and nuns) is allowed to leave during class hours; in the case of an urgent matter the student must address an application to the work-team members.

• The students (monks and nuns) should be properly respectful and are not allowed to raise any questions during the teaching process. In the case of any doubts, questions may be asked when the teaching is over.

• All students (monks and nuns) are required to follow the proper discipline of the class.

1. Brief Explanation and Proclamation of Tibet’s History
2. Brief Explanation and Proclamation on Opposing Splittism
3. Brief Explanation and Proclamation of Religious Policy
4. Brief Explanation of Legal Knowledge

In some cases the work-team officials simply read out the study materials and give an explanation of them.  At some point during the “re-education” sessions,  the examinations will be conducted by the work-team. If the work-team is not satisfied with the answers of a monk or nun, he or she may be expelled from the monastery or nunnery and/or imprisoned. There have been cases whereby monks have been imprisoned even for the incorrect pronunciation of a word during the “re-education” sessions.
 

The four manuals printed  by the “TAR” Monastic Patriotic Education Committee in June 1996 are described below. They are collectively called Explanation and Commentaries for the Propagation of Patriotic Education in Monasteries Throughout the “TAR”.

Brief Explanation and Proclamation of Tibet’s History
This book deals mainly with Tibet’s history and aims at proving that Tibet has been “an integral part of China” since 634 AD. To support this argument the book makes the following points: Tibet is a part of China and no country in the world can deny this; the initiative by the Dalai clique and some members of the international community to stress Tibet’s independence from 1911-1949 was complete exaggeration and the Shimla Convention of July 3, 1914,  was regarded as void by the Chinese government; the creation of foreign affairs in Lhasa by the Tibetan government in 1942 and participation in the Asia conference at New Delhi were strongly criticised by the Chinese representatives.

The book also states: the formation of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) on October 1, 1949 marked an end to Feudalism, Imperialism and Capitalism in Chinese history; all of China’s nationalities are now on an equal footing, living in fraternity and unity; a Tibetan delegation visited Beijing in April 1951 and signed the ‘17 Point Agreement’ for the peaceful liberation of Tibet; this treaty helped the bitterly depressed Tibetans to become free from the imperialist shackles and aggression and return to the Motherland.

The manual’s interpretation of Tibetan history reads: Tibet was ruled by Songsten Gampo when the Tang Dynasty was at its height in China in the Seventh Century. They had good relations and exchanged high-level delegations for a friendly co-existence in 634 AD. Later the friendly relationship between the two nations turned into a matrimonial alliance in 714 AD during the rule of King Tri-Song Dae-Tsen when the Chinese Princess Kimshing Konjo married the king. This alliance marked a turning point in the Sino-Tibet relationship.

After the demise of Tri-Song Dae-Tsen, Thri Ralpachen also followed their ancestor’s policy.  Later Tibet was occupied by Changez (Genghis) Khan during the 13th Century which resulted in religious chaos and ultimately a state of fear and suffering spread in Tibet. Kublai Khan integrated Tibet into the mainland in 1239 and the Yuan Dynasty then controlled Tibet. Tibet remained a part of China and was divided into three pacification commissions of Dbus, Tsang and Ngari. Kublai Khan was the first to take a census in Tibet and this, together with the unifying of Tibet with the Yuan Dynasty, testified to the sovereignty of the Yuan dynasty over Tibet. The Yuan Dynasty also set up postal services and the judiciary in Tibet.

After the decline of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty controlled Tibet. The Ming Dynasty played an important role in paying tribute to the high lamas of the Tibetan sects and all the influential high lamas were conferred by the dynasty. The title “Dalai Lama” was conferred by Altar Khan in 1578 AD and was given to the fifth Dalai Lama in 1652 when he visited China. From that date onwards the institution of the Dalai Lama came into practice and awarding of this title was later confirmed by the central government. The title of Panchen Lama was also conferred and sanctioned by the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty also played an important role in repelling the attacks of Mongols in 1718-1720 in Nagchu and of the Gorkhas (from Nepal) in 1791 from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Shigatse). In 1793, the 29 Article Ordinance was passed to bring efficiency to the working of the government, serving as a bridge between the central and the local government of Tibet and other nationalities and bringing about social stability in the nation.

The manuals concludes: The Qing Administration held full authority in the reincarnation and enthronement of the Dalai Lama. Guomindang (China’s Nationalist Government) played an important role in selection of the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama as requested by the Tibetan government in 1938. After the formation of Guomindang (government) in 1947, Tibet, Mongolia, China and Manchuria were declared as one territory.

Brief Explanation and Proclamation of Opposing Splittism:
This book states that China’s 56 different nationalities have lived in harmony together and amongst them Tibet has played an important role for the unity of the mainland. However, at present the Dalai clique, together with some western powers, is trying to separate Tibet from the mainland by organising different activities. The 1959 demonstration in Lhasa, the establishment of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in India, the defamation of China in the international community and interference in the search of the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama are some of the examples. They are trying to spread the idea of Tibet’s independence which has greatly affected the unification of the Motherland. The 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th CCP unanimously decided to deal with those reactionary activists who were working against the unification of Motherland.

The party and the government had worked hard for the reunion of Tibetans living abroad by declaring freedom of movement in and out of Tibet. There has been a positive response by some Tibetans but the Dalai clique has continued to spread counter-revolutionary activities which has affected the unity of the Motherland and harmony amongst the different nationalities. Such an act will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely. The struggle between communist China and the “Dalai clique” is not a matter of religion and autonomy, but is a struggle for promoting unity in the Motherland and opposing splittism.

The manual continues: the backward Tibetan society has been put to an end by Chinese socialism yet the ‘Dalai clique’ is working hard to revive the old barbarous social system in Tibet. China regards Tibet as an integral part of China and it should stop the idea of splittism and encourage return to the Motherland. The idea of independent, semi-independent and disguised independent nations will never be achieved and communist China will adopt the following principles:

• Strike Hard against splittists;
• Maintain social security by punishing the reactionary criminals;
• Oppose the “Dalai clique” and safeguard the Motherland;
• Protest against splittist propaganda;
• Destroy the espionage activities of  the “Dalai clique” and
• Punish the counter revolutionary-activities in accordance with the Chinese Constitution and Charter.

The history of Tibet is greatly influenced by Buddhism. Due to conflict in Tibetan Buddhism between the 15th and 20th Centuries, Tibetan Buddhism had changed and is now dominated by the Gelugpa sect.

The instructions conclude: the Party has laid down certain pre-conditions for the installation of religious foundations and if these pre-conditions are not followed then the People’s Republic may stop the practice of religion in the region. Therefore it is worthwhile to follow the rules of the religion. Religion should not affect the production of the people and the monasteries should not recruit young children.

Religious freedom in Tibet has been the policy of the nation and the Party. Citizens can decide their faith in religion. The Nation and the Party have a set of rules and regulations on “Do” and “Don’t” regarding religion and the most important part of the religious policy is to build up harmony and unity in the society of religious believers and non-believers in socialism.

The “re-education” manual continues: the Party feels that there should be harmony among the religious personnel and workers and has appealed to religious leaders to take notice in all religious affairs regarding renovation of monasteries and building of temples in commercial areas. If the above steps are followed by the religious leaders then there will be peace, harmony and overall development and ultimately unity in the mainland.

Brief Explanation of Legal Knowledge:
The manual states: The CCP State Council and the National People’s Congress started imparting legal education to all the nationalities in 1985, without any discrimination. The imparting of this education has been enshrined in the Constitution. The PRC has worked for the proclamation of legal knowledge in all the monasteries in Tibet and has stated that, “imparting of legal knowledge in all monasteries is the need of the hour.”

The TAR CCP Committee and TAR People’s Government have strictly followed the Re-education Charter in the monasteries since 1985. For the past 10 years legal education has been given to nomads, farmers, officers, enterprises and schools helping the common people to understand legal procedures. Despite these efforts, the imparting of legal education could not be carried on properly in the monasteries and the study of the PRC Constitution with the keen interest of the monks and nuns is essential.

The “re-education” booklet continues: The PRC believes that studying of the Constitution by the monks and nuns is equivalent to having faith in religion. After studying the law the monks and nuns are expected to conform to the religious principles and all monks and nuns are expected to be self-reliant and religious minded. In the Third Five Year Plan of China for the TAR, the CCP Committee unanimously vowed to impart teaching of the Constitution in the monasteries. The PRC has strongly warned against any reactionary splittist activities in the monasteries and the monks and nuns are expected to study the Constitution and abide by it. If they do so the result will be fruitful and this is the basic ideology of socialism.
 

After distributing these study materials, the work-teams conduct group discussions and examinations to test the progress of the monks. There have been cases where monks have strongly opposed the study materials and other issues such as lack of equality between the Tibetans and the Chinese before the law and the Chinese legal system on the whole. These monks were accused of being “reactionaries”. Many monks and nuns now in exile report that rather than altering their beliefs, the study materials only strengthened their Tibetan nationalism and patriotism.
 

As part of “Strike Hard”’s “patriotic re-education” campaign, Chinese work-teams (Ch: gongzuo dui; Tib: laedoen rukhag) have been sent into monasteries and nunneries all over Tibet to conduct “patriotic re-education” sessions and instruct monks on the “evils” of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan nationalism. The practice of sending work-teams into Tibet’s monasteries and nunneries was actually commenced in late 1993 and early 1994 prior to the convening of the Third National Forum on work in Tibet  held in Beijing from July 20 to 23, 1994  but has been drastically intensified under the “Strike Hard” campaign.

The role of the ad hoc government work-teams is to forcibly “re-educate” monks’ and nuns’ behaviour and political beliefs and uncover dissidents in monasteries and nunneries. A successful work-team is expected to root out defiance and mark those individuals for arrest or expulsion from the monastery. Those monks who refuse to be “re-educated” may be targeted for harassment, expulsion or arrest. It is reported that some 30,000 of Tibet’s 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns have received “re-education”, and that 1,780 of Tibet’s 1,787 monasteries and temples have been covered by the work-teams.

According to “TAR” radio broadcasts, an award ceremony was held on January 6, 1998 in the Haitang Hall, Lhasa, to honour those PSB officers who had carried out the “Strike Hard” campaign. The awards were conferred by “TAR” Deputy Executive Secretary, Raidi to those work-team members who had conducted “patriotic re-education” successfully in various monasteries and nunneries. There were 800 PSB officials present at the meeting and amongst them 71 officials were awarded for their “exemplary service”. It was also reported that some 580 government officials have been appointed for the “1997 Winter Strike Hard Campaign” in various departments and 370 special officials have been appointed to maintain security to carry out the campaign successfully.

Testimonies from Tibetan monks and nuns who have fled into exile reveal a fairly consistent pattern of “patriotic re-education”. Classes typically run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a break of one hour, and then run again from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. In each of the sessions there is a break of about five minutes for rest. The five pledges listed for assent during these sessions are: opposition to separatism; unity of Tibet and China; recognition of the Chinese appointed Panchen Lama as the true Panchen Lama; denial that Tibet was or should be independent; and agreement that the Dalai Lama is destroying the unity of the (Chinese) “motherland”.
 

Four types of meetings are called by work-teams in monasteries and nunneries to conduct “patriotic re-education” sessions:

Tsok-Chung (Unit Meeting)
The monastery is mainly divided into small units called “tsuk”.  In a tsuk there are about 20 to 30 monks and each tsuk is under the charge of a work-team member. This kind of meeting is very common and held in most monasteries and nunneries. The most commonly asked questions in such meetings are: “Who is the head of the splittists and who organised it?”; “Are the talks made by Dalai Lama right or wrong?”; “Is independence for Tibet right or wrong?”; and “When was Tibet independent?”.

Tsok-Dring (Medium Size Meeting)
This meeting is rarely held. In this case, several units are grouped together and this generally occurs when a member of the work-team is absent or on leave.

