From: World Tibet Network News, Saturday, July 15 1995

By Edward Roussel, Fugue d'Ete

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The Commune of Brussels, which controls the center of the Belgian capital, agreed to work with Amnesty International for the release of Namdrol Lhamo, a Buddhist nun imprisoned in Tibet. Lhamo was sentenced to six years in jail in 1992 for taking part in a peaceful demonstration in favor of Tibetan independence.

Her sentence was extended to 12 years in 1993 after officials discovered she and 13 other nuns had recorded a cassette tape of songs dedicated and distributed to sympathizers outside the jail. "In adopting the case of Namdrol Lhamo, the Commune of Brussels wants to show its opposition to the violation of human rights in China and the rest of the world" the commune said in a statement , issued to journalists on July 10.

The Burgomaster of the Commune, Francois-Xavier de Donnea, will visit the Chinese Embassy in Brussels to protest against Lhamo's incarceration. The Commune will also ask the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to push for Lhamo's release, or at the very least, obtain information about her state of health.

The Commune will work with Amnesty to try to raise the awareness among citizens in Brussels about Lhamo imprisonment. The case was brought to the attention of the commune by a voluntary group of 11 Amnesty members, which have been working on the release on Lhamo since the start of the year. The group, called Fugue d'Ete, plans to lobby the Belgian government to put pressure on Chinese authorities to release Lhamo and the other nuns imprisoned with her at the Drapchi prison in Lhassa. Fugue d'Ete members hope to persuade other European cities to adopt other nuns imprisoned with Lhamo.