Tsok-Chen (Mass Meeting)
This kind of meeting is rarely held and occurs when a representative from “TAR” comes to the monastery for an official visit. Such meetings are lenient in the sense that no questions are asked by the members and the officials and the monks are not required to make any formal pledge but simply to listen to lectures by the authorities. Sometimes this kind of meeting is held in the monastery when an important announcement is to be made. Some monks have reported that this type of meeting is generally held once a week, with or without officials from “TAR” or the county.

Private Sessions
If monks fail to provide the required answers to questions put forward by work-teams in the “re-education” meetings, work-team members may make visits to the rooms of the monks and conduct “private sessions”. This session lasts for one to two hours until the monk accepts the principles (pledges) of the work-team.
 

Cases of work-teams in monasteries and nunneries

• Achog Monastery (Sangchu County, Kain Lho “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” [“TAP”]) - Soepa Gyatso, aged 22 from Sangchu County in Ngapa “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” reported that there are presently 400 monks in this monastery which has been “covered”  by a work-team.

• Boegay Monastery (Location unknown); Bum Nying Monastery (Location unknown); Bum Saer Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Chamdo Monastery ( Chamdo Region “TAR”) - A 44 or 45 member work-team?three Chinese, the rest Tibetan?arrived in August 1996 and reportedly still conducting the patriotic re-education sessions. The work-team planned to carry out the “patriotic re-education” campaign for 40 days and to extend if they did not achieve the desired results. There are 13 classes, each with 60 to 180 monks, which are conducted at 2 p.m. and then at 6 p.m. The afternoon class focuses mostly on the five pledges and the evening class concentrates on Chinese Communist ideology. It was reported that there used to be 1,800 monks and that 500 of them have been expelled by the work-teams. At present there are 1,300 monks but the work-team has imposed a limit of 800 monks in the monastery and no monks below 18 years are permitted to stay in the monastery.

• Choede Monastery (Ba, Karze “TAP”, Sichuan Province) - A monk from this monastery reported that a seven-member work-team had arrived, although he could not remember the date. He reported there were 370 monks in the monastery but the work-team set a limit of 100 monks, who must be above 18 years. The monks in Choede have to pay about 10 Chinese yuan as “tax” and the monastery as a whole must pay 1,000 Chinese yuan to the County Religious Bureau. He says that about 70 monks normally stay in the monastery.

• Choeling Monastery (Doepa County, Ch: Sichuan Province) - A monk from this monastery reported that four or five people from the town came to the Choeling Monastery once or twice a year to “re-educate” the monks. There are presently 40 monks in the monastery and Chinese authorities have imposed a limit of 40 monks, above the age of 15 years, who can stay. All the monks in the monastery have been issued with ID-cards. The monks have to pay “taxes” in the form of 50 grams of dry Yartsa Gumbu, a Tibetan medical plant (botanical name: Sinesis).

• Chubsang Nunnery (Lhasa City, “TAR”) - A nun from this nunnery reports that a 10-member work-team arrived at Chubsang in the May-June 1996 and stayed for three months. At present there are 280 nuns in the nunnery and all the nuns have been issued with ID-cards.  Only nuns above 18 years are allowed to remain in residence and they are not allowed to have any students or relatives stay with them. A nine-member “Democratic Management Committee” has been appointed in the nunnery. A ceremony was held in which ID-cards were issued and khata (Tibetan white scarf offering) and thangka (Tibetan religious pictures on fabric) were presented to the nuns. Later, some nuns were seen throwing away their scarves in protest and as a result of these actions they were interrogated. All the nuns in Chubsang were called for tsokchen “re-education” meetings and senior nuns were excused from tsokdring and tsokchung meetings. Four novice nuns were expelled from Chubsang Nunnery 1996 in connection with the “Strike Hard” campaign and 16 nuns have left because they have not been able to accept the pledges proposed by the work-team.

• Chutsang Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Daam Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Dag-Gar Toet-Jong Monastery (Lhabha, Tso Lho “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - Lodoe Lhakpa (17), of this monastery, says that there used to be about 200 monks in the monastery but at present there are only 360 to 370 monks. The official ceiling of monks in the monastery is only 150 and they must be above 18 years. Monks above 20 years are to be issued ID-cards.  There are about 200 monks below 18 years who will be expelled from the monastery although no expulsions have yet taken place. Photographs of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama have been removed.

• Dakkar Monastery (Chunni County, Kain Lho “TAP”) - A monk from this monastery says that a work-team came once a month with three to five officials and stayed each time for one or two days. He reported that there were about 100 monks in the monastery and the work-team announced that only 60 per cent of the monks would be allowed to stay and that they must be above 18 years of age. There were about 20 monks below 18 in Dakkar Monastery. Pictures of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama have been removed. ID-cards were issued at 100 yuan and monks were told to pay an additional 20 yuan for electricity bills.

• Dakkar Monastery (Pember, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) -  A work-team consisting of three Chinese and three Tibetans entered this monastery in May 1997. The team stayed for about one month and, when they left the monastery in June 1997, they notified the monks that they would return to conduct the final “patriotic re-education” sessions. The team distributed the four “re-education” manuals and told the monks to study them. Before the arrival of the work-team there were about 30 monks in the monastery, but only 18 monks?all elderly, senior monks?were issued ID-cards and allowed to stay in the monastery. The rest of the monks were expelled.

• Daksar Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu -Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - A work-team has imposed a limit of 10 monks and all monks below 18 have been expelled.

• Dangkar Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Darchen Ngapa Monastery (Purang, Ngari Region, “TAR”) - In 1997 four or five work-team members came to this monastery to “re-educate” the monks. There were two officials from Ngari Prefecture, one from Purang county and one from Parku village.

• Datsang Monastery (Nyarong County, Karze Sichuan Province) - A monk from this monastery reported that there were about 180 monks before the work-team arrived, but now there are only 70 or 80. The monk reported that the 10-member official work-team made two visits in a year but they did not stay in the monastery. The official age limit has been set at 18 years and the work-team announced that the number of monks should be reduced. Pictures of the Dalai Lama have been completely banned.

• Dechenling Nunnery (Dongpa Town, Nangchen County, Tso Ngon Region) - Yeshi Wangmo, 25 years old, from Nangchen County was not admitted as a nun to this nunnery, but she heard that a work-team was came to due to arrive. There were about 150 nuns in the nunnery, but with the arrival of a work-team in all the monasteries in Dongpa a limit of 10 monks or nuns in every nunnery or monastery was set.

• Deetsa Monastery (Balong County, Tso Ngon Region) - Tenzin Nyima, a 23-year-old monk from this monastery, said a work-team came to Deetsa Monastery in 1996 and 1997. The work-team did not stay in the monastery but made daily visits. A limit of 150 monks who could stay in the monastery was fixed.

• Delkar Monastery  (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Dhargyay Monastery (Karze “TAP”, Sichuan Province) - A monk from this monastery reported that there used to be 300 monks but the number has since grown to 500. He said a Chinese work-team came to the monastery once a year and stayed for 15 days. Monks below 18 years were not allowed to stay and officials stated that “good and faithful” monks would be allowed to stay in the monastery but that “undisciplined” monks would have to leave.

• Diru Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - A work-team has imposed a limit of 10 monks and all monks below 18 have been expelled.

• Dotoe Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Drepung Monastery (Lhasa City) - A 180-member work-team, mostly male and predominantly Tibetan, arrived on June 15, 1996. They work-team was seen holding group lectures and “private tutoring” whereby a group of officials focused on a single monk: putting questions, issuing threats and inquiring about the activities and attitudes of other monks. Work-team officials were pressuring young monks to give up their studies and return home. It was reported that some monks resigned in advance of the written examinations which would have required the monks to denounce the Dalai Lama. The younger monks who remained took the test on November 11, 1996, and senior monks sat the exam on November 12, 1996. The questions and answers had been made available in advance and thus the examinations were purely a means of testing the monk’s allegiance to China. One source reported that the monks had to list the political requirements of being a monk which included: accepting the leadership of the Communist Party; respecting the socialist system; protecting the unity of the “motherland”; opposing separatism; and not joining demonstrations.

• Drigung Thil Monastery (Meldro Gongkar County, Lhasa City, “TAR”) - According to the accounts of two tourists, work-team officials carrying guns were seen harassing the monks in this monastery in early June 1997. An American journalist reported seeing armed “re-education” officials in the monastery, where he said about 120 monks were being “re-educated” by the work-teams.  A former monk from this monastery says the six-member work-team arrived on March 21, 1997, and stayed for two months conducting “patriotic re-education” sessions. The monastery was divided into five units and classes were held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a break for lunch and then from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. There are reportedly about 260 monks in the monastery, although the official limit is 205 monks, and about 60 monks have been expelled for failing to satisfy the work-team in examinations conducted during the “patriotic re-education” sessions. It was reported that ID-cards were to be issued to the monks but this has not yet been confirmed.

• Dunbhu Choekhor Monastery or Sakya Monastery (Chideshol, Lhoka County, “TAR”) - A monk from this monastery reports that a work-team of six or seven members came in April 1996 and gave regular “patriotic re-education” classes to the monks, sometimes up to three times a day.

• Duptae Monastery (Diru County, Nagchu Region, “TAR”) - Work-teams arrived at this monastery in March 1997, conducting meetings for the whole day and then leaving in the evening. The work-teams have imposed a limit of 50 monks but it is reported that the monastery has 70 monks. So far seven monks have been expelled.

• Galo Nunnery (Nagchu, “TAR”) - A nun from this nunnery reported that 4 jeeps with a 17-member work-team arrived in 1997, but she does not remembers the date. The work-team planned to stay for just over three months and conducted three “re-education” meetings a day. There were 250 nuns in the nunnery and 20 of these nuns, all below 18 years, were expelled. All the work-team members stayed in the nunnery and the cost of food and lodging was paid for by the nunnery.

• Ganden Monastery (Lhasa City) - A novice monk reported that there used to be 600 monks in Ganden Monastery, but at present there are only 300 monks. A work-team came to this monastery after the Ganden riots in May 1996 (see earlier section for more details) and stayed for one month and 15 days. At that time there were about 200 officials in the monastery, the majority of whom were members of the PSB. The work-team made ID-cards for those who were permitted to stay in the monastery and held meetings twice a day. These focused on: belief in the Panchen Lama reincarnate chosen by the Chinese authorities; opposition to the Dalai Lama; revealing the names of the monks who had participated in the May demonstration; and banning of the picture of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama recognised by the Dalai Lama. The four “re-education” books were used during the sessions.

• Gari Nunnery (Lhasa City) - A work-team has covered this nunnery.

• Goelung Nunnery (Diru County, Nagchu Region) - Three nuns from this nunnery reported that the work-team were due to arrive at the nunnery a few days after they left the nunnery in June 1997.  At present there are 60 nuns in the nunnery. Photos of the Dalai Lama and the present Panchen Lama are not allowed although the picture of the former Panchen Lama is allowed.

• Goen Shab Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - Two monks from this monastery reported that a two or three member work-team came to their monastery once a month. Of the 300 monks in the monastery, only 30 have been allowed to remain and all have been issued with ID-cards. Officials announced that no monks below 18 years were permitted to stay.

• Goesang Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Gong-Sar Monastery  (Tso Ngon Region) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Gonpo Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - The work-team has imposed a limit of 10 monks and all monks below 18 years old have been expelled.

• Gue Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Gunae Monastery (Jondha County, Chamdo Region) - Karma Samten, aged 30 years from Jondha County, reported that a work-team came to his monastery in September or October 1997.   Officials have set a limit of 60 monks in the monastery.

• Gyangdra Monastery (Purang, Ngari Region, “TAR”) - After conducting “re-education” in Darchen Ngapa Monastery (see above) the same work-team came to Gyangdra Monastery in June 1997 and stayed for 10 days. There were four or five officials and they all had come from the county’s religious bureau office. There were about six monks in this monastery and all were issued ID-cards. Pictures of the Dalai Lama are completely banned and because of the lack of religious freedom the high lamas prefer to go to different places. Chinese authorities have restricted the monks going on retreat and they must get special permission.

• Gyantse Monastery (Shigatse Region, “TAR”) - A 15-member work-team was in residence from early July 1996 and it was reported that they were lecturing the monks three evenings a week and planning to stay for three months.

• Jonang Kumbum Monastery (Shigatse Region, “TAR”) -  According to an American tourist who visited in May 1997, a four-member work-team was stationed in the monastery and there were 10 resident monks.

• Jonang Phuntsogling Monastery (Shigatse Region, “TAR”) - The monks in this monastery have reportedly failed to co-operate with the work-teams.

• Jya-Khyung Monastery (Hualang County, Tso Jang “TAP”) - Lobsang Gedun, aged 24, reported that “patriotic re-education” sessions started in his monastery in May or June 1997, conducted by a work-team from Hualang county. There was one Tibetan and two Chinese and they stayed in the monastery for six or seven days. There were about 450 monks in the monastery but the official limit was set at 150. Monks had to accept the five principles laid down by the work-teams and pass a test conducted by the work-team after the “patriotic re-education” sessions. All the monks were called for the “re-education” meetings during which documents were distributed and the work-team announced that monks below the age of 18 could not stay in the monastery. There were about 80 monks below 18 but it was reported that they have not as yet been expelled. Pictures of the Dalai Lama were not removed but the monks were warned against displaying them.

• Kandha Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - Two monks from this monastery reported that there were about 300 monks in the monastery when they first joined but that the number was reduced to 150 monks. A work-team made an annual visit to the monastery but there was no fixed time. In 1997 a six-member work-team stayed for about five weeks conducting “re-education” sessions. They imposed a new limit of 30 monks in the monastery and expelled the other 120 monks. Monks below 15 years were to be expelled from the monastery and sent to schools in their respective towns. Pictures of the Dalai Lama could still be found in the monastery and in the hostels but the work-team advised the monks to oppose the Dalai Lama and speak out against him.

• Karsang Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - This monastery has not been “authorised” by the Chinese authorities.

• Kashi Monastery (Dartse Do County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province) - A work-team of three to four officials made daily visits to this monastery but did not stay overnight. There are presently 80 monks in the monastery and the age limit is 18 years. The work-team told the monks to study the scriptures and maintain good discipline in the monastery. The monks have been issued with red ID-cards (see earlier for explanation), which means that they are the “official monks” of the monastery.

• Kashi Monastery (Richu County, Ch: Sichuan Province) - Sonam Gyatso (27) said a work-team came to Kashi Monastery and other monasteries around the county. The monastery’s high officials were first called to the county’s religious bureau and for 15 days they were given an introduction to “patriotic re-education”. After that, in October 1997, a nine-member work-team arrived at the monastery.  During the “re-education” sessions the four “re-education” books were distributed and the monks were threatened that if any audio or video speeches of the Dalai Lama were found this would be considered equivalent to killing a person. The work-teams ransacked about 10 rooms in search of pictures of the Dalai Lama and announced that if any were found the person responsible would be given 15 years imprisonment and “re-educated”, and if he still didn’t demonstrate a change in his attitude he would be executed. During the meeting the monks were also told about the bad aspects of the monastery’s administrators. The meetings were held from 6 to 7 in the morning, 12 to 1 in the afternoon, and then from 5 to 6 in the evening.   The morning session was held with every monk present but in the afternoon and evening the monks were divided into groups of 20 headed by a work-team member. Questions were asked and if a monk did not answer then he would be punished. The work-team stayed for 18 days and was to return soon. Sonam Gyatso reported that there used to be about 70 monks when he became a monk but numbers grew to 210. The work-team set a limit of 150 monks, all of whom must be above 18 years, and  issued 150 red ID-cards. It was reported that so  far no monks have been expelled.  While the work-team was at the monastery the monks who were not on the official list were dressed in lay clothes and  some of them were sent back to their villages, but they were called back when the work-team left. The work-team said that all 42 monasteries in Richu County had been covered at the same time under the “patriotic re-education” campaign.

• Kyara Monastery (Pember County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Lachen Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - A work-team has imposed a limit of 10 monks and all monks below 18 have been expelled.

• Lachung Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region )  - This monastery has not been “authorised” by the Chinese authorities.

• Lhadro Monastery (Nyakchu County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province) - A work-team started visiting this monastery in 1995. According to a monk from this monastery, the work-team came about twice a year but the visits were random and there was no fixed time. In 1995 the work-team stayed for only two days and in 1997 they came on April 10, 1997 and stayed for about one week. At present there are 50 monks in the monastery and the work-team announced that the number of monks could not increase and that all monks below 18 years were to be expelled from the monastery. Monks were also told not to go to India or they would be expelled.

• Lhagon Monastery (Dartse Do County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province) - Tsultrim Choephel, aged 22, from Dhartse Do County in Karze, belongs to Lhagon Monastery. He reported that a work-team of about 60 to 70 officials in his monastery is quite usual. They do not stay in the monastery but go back to the county in the evening. There used to be 115 monks when he first entered the monastery but at present there are only 70 monks.  Monks below 18 years can not stay in the monastery.

• Lhasang Monastery (Ch: Sichuan Province) - According to monks from this monastery, there are currently about 400 monks. Work-teams make about three visits each year in January, March and October and stay for about 10 days in the monastery conducting “re-education” sessions. The monks report that seeking admission in the monastery is not difficult and interested candidates must submit their names to the County Religious Bureau. Monks without valid ID-cards are not allowed to stay in the monastery. The work-team gave talks to the monks regarding: performing good religious deeds; not opposing the Chinese rule in Tibet; and appreciating Chinese rule. The monks were also warned that if they visited India they would not be allowed to return to the monastery. Monks who had been in India were interrogated about what the Dalai Lama had said to them. It was reported that that sale of pictures of the Dalai Lama was not allowed in the market but in the monastery and in the hostels pictures of the Dalai Lama could be seen. The work-team did not impose an official limit of monks in the monastery but the minimum age was fixed at 18 years. Photo ID-cards were issued to the monks.

• Lhatse Choete Monastery (Lhatse County, Shigatse Region, “TAR”) - An expelled monk reports that a work-team came to this monastery in March-April 1997 and stayed for three months. Classes were conducted regularly from 12 to 3 p.m. and 4.30 - 6 p.m. The monks were not allowed to leave the monastery during the “re-education” sessions and if it were an urgent matter they were required to seek permission from the head of the work-team. During “re-education” sessions monks had to answer questions thrown at them by the work-team, either verbally or in written form, and were not permitted to say anything to each other. Apart from the one expelled monk, the other monks had accepted the pledges laid down by the work-team due to fear of being expelled from the monastery. Entrance requirements imposed by the work-team included: minimum 13 years age;  certain height; authorisation of county officials; no political affiliation; and no relatives in India. No formal education or parental consent was required.

• Lingkhang Monastery (Nyemo County, Lhasa City) - At this small monastery monks were locked in when they refused to renounce the Dalai Lama and told that only when they agreed to the “patriotic re-education” would they be allowed to come out. The lock-up lasted for about three weeks. The monastery was sealed off to tourists in early June 1997. This monastery has about nine to 10 monks in the monastery.

• Loeku Monastery (Karze “TAP”, Sichuan Province) - A six-member work-team came to this monastery in September 1997. They stayed in the town and made daily visits to the monastery. There are at present 60 monks in the monastery and the official limit has been set at 80 monks who must be above 18 years old. The work-team stressed that discipline must be maintained in the monastery.

• Luloe Monastery (Location unknown) - There are 200 monks in Luloe Monastery which has been covered by a work-team.

• Michungri Nunnery (Lhasa City) - A work-team has covered this nunnery.

• Minyak Sukhu Monastery (Minyak, Kham Province) - Gyama, aged 22, from Dartse Do County (Ch: Sichuan Province), reported that a Chinese work-team of four or five officials makes visits the monastery three times a year, in March, June and October. At present there are 35 monks in the monastery but the officials have set a limit of 20 monks. About 10 novice monks below the age of 20 have been expelled and the monks must have ID-cards to stay in the monastery. So far about 35 ID-cards have been issued. Gyama left the monastery because of lack of religious education.

• Naego Dong Nunnery  (Location unknown) - A work-team has visited this nunnery, which has 35 nuns.

• Ngakpa Dratsang (Location unknown) - There are about 15 Ngagpa (Tantric practitioners) in this monastery. It is not known when the work-team conducted “re-education”.

• Nyagae Nunnery (Tingkye County, Shigatse Region, “TAR”) - There are 80 to 90 monks in Nyagae Nunnery. An order for the removal of all pictures of the Dalai Lama has been passed and there are restrictions on private possession of pictures of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. Pictures of the former Panchen Lama are allowed. So far ID-cards have not been issued.

• Nyigee Monastery (Tingkye County, Shigatse Region, “TAR”) - Two monks from this monastery report that there are presently 53 monks in the monastery but the work-team has imposed a limit of 40 monks who must be above 18 years. Work-teams make about four visits each year and stay for two to three days. Novice monks, below the age of 18, have been sent to a school in the town.

• Oenpoe Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Pangsa Monastery (Medro Gongkar County, Lhasa City, “TAR”) - On September 2, 1997, a six-member work-team arrived in Pangsa Monastery, a retreat founded by Togden Jampel Gyatso. Earlier there were 35 monks residing in the monastery but it is reported that a few have been imprisoned for political reasons and some have fled to exile rather than face the work-team’s repressive policies, leaving 16 monks currently in the monastery.  When the monks refused to comply with the “re-education” principles the number of members was later increased to 10 and it is reported that since the beginning of November 1997 the work-team members have resorted to beating the monks.  Other orders issued by the work-team included the closing of a small shop in Tashi Gang which belonged to the monastery. An 18-year-old caretaker monk called Thupten was strictly forbidden from attending regular prayers and ordered to prevent “common people” from visiting the monastery. When Thupten laughed off the order he was reported to have been severely kicked and had to be hospitalised.  All of the monks were prohibited from leaving the monastery; the doors were locked and the windows were blocked and it is reported that some are still being held under these conditions. The monks were regularly called by the work-team members and interrogated and beaten if they were not behaving “satisfactorily”.   The parents of the monks were also constantly called in to advise their children to obey the work-team. One young monk in particular refused to oppose the Dalai Lama. His father requested the work-team not to punish the boy, explaining that his son must have had some influence from other monks in the monastery. The boy became furious with his father for attempting to explain away his support for the Dalai Lama, and the boy’s behaviour enraged the work-team so much that the young monk was brutally beaten. Many monks and parents who saw this wept. The source reports that all of the monasteries in the Meldro area have been strictly instructed not to hold any religious ceremonies.

• Pao Nunnery (Nyathang County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”) - The work-team conducted “re-education” sessions by putting the Pao nuns with the monks from Thang Po Che Monastery. Pao Nunnery had 22 nuns before the work-team arrived but 11 nuns were expelled in March-April 1996 and at present there are only 11 nuns. The age limit has been set at 18 years.

• Parpoen Monastery (Jondha County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) - According to a monk from this monastery, a 20-member work-team arrived at this monastery on July 23, 1996. The work-team stayed in the town and made daily visits to the monastery to “re-educate” the monks. All the monks in the monastery were issued with ID-cards. The source reported that anybody who wished to become a monk in one of the branch monasteries of Parpoen Monastery had to get authorisation from the county, town and village authorities.

• Pebar Monastery (Pebar County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) - A monk from this monastery reported that a work-team came to his monastery in June - July 1997. Ten of the work-team members were Tibetans and 20 were Chinese. They did not stay in the monastery and before they left they said that they would be coming to the monastery in November 1997. At present there are 63 monks in the monastery but only 30 monks are allowed to stay and the minimum age has been set at 23 years. The Chinese officials have told the monks to oppose the Dalai Lama, photographs of the Chinese-appointed “Panchen Lama” have been issued and the monks have been issued red ID-cards.

• Pha Bung Kha Monastery  (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Rabten Monastery (Sog County, Nagchu Region, “TAR”) - According to a former monk, a work-team came to this monastery in March-April 1997. Three Chinese vehicles arrived carrying 16 members: eight Chinese and eight Tibetan. They stayed for one month and announced that they would come again. The monastery had 406 monks but the work-team set a limit of 150 monks and those below the age of 18 were not permitted to stay. During the “patriotic re-education” sessions, 256 monks were expelled and 10 of those monks have been able to reach India. The other expelled monks are still in the monastery but they are not allowed to take part in prayer sessions and may be forced to leave the monastery for the slightest reason. The work-teams did not issue ID-cards because the monks had failed to accept the work-team’s principles, or pledges,  such as “Love Country and Love Religion” (Tib: Gyal-Chaey Chos-Chaey) and “Oppose the Dalai Lama”.

• Raela Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - A monk from this monastery reported that work-team officials from the county and town make one or two visits in a year to Raela Monastery. Their visits last for two or three  days and during their stay all of their expenses are borne by the monastery. There are presently about 80 monks in the monastery but the work-team imposed a limit of 10 monks and told the monks to decide amongst themselves who would stay. These 10 monks were issued with ID-cards. The monks are not allowed to conduct religious ceremonies in the monastery without the approval of the Chinese authorities and are not allowed to visit private homes to give readings of religious scriptures. The work-team told the monks they should throw away their robes and be self-reliant.

• Ragya Monastery (Thingtoe County, Tso Lho “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region ) - A monk from this monastery reported that there are presently 600 monks in this monastery and the work-team has set a limit of 200 monks above the age of 18 who can stay. The source cannot remember the date of the work-team’s arrival.

• Rebkong Nunnery (Sog County, Nagchu Region, “TAR”)  - Rebkong Nunnery has about 61 nuns but the official limit set by the work-team that arrived in May-June 1997 is 45. The work-team announced that all the nuns should return to their homes and look after the children while the lay people should go out and pluck Yartsa Gunbu (a Tibetan medicinal plant) as tax for the nuns. The work-team announced that “patriotic re-education” sessions would be held after the collection of the plant. On June 22, 1997 a six to eight member work-team returned to the nunnery. The majority of the members were Tibetans, including one Tibetan woman. The work-teams announced that there were too many nuns in the nunnery but later reports suggest the threatened expulsions have not yet taken place yet.

• Relogkho Monastery (Location unknown) -- This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Reting Samtenling Nunnery (Phenpo Lhundrup, Lhasa City, “TAR”) - There are at present 200 nuns in the nunnery. A four-member work-team, all Tibetans, arrived in late December 1996. The work-team stayed at the nearby town of Thangoe and made daily visits to the monastery. The work-team has imposed a limit of 150 nuns in the nunnery and set the age limit to 13 years and it is rumoured that about 50 nuns are to be expelled. During the “patriotic re-education” sessions two nuns were arrested and two nuns voluntarily left the nunnery. The work-teams have laid down certain restrictions on the nuns including the requirement that high lamas cannot be welcomed nor can any nun go on pilgrimage without the approval of the “TAR” authorities.

• Riwo Dechen Monastery (Chongyal County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”) -  In September 1996 a team comprising of four Tibetan officials arrived in the monastery. They spent one month “re-educating” the monks on the history of Tibet and “proving” Tibet to be a part of China. It is believed that a second “patriotic re-education” work-team will also be coming although the time is not yet known. It is said that monks below the age of 18 are to be expelled from Riwo Dechen but so far there have been no known expulsions. An official ceiling of 90 monks has been imposed on the monastery, yet at present there are only 74 monks, the majority of which are below the age of 18. All the monks in the monastery have a valid permit to stay in the monastery by the County Religious Office and the monastery is managed by a six-member “Democratic Management Committee”.

• Riwoche Thanjee Maa Monastery (Riwoche County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) -  In September-October 1996, 17 work-team members arrived at this monastery?two were Chinese and the rest were Tibetans?and stayed for 58 days. There used to be 700 monks in the monastery but now there are only 305.  The other monks were either expelled or left rather than face expulsion. The work-team has imposed a limit of 85 monks in this monastery and there are no monks below the age of 18 (this age limit also applies to Riwoche Monastery, and Drayab Magon Monastery).

• Rongpo Monastery (Rebkong, Tso Ngon Region, Ch: Qinghai Province) - 42 work-team officials came to this monastery in April 1997 and two work-teams along with 10 to 15 monks held “patriotic re-education” sessions. The monks were told to oppose the Dalai Lama and accept the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama. The work-team was said to be staying in the monastery for seven months and, if dissatisfied with the results, it would stay longer. Photographs for ID-cards were taken but so far the cards have not been issued. It is reported that about 200 monks below the age of 18 have been expelled and there are presently 500 monks.

• Rukhok Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Samdrup Monastery (Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province) - A monk from this monastery reported that there used to be about 200 monks but at present there are only 150 monks. Chinese officials made random visits to this monastery and in 1996, 10 to 15 officials arrived and stayed for about 15 days. The Chinese authorities have imposed a limit of 30 monks who can stay in the monastery and they must be above 18 years. Last year more than 100 monks were expelled. Pictures of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama recognised by the Dalai Lama are not allowed.

• Samdrupling Monastery (Tsethang County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”) - All Samdrupling monks walked out on June 18, 1997, after a work-team began “patriotic re-education” classes in the monastery.  The monks decided to close down the monastery when the work-team officials instructed them to criticise the Dalai Lama and denounce Tibetan independence.

• Sandog Palrie Monastery/Nunnery (Nyingtri Region, “TAR”) - Konchok Dolma, aged 23, reported that a work-team came to Sandog Palrie in October 1996 for about 25 days and in May 1997 for about three months. There were seven or eight work-team members who had come from the town or county. Konchok says that, instead of  building stupas (Tibetan monument containing religious relics or artefacts) and temples, the Chinese authorities destroyed several of them in Baepa town, Nyingtri region, nearby the monastery and in October 1997 a stupa and a temple were destroyed and the stones were taken away by Chinese authorities.

• Selshul Monastery (Selshul County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Sera Monastery (near Lhasa, “TAR”) - A work-team of 100 officials?mostly Tibetans?arrived at Sera Monastery on May 21, 1996, and stayed for about four months. “Patriotic re-education” sessions were held three times a week on the first floor of the tsokchen (main hall). The monks were given two white books and two pages of documents in Tibetan, similar to an application form. Some Tibetan lay people were also seen teaching the monks. Attendance slips had to be kept and monks were made to write their own biography, to give their thumbprint and to sign the five declarations.   At present there are about 800 monks in the monastery but only 550 hold valid ID-cards. The work-teams have set a limit of 550 monks who can stay in the monastery; monks below 16 years have been expelled and monks above 65 years have been sent to a retirement home. It was reported that, in order to illustrate the benefits of Chinese rule in Tibet, officials at Sera took the monks on “educational” visits to Lhasa’s military hospital, modernisation projects in Lhasa, to view the restoration work at the Potala Palace and the Traditional Tibetan Hospital, and were shown video footage of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Beijing in 1956 when he welcomed China’s involvement in Tibet.  The monastery was said to be surrounded by 50 security personnel at all times with armed officials or police deployed on rooftops around the monastery during all sessions. It is reported that nine monks, plus a woman involved in an attempt by five monks to paste posters criticising the campaign, have been arrested.

• Serthar Monastery (Karze “TAP”, Ch.: Sichuan Province) - Nine monks from this monastery report that a six to seven member work-team arrived and stayed for about two months and 15 days in the monastery.  At present there are 200 monks in the monastery and no age limit or official ceiling has been fixed in the monastery, although monks need to have a valid ID-card to stay in the monastery. So far no ID-cards have been issued. Pictures of the Dalai Lama are completely banned and there have been instances where pictures of the Dalai Lama were thrown on the ground and stamped on by the officials.

• Sham Gu Monastery (Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - A work-team conducted “re-education” here in 1997 but did not stay in the monastery. At present there are about 40 monks in the monastery but with the arrival of the work-team only 30 monks above 18 years are allowed to stay. Thus far no expulsions have taken place.

• Tamug Monastery (Diru County, Nagchu Region, “TAR”) - A five-member work-team, all Tibetans, arrived in Tamug Monastery on April 7, 1997, and stayed for 48 days. On June 6, 1997, a second work-team of six members came to the monastery and left after 15 days, telling the monks they would be back. The work-teams have set a ceiling of 40 monks and expelled 10 monks who have either made a visit to India or are below the age of 18.  At present there are 35 monks in the monastery.

• Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Shigatse, “TAR”) - A 19-member work-team, all Tibetan, arrived in Tashi Lhunpo at the end of June 1995. The work-team reportedly stayed in the monastery for more than a year and conducted a series of “patriotic re-education” sessions. They returned at the beginning of 1997, saying they would be staying for two months, but they are reportedly still in the monastery. There are at present 830 monks in Tashi Lhunpo, but the official limit is 1,000 monks. The age limit set by the work -team is 13 years. During the “patriotic re-education” sessions in 1995, nine monks were expelled, 20 were arrested, and four monks left the monastery. In 1997, one monk was arrested by the work-team. There have been two cases of death in connection with the “Strike Hard” campaign.

• Thang Po Che Monastery (Nyathang County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”) - A work-team reportedly came to this monastery and nearby Pao Nunnery at the same time. There used to be 35 monks in the monastery but since the work-team’s visit there are only 21. A work-team of one Chinese and three Tibetans arrived in March-April 1996 and stayed for 17 days conducting “patriotic re-education” sessions. The work-team imposed a limit of 27 monks and all had to be aged above 18 years. During 1996, four monks committed suicide due to the pressure by the work-teams to oppose the Dalai Lama; six monks were expelled; 12 monks were placed “on probation” in the monastery and three monks left the monastery.

• Thendup Monastery (Zokhang County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) - A 12-member work-team with two Chinese and 10 Tibetan officials came twice to this monastery in 1997. They came first in May 1997 and stayed for two months and their second visit was in August 1997. There used to be 150 monks in the monastery but the work-team told the monks that if the “patriotic re-education” went well then 60 monks would be allowed to stay and if not then all the monks in the monastery would be expelled. So far no ID-cards have been issued to the monks. No pictures of the Dalai Lama can be seen in the monastery.

• Thoepa Monastery (Location unknown) - This monastery has been covered by a work-team.

• Tsakhug Monastery (Golog “TAP”,  Tso Ngon Region) - A work-team of six or seven members came to this monastery and stayed for two days. At present there are 50 monks in the monastery, but only 25, who must be above 18 years of age, are allowed to stay. The monastery authorities claim that the other 25 monks are either below 18 years old or opera dancers. ID-cards have been issued to 25 monks in the monastery.

• Tsang Monastery (Tso Ngon “TAP”) - Genphang Gyamtso (20), a monk at Tsang Monastery, reported that there are presently 650 monks in the monastery. A five or six member work-team came to this monastery in October 1997 and they have been making monthly visits. No age limit has been set.

• Tsangsar Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - A work-team has imposed a limit of 10 monks and all below 18 have been expelled.

• Tsawa Serwa Monastery (Pashoe County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”) - The work-team arrived in mid-June 1997 and asked the monks whether they had faith and belief in the Dalai Lama. The monks were ordered not to display pictures of the Dalai Lama but they refused to remove the pictures, stating that they had full faith and belief in the Dalai Lama. As a result the monastery was labelled as “Splittist”  and closed, and all 30 monks had to return to their family homes.

• Wara Monastery (Jondha County, Chamdo Region “TAR”) - A work-team came to this monastery in the October 1996 with 45 officials?42 were Chinese and three were Tibetans. There are presently 130 monks in the monastery and the minimum age limit has been set as 18 years.

• Warang Monastery (Nangchen County, Kye-Gu-Do “TAP”, Tso Ngon Region) - This monastery has not been authorised by the Chinese authorities.

• Za-Phu Khang Monastery (Selshul County, Karze “TAP”, Sichuan Province) - Tsering Samdrup, aged 17 from Sershul County in Karze Prefecture, reported that that there used to be about 400 monks in the monastery when he first sought admission and at present there are 500 monks. Out of the 500 monks, 300 monks have valid ID-cards. A work-team with 40 to 60 members comes twice a year to the monastery and a limit of 150 monks has been imposed. The other 350 monks are to be sent back to their homes. Monk below 18 years are not allowed to stay in the monastery.  Photographs of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama are banned. Monks are issued ID-cards on the payment of 30 Chinese yuan.

The total of known arrests of monks, nuns and lay people in connection with the “patriotic re-education” campaign, between May 1996 and February 1998, is 294. The reasons for arrests include: pasting wall posters in monasteries; arguing with the work-team; protesting against the work-team; possessing the Tibetan national flag; possessing a picture of the Dalai Lama and/or the Panchen Lama recognised by the Dalai Lama; failing to oppose the Dalai Lama; involvement in the Panchen Lama dispute; and refusing to sign the five political pledges of allegiance to China (see above).

Cases of arrests (by name of monastery or nunnery)

• Drepung Monastery: 13 monks are known to have been arrested during the “re-education” campaign. Ngawang Tharchin, aged 25 from Dhamshung County, was detained in September 1996. Ngawang had reportedly challenged a work-team member regarding the Chinese version of Tibetan history on four occasions and on another occasion he criticised one of the work-team member’s lack of knowledge on the subject. Another Drepung monk named Gyaltsen Yeshe, aged about 20 from Meldro Gongkar, was also arrested at around the same time for challenging the work-team. Gyaltsen raised the issue of Tibetan independence during work-team discussions and asked for historical evidence and unbiased records to prove the contrary. He was subsequently expelled and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Yeshi Jangchub of Drepung Monastery, aged 65, from Gongkor County, was detained for one month for the possession of photographs of the Panchen Lama and three prayer books. Two other Drepung  monks?Thinley Kalden of Chushul County and Ngawang Sangpo of Meldro Gongkar?were also arrested in connection with this. Thinley was released after one month and Ngawang is still in detention in Sangyip Prison.  Other Drepung monks arrested (most dates not known) were: Ngawang Choegyal (lay-name: Gyatso), aged 34 from Kham who was detained on August 20; Ngawang Lhundup of Dhamshung County; Ngawang Shakya and Jamphel Wangchuk both of Rinpung County; Phuntsok Tashi, Phuntsok Jamdhen and Ngawang Gyatso, all from Lhundup County, Lhasa City; and Ngawang Thupwang of Lhoka Danang County.  In Drepung Monastery five more monks are known to have been arrested during the “re-education” campaign and at least one of them has been sentenced to three years imprisonment.

• Tsering Chung Nunnery (Location unknown):Twelve nuns have been reportedly arrested in connection with pasting wall posters. Some of them are said to have been released but their whereabouts are not known.

• Chamdo Monastery (Chamdo Region, “TAR”): Three monks have been arrested. Two of the monks were Sonam (36) and Soepa (30), both from Tsawa-Zogon in Chamdo County, Chamdo Region, and the name of the third monk is not known. The three were arrested in March or April, 1996, for pasting a poster calling for Tibet’s independence in front of the hostel gate. It was reported that they were first taken to Chamdo Prison, where they were sentenced to two to three years, and then transferred to Powo Tramo labour camp, Powo Tramo County in Nyingtri region, where they are still being detained.

• Raeting Samtenling Nunnery (Phenpo Lhundrup County, Lhasa City): During the “patriotic re-education” sessions two nuns were arrested and two nuns voluntarily left the nunnery according to two former nuns from this nunnery.  The arrested nuns are Yeshi Palmo and Tenzin Yeshi, both aged 20. They have been sentenced to six years for pasting wall posters. At present they both are languishing in Drapchi Prison in Lhasa.  The report from these nuns also mentions the arrest of two monks from nearby Samtenling Monastery.   Sikpa Rinpoche, 22,  and Thinlay Tsuendue, 23, were arrested for pasting posters pasting in the monastery and have been sentenced to six to seven years and eight years, respectively. At present they are detained in Drapchi Prison.

• Drigung Shetra Monastery: On November 9, 1994, four monks from this monastery were arrested. Norbu (29), Rinchen Gyurme (22) and Choeje (27) were charged with hanging posters and were sentenced to five years imprisonment. Sonam Tsering (27) was arrested on charges of pasting posters in Nyima township in Meldro Gongkar County and was held in Gutsa Detention Centre, Lhasa, for two years before being taken to Drapchi Prison. He was sentenced to five years prison in June 1996.

• Sa Ngag Simbuk Nunnery (Tsethang County, Lhoka Region): A 17-year-old nun named Ngawang Choekyi from Danang, Lhoka, was arrested in March 1997 and sentenced to six months imprisonment for pasting a pro-independence poster on the wall of Sa Ngag Simbuk Nunnery in 1994. She is currently being held in Tsethang Prison in Lhoka Region.

• Ganden Monastery (Lhasa City): Phuntsok Wangyal, an 11-year-old former Ganden monk, reported arrests of about 26 monks in connection with the Ganden riots and says that the arrested monks are now languishing either in Drapchi Prison or in Gutsa Detention Centre.  The name of those arrested are listed in Appendix I. It was reported that 35 other monks were arrested, but their names are not known. The monks were arrested on May 7, or May 10, 1996.  A total of 61 monks are said to have been arrested in connection with the May incident (see earlier section for more details).

• Sera Monastery (Lhasa City): In late September 1996, 300 monks of Sera Monastery refused to sign oaths denouncing the Dalai Lama, seven monks were arrested for allegedly leading the rebellion on January 23, 1997 and all the prisoners are reported to be currently detained in an unknown prison in Lhasa. One of the detained has been identified as Dawa, but the rest of them have not been identified.  July 1996 three monks and two lay people were arrested at Sera Monastery for pasting wall posters and protesting denial of religious freedom and four other Sera monks were arrested for protesting against the work-team’s campaign. Ngawang Tharchin, aged 21 of Sera Monastery, was detained in September 1996, apparently as a result of standing up during a “re-education” session and contesting a statement that Tibet had been part of China since the Yuan dynasty. Ngawang was arrested two weeks later, sentenced without trial to three years “re- education through labour” on about October 25, 1996 and is believed to be in Trisam Prison, 10 km west of Lhasa.  Samdrup from Sera Monastery reported that eight Sera monks were arrested for different reasons. They were: Norbu, Kalsang, Lobsang Samten, Pema Gyalpo, Tashi Pempa, Ngawang Woeser, Bu Tsering and Khikyak. Bu Tsering and Ngawang Woeser were released one month after their arrest and Tashi Pempa was released in the seventh month of the Tibetan calendar (September 1997) and simultaneously expelled from the monastery. The others are reported to be in one of the prisons in Toelung County  in Lhasa City.  According to a monk from Sera Monastery, five monks from Sera Monastery and two lay people were arrested in 1996 during the work-team session. Amongst the seven, only Bhuchung from Chamdo Tengchen County is known. Bhuchung was arrested one night for arguing with the work-teams but the date of his arrest is not known. He is presently detained in a prison near Drepung Monastery.

• Ganden Choekor Monastery (Ringon, Namling County, 50 km. east of Shigatse):  There are unconfirmed reports of deaths in an incident at Ganden Choekor Monastery. A monk called Lhundrup Palden is said to have been arrested along with two of his students after he distributed a long-life prayer for Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the child recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Another unverified report said that two student monks drowned after they jumped into a river to escape from police.

• Tsawa Serwa Monastery (Chamdo Region): It has about 30 monks. Chinese authorities have accused the monks in this monastery of taking part in freedom demonstrations and generating “splittist ideas”. As a result, 16 monks and a lay person were arrested in mid-July 1997.  The known ones are: Tashi Phuntsok (25), Rizin Choephel (24), Sherap Tsultrim, Dawa Dorjee, Lobsang Damchoe, Lobsang Dechen, Ngawang Choephel, and an artist named Rigzin Dhondup. They were taken first to the district jail and held for one month and were later taken to Chamdo where they are reportedly still being detained. No sentence is known to have been passed. The source reported that some of the monks had been cut in the mouth and had been threatened with guns pointed in their face.

• Gongkar Choede Monastery (Gongkar County, Lhoka Region): Jampel Tendhar, aged 20, has reportedly been beaten and tortured by government officials since he was taken into detention in June 1997 for putting up posters around the monastery declaring support for freedom of expression. Jampel Tendhar was first detained in Tsethang Detention Centre and later moved to Gutsa Detention Centre and there is serious concern for his health and safety (see also Work-teams section above).

• Yada Monastery (Zokhang County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”): Three  monks have been arrested: Lobsang Tsering (23), Dechen (22) and Yeshi Samten (20) all originate from Zokhang in Chamdo Region. It also reported that a total of about 32 monks have been arrested and expelled from the monastery.

• Gomar Monastery (Location unknown): Gedhun Dhondup, a member of this monastery, has reported the arrest of four monks for pasting a Tibetan national flag and making a trip to India. Gonpo (27), Ngawang  (21), Cheme Lobsang (19) and Tashi Nyima (18) were arrested by the work-team on the 20th day of the 12th month of the Tibetan calendar (February 1997) and were sentenced to six years imprisonment. The whereabouts of the monks is not known but it is thought that they may be in Drayab or in Chamdo.

• Larug Monastery (Location unknown):  A monk from Serthar Monastery reported that a Larug monk named Jamyang Lodroe, aged in his 30s, from Larug Monastery was arrested in 1996, for writing “Free Tibet”. His whereabouts is not known.

• Kashi Monastery (Datse Do County, Karze “TAP”, Ch.: Sichuan Province):  Four monks from this monastery have been arrested and subsequently released. Two of the monks were Chozey, aged 25, and Thupur, aged 30, who were arrested in October 1995 for possessing a picture of the Dalai Lama. It was reported that these two were arrested at the border while returning to Tibet. Since their release they have been permitted to return to the monastery.

• Lhasang Monastery (Doeruing County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province: Two monks were arrested at this monastery for returning to Tibet after they had visited India.

• Za-Phu Khang Monastery, (Sershul County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province): According to a monk from this monastery, two monks were arrested there for raising “Free Tibet” slogans during an incense burning ceremony. The source also reported that three monks from Bur Saer Monastery had been arrested by the work-team but the details of the arrest is not known.

• Lhadro Monastery (Nyakchu County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province): Two monks were arrested in April - May 1997.  Sangye, aged 25, and Choedup, aged 27, had both visited India and were sentenced to three months imprisonment.

• Thendup Monastery (Zokhang County, Chamdo, “TAR”): A 20-year-old monk named Nyima was arrested during the incense burning ceremony (Tib: sung-sol) in November 1997 and was released after two months.

• Samye Monastery (Lhoka Region, “TAR”): Tsering Dawa, who was working at Samye Monastery in Lhoka Region during the “re-education” session arrived in India in late November 1996. He reported that in July/August 1996 a work-team was sent in to Samye Monastery to launch a “full-scale patriotic re-education” session on communist ideology and to teach the monks to “Love Country and Love Religion”. The decision to send a work-team had been sparked by an incident in June 1995 when four monks were imprisoned for pasting “Free Tibet” wall posters.  The work-team divided the Samye monks into various groups (Ch: thudyi) of 15 to 20 monks. Tsering’s brother, Tenzin Dorjee, a 25-year-old monk and disciplinary-in-charge of the dialectic class at Samye Monastery, was appointed leader of the third group. The work-team directed the monks to denounce the Dalai Lama as their enemy and to recognise fraternity between the Tibetans and the Chinese. Later the work-team distributed 10 sets of questions which the monks were asked to answer in accordance with their beliefs. (The questions are reproduced in Appendix V). After visiting his home town of Lhokha for several days, Tsering  returned to Samye on September 10, 1996. There, he says, “I found my brother missing and his whereabouts unknown. This was presumably as a result of his vehement opposition to these questions.”

• Sakya Monastery (Shigatse Region, “TAR”): It was reported that three arrests have resulted from the “re-education” campaign at Sakya Monastery . On August 23, 1996 the caretaker-monk of Sakya’s main chapel, Gendun Gyaltsen, was arrested during a political meeting after pictures and cassettes of the Dalai Lama were found in his room. After having his thumbs placed in metal “thumbcuffs”, Gendun Gyaltsen was led away by police. One week later, after his release, he was expelled from the monastery.

Often monasteries and nunneries have up to 30 per cent more monks or nuns than the prescribed limit. These monks and nuns do not have registration papers and are vulnerable to being expelled and sent back to their villages. Expulsion is a key element of Chinese authorities’ measures to combat political activity in monasteries, and following expulsion, monks and nuns usually cannot rejoin any monastic institution or other organisation.

The expulsion of 1,295 monks and nuns from various monasteries and nunneries in Tibet was recorded in 1996  and a further 1,532 expulsions of monks and nuns was recorded in 1997 . The 1997 figure represents an increase of 18.3 per cent in the rate of expulsion over the previous year and brings the total number of known expulsions for 1996-97 to 2,827 monks and nuns. During the first two months of 1998 the TCHRD recorded a further 1,146 expulsions of monks and nuns, which occurred at different times since May 1996. This makes a total of 3,993 known expulsions in connection with the “Strike Hard” campaign.

Government-imposed restrictions on entry to monasteries and nunneries varies between regions but most often the criteria are: to be over the age of 18; to love the country and love the religion” consent of parents and the local authorities; and clearance from the local PSB. The political background of the candidate and his or her parents is also relevant, although not specifically referred to.

Where a monk or nun has been arrested or imprisoned, the expulsion of that monk or nun  routinely follows. Today, monasteries in “TAR” usually have less than 10 per cent of the number of monks they had in the past, although the monasteries and nunneries in Kham and Amdo often have a higher percentage.
 

• Ganden Monastery (Lhasa City): The first wave of mass expulsions took place on August 30, 1996 at Ganden Monastery, near Lhasa, where the political education campaign had begun in May 1996 after the May incident.  It was reported that 92 monks were expelled, including 15 monks (released that day) who had been imprisoned in May following the protests at the monastery. No reasons were given for the expulsions, and the monks were simply told that they could not rejoin the monastery because they had “turned against the nation” and that they could not go to Lhasa unless they were originally from that city. The monks were subsequently given one and a half hours to pack and then escorted by officials or soldiers back to their hometown. On August 31, 1996 a second group of monks numbering around 60 or 70, most of them below the age of 15, were expelled.  There are presently about 300 monks in Ganden. This is 100 less than the official ceiling of 400 and suggests that both registered and unregistered monks were expelled. An 11-year-old novice Ganden monk named Phuntsok Wangyal reported that the expelled monks were considered to be very clever monks and that they were going to a school in the monastery. Some of those expelled had been in the monastery for as long as 30 years.

• Drepung Monastery (Lhasa City): Tenzin Bhagdo, a 23-year-old Drepung monk originally from Lhoka, arrived in Dharamsala, India in early December 1996. Tenzin reported that a full-scale campaign to “re-educate” the monks in Drepung Monastery was launched on August 2, 1996 when a work-team was sent in to the monastery. During the campaign each monk was called to a secluded place and was individually interrogated by a member of the work-team. The monks were told to oppose the Dalai Lama and to denounce the Panchen Lama reincarnation recognised by the Dalai Lama. Each monk was interrogated three times and if he did not give a satisfactory answer the third time, he would be expelled from the monastery and probably imprisoned. Tenzin was interrogated on two occasions and both times he refused to give the answers wanted by the Chinese. He left the monastery before his third interrogation for fear of imprisonment. Tenzin reported that when he first joined Drepung Monastery at age 19 there were more than 800 monks but at present there are only about 500 monks. Three hundred monks have been expelled since the “re-education” campaign was launched. He says that novice monks below the age of 16 were all expelled from the monastery and that those monks left behind were weak, aged and incapable of performing their duties to the full.  Jampel Tsering (layname: Kalsang), aged 27, and Ngawang Rinchen (layname: Tashi Delek), aged 32, both former monks of Drepung Monastery, arrived in Dharamsala on November 26, 1996. They reported that between 150 to 200 unregistered monks had been expelled in October 1996 and reported that all monks below the age of 15 or 16 and all unregistered monks were expelled.  Another Drepung monk has reported that 216 monks under the age of 15 or 16 have been expelled from Drepung Monastery in the 1996 year. He also reported that the remaining monks in the monastery had been warned that if they did not accept the five “re-education” principles they would also be expelled.

• Sa Ngag Simbuk Nunnery (Tsethang, Lhoka Region, “TAR”): It was reported that three nuns from this nunnery were expelled in March 1997 by a work-team for refusing to denounce the Dalai Lama and to accept in writing the principles laid down during the “patriotic re-education” sessions. The work-teams told the nuns to return to their respective villages and threatened them with arrest if they spoke of their expulsion to their family. They were told to say that they had left the nunnery of their own choice. The three nuns expelled were: Ngawang Woeser (26) from Gongkor; Ngawang Youdon (22) from Danang; and Ngawang Saldon (26) from Yarlung.

• Chamdo Monastery (Chamdo Region, “TAR”): A monk from Chamdo Monastery reported that there used to be 1,800 monks in the monastery but that at present there are only 1,300 monks. Of the 500 expulsions, 300 monks were expelled immediately and 200 were expelled at different times. The work-teams have imposed a limit of 800 monks in the monastery, fixed 18 years as the minimum age limit for entrance and expelled all monks under 18 years old. The monk left the monastery because he could not accept the principles imposed by the work-team.

• Tamug Monastery (Diru County, Nagchu Region): Ten monks were expelled in July 1997. Ngawang Topgyal (33), Kalsang Thokmey (23), Ngawang Khenrap (27), Ngawang Choesang (24), Ngawang Lobsang (28) and Ngawang Tenpa (23) were expelled because they had previously visited India. Donyoe Paljor (11); Donyoe Gyurmey (12); Donyoe Tsundue (11); Donyoe Choedar (11 or 12) were below the age of 18 and therefore not eligible to stay in the monastery.

• Pha Dampa Monastery (Gongkar County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”): Tashi, aged 20, and Dawa, in his 20s, were expelled from Pha Dampa. It is reported that neither are on the rolls of the monastery and, although they are still in the monastery attending religious classes, they will soon be forbidden to stay in the monastery.

• Dunbhu Choekhor Monastery or Sakya Monastery (Chedeshol, Lhoka Region, “TAR”): Tsultrim Gyaltsan, a 20-year-old monk from Dunbhu Choekhor Monastery escaped to Dharamsala, India in late November 1996. He reported that a work-team of six or seven members gave regular “patriotic re-education” classes to the monks, sometimes up to three times a day. On April 18, 1996 the monks were called for a meeting as usual and were ordered by the work-team to sign their names to a document denouncing the Dalai Lama and rejecting Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama recognised by the Dalai Lama in May 1995. The document described the Dalai Lama as a “splittist trying to split the motherland”. Tsultrim and three other monks refused to sign the document and, as a result, they were issued with a green book and expelled from the monastery (see Appendix VIII for a translation of the contents of the “green book”).  It was reported that three arrests and one death in custody have resulted from the “re-education” campaign at Sakya Monastery . On August 23, 1996 the caretaker-monk of Sakya’s main chapel, Gendun Gyaltsen, was arrested during a political meeting after pictures and cassettes of the Dalai Lama were found in his room. After having his thumbs placed in metal “thumbcuffs”, Gendun Gyaltsen was led away by police. One week later, after his release, he was expelled from the monastery.  Chinese work-teams arrived at Sakya Monastery in June 1997 and conducted “re-education” sessions. Many of the monks refused to accept the five principles (or pledges) laid down by the work-team and the following 27 monks were subsequently expelled: Phurbu Tsering, Dorjee Choegyal, Achung, Adawa, Ngawang Gyaltsen, Ngawang Choejor, Shilok, Kyikyak, Ngawang Thupten, Migmar, Jamyang, Thupten Tsering, Ogen, Sonam Dorjee, Dhonden, Jampa, Lodoe, Bhu-Nyima, Sonam Tenpa, Thupten Chogley, Thupten Thutop, Thupten Gyatso, Tsede, Thupten Monla, Ngawang Norbu, Tashi and Tashi Choesang and Thupten Gelek.

• Pha Bung Kha Monastery (Location unknown): Work-teams arrived in Pha Bung Kha Monastery in October 1996 and May 1997.

• Thendup Monastery (Zokhang County, Chamdo Region): During the first visit of the work-team 60 monks were expelled and a further 60 monks were expelled in the second visit. Eight of the expelled monks have reached India: Nyima (22); Dakpa (27); Sherap (22); Dawa (17); Nyima (18); Tsering (25); Gelek (28); and Dorjee (27). The other expelled monks are either in Lhasa or their home towns.

• Chubsang Nunnery (north of Lhasa): Work-teams arrived in Chubsang Nunnery in October 1996 and May 1997 and it is reported that about 20 nuns have been expelled.   Ven. Palden Dhondup, the 80-year-old abbot of Chubsang Nunnery, was expelled from the nunnery in July 1996 and sent back to Sera Monastery. On July 2, 1996, Dhondup, the Party Secretary of Nyang Rel village in Cheng Guan Qu (Lhasa municipality), eight of Dhondup’s colleagues, and officials from the Lhasa Religious Bureau arrived at the nunnery. The abbot and eight nuns who had been arrested on July 1 and 2, 1996 for pro-independence demonstrations in Lhasa were called for a meeting during which Secretary Dhondup threatened to expel any nun who refused to pledge allegiance to the “motherland” or engaged  in “separatist activities”. The same day Sec. Dhondup announced that the abbot was too old to carry out his responsibilities and so “relieved him of his position”. The next day Chinese officials appointed a new director of the nunnery’s “Democratic Management Committee”. Palden Dhondup was voted by the nuns as “in-charge” but he was later dismissed on the grounds that he was too “soft” and had faith in the Dalai Lama. He is presently staying at one of the colleges at Sera Monastery and the eight nuns arrested are being detained in Gutsa Detention Centre, Lhasa, awaiting sentencing.

• Lhatse Monastery (Lhatse County, Shigatse Region, “TAR”): Ngawang Jampa from Pebar County joined Lhatse Monastery in 1985. He reported that he and Bhu Chung Chung were amongst 52 of the monastery’s 75 monks who were expelled from the monastery in May 1996. Prior to his expulsion, Ngawang had made annual visits to Chamdo Monastery from Lhatse Monastery since 1992. When he visited Chamdo Monastery in 1996 he was told by officials from the Religious Bureau and the PSB that if he returned to Lhatse he would face expulsion. Ngawang’s name was subsequently withheld from the Chamdo Monastery master roll and at the same time he was expelled from Lhatse Monastery on the grounds that he was going back and forth between Chamdo and Lhatse monasteries. Ngawang’s name was deleted from the Lhatse Monastery master roll in July-August 1996.

• Lhatse Choete Monastery (Lhatse County, Shigatse Region): A 19-year-old monk named Dorjee from Lhatse County was expelled from this monastery in March-April 1997 because he would not accept the principles laid down by the work-team members.

• Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Shigatse Region, “TAR”): A monk from this monastery reported that about 12 monks were expelled from his monastery. Gyatrul Jampa Tenzin (45) and Ven. Thupten Kalsang (65) were imprisoned, then released and expelled from their monastery. Lobsang Tsultrim (16), Gedhun (25), Sonam Phuntsok (27), Lhakpa Tsering (17), Chemi Tsering (28), Tsegon Chungdak (24), Lobsang Gyatso (21), Tsering Gonpo (27), and Gelong (25) were all expelled after having to pay a fine of 3,500 to 4,700 yuan (US$450 to $600) each and are now forbidden from wearing the traditional monk’s robe. Thupten Kalsang (65) from Thogmon County was expelled from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in 1995 by work-team members.

• Jamkhang Monastery (Location unknown): It is reported that a young monk named Tatse, aged 15 or 16, and two elder monks named Thupten and Yeshi Choephel from Taktse have been expelled from their monastery. Tatse was reportedly admitted to Mangtsug (local-level primary school) School in Nagchu County and the other two monks were sent back to their respective hometowns.

• Sera Monastery (Lhasa City): Samdup, aged 17 from Thenkon Chu, was expelled from the monastery because he was declared “under-age”. Tenam Legshey reported that Sera Monastery remained closed for three days in the third month of the 1996 Tibetan Calendar (April-May 1996) due to a conflict over the displaying of pictures of the Dalai Lama. The Chinese authorities had ordered a ban on the pictures to which some monks responded by shouting: “there is no religious freedom”.

• Rabten Monastery (Sog County, Nagchu Region, “TAR”): Tenam Legshey, aged 23 from Rango town, Sog County, in Nagchu Region, was a monk of Rabten Monastery but, due to the monastery’s poor educational facilities, he took temporary admission in Sera Monastery in 1996. Tenam was later expelled from Rabten Monastery during “re-education” sessions along with the 256 monks from the monastery. Those monks who had been expelled are reportedly still in the monastery but if there is any disturbance they will not be allowed to stay. Tenam was also expelled from the rolls of Sera Monastery and told by the work-team at Sera that he could not stay in the dagyut (monastic life).

• Yada Monastery (Zokhang County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”): In March-April 1996 a work-team arrived to conduct “re-education”. The monks were told that they should not go to India, that communist China was their motherland and that Tibetan independence was hopeless. The work-team conducted classes from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., removed all photos of the Dalai Lama,  burnt all religious scriptures and destroyed statues. There were some arguments between the monks and the work-team and the monks were given one week “to re-think”. It was reported that 13 monks were subsequently expelled. Amongst them they were Lobsang Tsering (26), Tashi Lhadar (18), Pema Choephel (26), Wangyal (16) and Tempo Tsering (26), all from Zokhang County. Yeshi Samten (20), Dechen (22), and Lobsang Tsering (23) have also been expelled. The expelled monks are now doing farming jobs and are forbidden from keeping their hair short.  A total of about 32 monks have been expelled from the monastery.

• Thang Po Che Monastery (Nyaethang County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”): Six monks were expelled in April-May 1996 because they failed to oppose the Dalai Lama and were charged with being “undisciplined monks”. They were: Phuntsok Thoesang (18); Phuntsok Jampel (19); Phuntsok Thardoe (27); Ngawang Choeden (16) and Migmar (16) all from Chongay in Lhoka region and Lobsang Phegyal (17) who is from Lhasa City. Two monks were expelled from Thang Po Che Monastery in April-May 1997. They were Jampa Lodoe (12) and Gyaltsen Lodoe (13).

• Drigung Thil Monastery (Meldro Gongkar County, “TAR”): About 50-60 monks are said to have been expelled in May 1997.

• Dakkar Monastery (Pebar County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”): It has been reported that 12 monks have been expelled, because they were all new monks and the monastery had exceeded the official limit imposed by the work-team. Among the monks expelled were: Nyima Dhondup (18),  Tashi Tsering (15), Sonam Ngodup, Ngawang Palden, Nortse, Tsering Dhondup, Wangyal, Dhonden, Sonam Tsering and Sonam Tsering, all from Pember County.

• Sangchen Gyupa Monastery (Location unknown): Ngagchen Lobsang Chodak was expelled from this monastery in April 1997.

• Paengon Monastery (Location unknown): Twelve novice monks, below the age of 18, have been reported have been expelled from this monastery.

• Dagpo Shedrupling Monastery (Location unknown): About 30 monks were expelled in the eighth month of the 1996 Tibetan calendar (September-October 1996). These monks were not on the monastery’s official rolls and did not have a valid ID-card to stay in the monastery. Some of them were also below the fixed minimum age. The expelled monks were: Jampa Thinley (20), Sangri Shen, Lobsang Dakpa (12), Gyatse Shen, Chemme Dhondup (18),  Khetsun (16), Chongay Shen, Lobsang Lungtok (18), Jampa Tsering (11), Gyata Shen, Lobsang Tenzin (12), Lobsang Gyaltsen (12), Lobsang Kunga (12) from Nanga County, and Lobsang Phuntsok (12) from Nyethong County.

• Rongpo Monastery (Rebkong, Amdo Province, Ch: Qinghai Province): 200 novice monks below the age of 18 have been expelled. At present they are in a school managed by the monastery.

• Choe Tsang Monastery (Pebar County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”): 50 monks were expelled by the work-team in 1996. One expelled monk was Lobsang Tharpa, aged 24. Three other monks—Sonam Tsering, Lobsang and Phughya—were later expelled. The monks in this monastery have to pay taxes of about three to five sang (one sang equals 50 grams) of Yartsa Gunbu. As the monks cannot go themselves to pluck it they have to ask their relatives to do so.

• Lhari Daegyen Monastery (Nagchu Region, “TAR”): Seven monks have been expelled from here. Amongst them were three novice monks—Gyaltsen Jampa, Namdrol Tenzin and one unknown monk —and they have been sent to a school in the town. Four other monks expelled from the monastery were Palden, Sonam Nyima, Namkha and Sonam Gonpo because they had travelled to Drepung Monastery and come back.

• Jorog Monastery (Ch: Sichuan Province): Tashi Tsering, a 22-year-old from Ngopa Monastery, in Bathang County, Sichuan Region reported the expulsion of two monks from Jorog Monastery for arguing with the work-team members.

• Lhagon Monastery (Minya Lhagon County, Datse Do, Karze “TAP”): Four monks have been expelled in 1997. They are Dhartse (23) who was expelled in 1996 because “he did not study properly”; Karma (19) and Rinzin Gyamtso (23) who were both expelled in 1997 for arguing with the work-team; and Abu Tenzin (17) who was expelled in 1998 because he was under-age.

• Garlog Nunnery (Toelung Dechen County, Lhasa City, “TAR”): Karma Tsultrim, a 17-year-old nun, was expelled twice from the nunnery: first during the 1997 Losar (Tibetan New Year) because her name was not on the nunnery’s official rolls and then again expelled by work-team members in the summer of 1997 because she did not oppose the Dalai Lama. Karma reported that 180 of 200 nuns have been expelled.
• Wara Monastery (Jondha County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”): A monk reported that four monks were expelled from this monastery.

• Minyak Monastery (Minyak, Karze “TAP”, Sichuan Province): A Minyak monk reported that 10 monks, names unknown, were expelled in 1997 as “under-age”.

• Nyigae Monastery (Tingkye County, Shigatse Region, “TAR”): Two monks reported that about 13 or 14 novice monks below the age of 18 years had been expelled and sent to a school in Tsaendue township.

• Rabten  and Tamug Monastery (Nagchu Region, “TAR”): Nuns from Goelung Nunnery in Diru County in Nagchu Region reported that four monks from Rabten Monastery were expelled because they were underage and that four or five monks from Tarmug Monastery were expelled because they were under 18 years.

• Sandog Palrie Monastery and Nunnery (Nyingtri Region, “TAR”): When the work-team arrived in October 1996, they expelled 130 monks and nuns for not cooperating with them and refusing to oppose the Dalai Lama. The 70-year-old abbot of the monastery, Choenyi Rinpoche, was also expelled. At present there are only 20 monks and nuns. A former nun heard that the official limit has been set as low as two monks. Of those expelled, two nuns were arrested at the border to India, but were later released, and nine nuns have made it to India in the hope of receiving better religious education.

• Pebar Monastery (Pebar County, Chamdo Region, “TAR):  A monk named Apo Kha (25) from here was arrested because he had been to India and, after his release, was expelle. About 30 monks have been expelled from Pebar Monastery and about 13 monks have voluntarily left the monastery rather than face the work-team. Another monk named Thinley Tenzin (20) was also expelled because he had been to India.

• Samdrup Monastery (Karze County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province): Tenzin Dorjee, aged 15, has been expelled from this monastery. He reports that in 1997 about 100 novice monks were expelled.

• Za-Phu Khang Monastery (Sershul County, Karze “TAP”, Ch: Sichuan Province): A monk from Za-Phu Khang reported that 100 novice monks and four elder monks have been expelled. The heads of the monastery pleaded with the authorities to allow the novice monks to stay but they refused. The four elder monks were expelled for arguing with the work-teams in the monastery, including Ogyen Dorjee and Yeshi Dorjee.

• Raeting Monastery (Phenpo County, Lhasa City, “TAR”): Of the 183 resident monks, 23 were expelled for not conforming to the work-team’s principles. This included all novice monks below the age of 15.

• Gongkar Choede Monastery (Gongkar County, Lhoka Region): Nine novice monks below 15 years have been reported to have been expelled.

Monasteries and nunneries completely closed down during the “patriotic re-education” campaign include:
Samdrupling Monastery (Tsethang County, Lhoka Region, “TAR”);
Sung Rab Ling Monastery (Lhoka)
Drigung Sherta Dialectic School.

According to a tourist, the monks of Ling Khang Monastery were locked into the monastery after they refused to sign the denunciation of the Dalai Lama.  TIN reported that nuns at Shongchen Nunnery in Ngamring County, 100 km west of Shigatse, were ordered to leave their nunnery. Doalbo Monastery with only 10 nuns nearby the nunnery was also closed down. Namrab Samtenling Nunnery in Gongkar County in Lhoka Region, was closed down in March 1994 by the Religious Affairs Bureau from Tsethang, on the grounds that it was built without permission.

A monk from Raela Monastery in Nangchen County, Kye Gu Do “TAP” said that some of the monasteries in Nangchen County have been declared “unauthorised” by the work-team. They are: Lachung Monastery; Karsang Monastery and Warang Monastery.

The Chinese authorities have announced that monasteries and nunneries where monks and nuns are involved in political unrest will be closed and additionally advised the monks and nuns to “dedicate themselves jointly to the construction cause of socialist modernisation.”
 

In some cases, monks who do not meet the expectations of the work-teams during the “patriotic re-education” sessions are not immediately expelled from the monastery, but are allowed to remain in the monastery on “probation”. In most cases such monks are not allowed to seek admission to any other religious institution or organisation in Tibet while they are on probation.

At present 12 monks from Thang Po Che Monastery are on probation in the monastery: Ngawang Gelek, Tashi Tsering, Ngodup, Phurbu Tsering, Dawa Lodoe, Ngodup Tsering, Pema Tenzin, Tsering  Bagdro, Kanza, Bu Yeshi, Tenzin Namgyal, and Loyang.

During the “patriotic re-education” session, 10 monks from Gyutoe Monastery in Ramoche, Lhasa, were refused ID-cards and were kept on probation for three months. The work-teams told the probationary monks that if they observed any changes in their attitudes, in line with the work-team’s conditions, then ID-cards would be issued. The monks, all from Markham County, Chamdo Region, “TAR”, were: Sonam Tenpa (24), Thinlay Dorjee (20), Yeshi Wangchuk (25), Passang Tsering, Sonam Dhargay (23), Jampa Choyang, Jampa Choezey (22), Tuloe, Pema Namgyal (32) and Ngawang Tenzin (29).
 

Many monks and nuns have felt compelled to leave their monasteries and nunneries rather than face the “patriotic re-education” sessions conducted by the Chinese authorities’ work-team officials. In particular, monks and nuns have refused to agree to the pledge which requires them to renounce their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Also, many of those who left their monasteries and nunneries took the decision to escape into exile where there is freedom of religion and education.

During 1996, 52 monks and nuns were reported to have left their monasteries or nunneries, and during 1997 the figure was 35. Additional reports were collated in January and February 1998 revealing a total of 543 monks and nuns who were known to have left their monasteries and nunneries between May 1996 and February 1998 rather than face the work-team.

Choyang Dakpa, aged 23, from Sog County, belonged to Tsaen-Daen Monastery. He became a monk at the age of 15 years by his own choice and with the consent of his parents. A work-team arrived in his monastery in October-November 1996 and announced that the number of the monks in the monastery was too high and that it should be reduced. About 30 monks left the monastery for their respective villages rather than face the work-team and fearing expulsion from the monastery.

On July 19, 1997 about 50 monks of Dagpo Shedrupling Monastery in Gyantse, Shigatse Region, reportedly  left the monastery for their respective homes when the time came to oppose the Dalai Lama in the “re-education” sessions. Sources from the monastery had heard that work-team members had gone to some of the monks’ homes and asked them why they had left the monastery. The monks said they had been called ‘blood suckers’ by the work-team and so they left the monastery to prove they could be self-reliant. Sources also heard that a notice had been sent to all the monks asking them to return to the monastery.

A 30-year-old monk (name withheld for security reasons) had to leave Evang Monastery in Lhatse County, Shigatse Region because, according to him, “ I was told to oppose the Dalai Lama and I responded that I would never oppose the Dalai Lama as it is against my Buddhist beliefs.” The monks had overheard Chinese officials, speaking in Chinese, saying that he would be arrested and imprisoned, so the monks warned the monk and he left the monastery.  (Refer to Appendix VII for detailed list of monks and nuns who felt compelled to leave their monasteries and nunneries)
 

It was reported that in the first month of the “Strike Hard” campaign in 1996, 187 Tibetans were arrested and in October 1996, 164 people had been detained during the campaign in Chamdo Prefecture area alone. Amongst these figures, 34 Tibetans were reportedly executed in the  “TAR” region. Four of  these executions were announced in Lhasa on May 11, 1996; eight in Shigatse on May 27, 1996; four in Nyintri on July 12, 1996; nine in Lhasa on July 9, 1996; and four in Lhasa on August 6, 1996. According to an unofficial source, five were executed in Tsethang on September 11, 1996.

The rate of execution, during the campaign is relatively high in Tibet as compared to execution figures in China. Amnesty International has condemned the campaign, stating “the executions were ordered by local officials keen to impress the central authorities with their commitment to the campaign.”  As early as July 1996 the human rights monitoring group declared that the execution toll was “far higher than as reported in the official press… the number is shocking and will only serve as a fuel to violence and vengeance.”

The following are reports of 14 deaths (not executions) in Tibet from May 1996 to February 1998 in connection with the “Strike Hard” campaign.

In July 1996, Dorjee (family name: Khangtsiri), aged 66, died after he was beaten by members of the People’s Armed Police and the PSB.

There are unconfirmed reports of deaths in an incident at Ganden Choekor Monastery in Ringon, Namling County, 50 km east of Shigatse. A monk called Lhundrup Palden is said to have been arrested in November or December 1996 along with two of his students after he distributed a long-life prayer for Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the child recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Another unverified report said that two novice monks from the same monastery drowned after they jumped into a river to escape from police.  A source from the monastery said that the monks had committed suicide because they could not bear the work-team interrogations and the “patriotic re-education” campaign.

On May 7, 1996 a Chinese work-team arrived at Ganden Monastery, tasked with removing all photographs of the Dalai Lama. The monks refused to co-operate, sparking off a riot (see earlier section). One monk, Kelsang Nyendrak, died after being shot by Chinese authorities.
 

A monk named Jamyang Thinley, 30 years old, originally from Tsawa County and belonging to Chamdo Monastery, was arrested in connection with pasting up a poster in front of the gate of the Chamdo Monastery hostel. Jamyang and three other monks were first taken to Chamdo Prison, where Jamyang was badly tortured by the jail officials. As a result Jamyang suffered brain damage and died in prison two months after his arrest.

It was reported that four monks from Thang Po Che Monastery died during the 1997 work-team sessions. They were Lobsang Gendun (70), Ngawang Sherap (50), Choe Dakpa (nickname) (50) and Ngawang Lobsang (60). These monks reportedly died under pressure from the work-team to oppose the Dalai Lama but exact details are not known.

A monk from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery named Wangdu, aged 24 from Thongmon in Shigatse, was first arrested by the work-team in 1996 during a meeting to oppose the Dalai Lama and Chadrel Rinpoche (the head of the Chinese search team for the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama who was later imprisoned for allegedly communicating with the Dalai Lama in exile). Wangdu failed to go along with the work-team and later he was found dead after allegedly committing suicide in the eastern part of the temple (Tib: Choekhang Shar).

A monk from Datsang Monastery reported that Lama Choedup Tulku (monastery not known) died due to stress imposed by the work-team.
 

Certain restrictions have been imposed on people visiting the Tsug-lha-khang (also called the Jokhang, Lhasa’s main temple). Visitors are not allowed to circumambulate after 6 p.m. and the entry at the gate is restricted after 7 p.m.

In a meeting of “TAR” county leaders held in March 1997, the “TAR” Party Secretary, Chen Kuiyuan, said that all people working in government departments are strictly forbidden from performing last rites, religious prayers and all those activities that are performed in “total blind faith”. He also announced that they would not be permitted to visit monasteries during Tibetan New Year or other religious holidays.
 

On May 14, 1995 Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was proclaimed as the true reincarnation of the late 10th Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama. Just days after the announcement, on May 17, 1995, the boy (who was six years old at the time) and his parents disappeared. On December 8, 1995, the Chinese authorities appointed another boy as the 11th Panchen Lama, but he is not recognised by the Dalai Lama.

To this day the whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents are not known. However, on May 28, 1996, China finally admitted that the young boy and his parents were being held in custody. The Chinese government claimed that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was “in danger from Tibetan separatists in exile” and that the parents had appealed to the government for protection.

Despite repeated appeals from the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, the United Nations and other concerned governments and international bodies, China has refused to provide any information on Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, or to allow an independent observer to see the boy and his parents and to confirm that they are alive and well.

Soon after the announcement on May 14, 1995, Chinese military were sent to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse?the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas?and a series of arrests were carried out in connection with the reincarnation issue. Chadrel Rinpoche, then the abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and the Chinese-appointed leader of the search committee for the reincarnation, was detained in May 1995 and accused of having communicated with the Dalai Lama in exile regarding the choice of the reincarnation.

Almost two years after his disappearance, Chadrel Rinpoche was sentenced on April 21, 1997, to six years imprisonment and deprivation of political rights for an additional three years on charges of “conspiring to split the country” and “leaking state secrets”. At present he is imprisoned in a top-secret cell in Chuandong No. 3 Prison in Dazu County in Sichuan Province, China.

To date, more than 80 people have been arrested in connection with the Panchen Lama reincarnation issue. On April 21, 1997, Champa Chung was sentenced to four years and Samdrup was sentenced to prison for two years on charges of “disclosing state secrets” and “conspiring to split the country”.

On March 15, 1996, four student monks, Damchoe Gyatso (27), Jigme Tendar (29), Phuntsok (25) and Damchoe Kalden (31), were taken from their quarters in Kumbum Monastery. They were accused of producing posters and leaflets condemning China’s intervention in the search for the Panchen Lama.

Phuntsok, the deputy head of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery’s “Democratic Management Committee”, has been held in detention since July 1995. Tendor, a monk of Gyudpa Monastery, was arrested on the night of May 16, 1995, and held incommunicado in Nyari Prison in Shigatse. Gyatrul Jampa Tenzin, Chairman of the DMC, was arrested on the same day. Ven. Thupten Kalsang was expelled from the monastery after being detained in prison for one year. Penpa died of heart failure and Wangdu (24) committed suicide because he was not able to bear the pressure of the work-teams.
 

It is reported that pilgrims to the sacred Mount Kailash in western Tibet must pay three yuan per circumambulation. Special Chinese officers have been appointed to collect the tax and they are stationed in tents around the mountain’s circumambulation path.

Some monks and nuns must pay tax in the form of Yartsa Gunbu. In some cases the monks and nuns must pay three to five sang (one sang is equivalent to 50 grams) of Sinensis to their local “Democratic Management Committee” and, as the monks cannot go to pluck the plant themselves, they must ask their relatives to get it for them.

If any monk wishes to go for a meditation retreat, he must seek special permission from the local and county officials. For example, in the Lhoka Prefecture, a monk must seek permission from the authorities of the Shen (county), Shang (township) and the Zhou (region). They must pay a tax of three yuan per month and 30 yuan for a year and the monks on retreat must also have valid ID-cards.

Taxes have been extended to hermits who live in small shelters, such as shacks or caves, surviving on alms. It is now required that hermits seek permission from the county authorities in order to go for retreat. If granted permission, a sum of 30 yuan (about US$3.50) is charged for the pass: 10 yuan for land; five yuan for road-tax; 15 yuan for water; plus some fire wood must be given. An additional tax of three yuan for senior hermits per month and six to 20 yuan for new hermits must be paid.

A monk from Choede Monastery says that monks in the monasteries in the Karze “Tibetan Autnomous Prefecture” have to pay tax. This tax depends on the size of the monastery. A small monastery has to pay a fine of 500 Chinese yuan and the bigger monasteries have to pay 1,000 Chinese  yuan.
 

This report finds that Tibetans’ right to freedom of religion, a right that has international recognition, is being systematically and extensively denied. Closing the doors of Tibet’s religious institutions is a major step in a massive campaign?a “total war” in the Chinese government’s own words?against Tibetans’ most sacred beliefs: in their Buddhist religion, in their spiritual and temporal leader the Dalai Lama, and in their independent national identity.

The pervasive interference with religious practices and beliefs constituted by the “Strike Hard” and “re-education” campaigns is connected with the denial of a variety of other human rights of Tibetans in Tibet. Arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment, restrictions of freedom of speech, expression and political opinion?these are all abuses associated with China’s religious policies.

Religious repression is additionally, and perhaps most importantly, inextricably bound to the denial of Tibetan people’s fundamental rights to self-determination and to maintain their own cultural life. Tibetans in Tibet are being denied the right to determine how they practise their religion and, by association, how to structure their social and cultural growth.

The accounts compiled in this report reveal violations of internationally recognised human rights to religious and other freedoms on the part of the People’s Republic of China and represent an immediate and critical threat to the Tibetan people and their cultural identity. As such, the United Nations and the international community are urged to place pressure on the Chinese authorities to:

• Halt policies of religious repression and persecution including the forceful “patriotic re-education” campaign.

• Respect the right of Tibetans to worship their spiritual and temporal leader, the Dalai Lama, and Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the true reincarnation of the Panchen Lama as recognised by the Dalai Lama.

• Stop the practice of expelling and/or arresting monks and nuns for their adherence to their own religious beliefs.

• Stop imposing age limits on entrance to religious institutions.

Release immediately and unconditionally the nine-year-old Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as well as those detained in connection with the Panchen Lama re-incarnation issue, for example, Chadrel Rinpoche