Dear Friends,
Here are some recent articles and an urgent appeal from WTN about the Chinese imprisonment of my friend and many of yours'. Any help, as described below, is urgently needed. Thanks,
Ann
RECENT ARTICLES IN WORLD TIBET NEWS ABOUT NGAWANG CHOEPHEL
1. URGENT ACTION APPEAL - Appeal for Ngawang Choephel
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Dharamsala, India, October 22, 1996 -- After a year and one month's imprisonment, China has at last officially acknowledged the detention of Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan musician living in exile, who travelled to Tibet in July 1995 to make a documentary film on traditional Tibetan music and culture.
Mr Shao Wenquang, Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, while responding to an enquiry by Senator James M. Jeffords of Vermont, said, "We have learned that, funded by some Americans, Ngawang Choephel was sent by the Dalai Lama's "Government-in-exile" to Tibet, used the cover of so-called collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities. His activities are suspected to have violated Article 4, Section 2 (5) of the National Security Law of the People's Republic of China."
Ngawang Choephel was first seen being brought by two prison officials at Nyari Detention Centre in Shigatse on September 16, 1995 by an exiled Tibetan businessman Dorji Rinchen. Ngawang, a 29 year-old Tibetan Fulbright scholar at Middlebury College in the United States, visited Tibet to research Tibetan folk music and dances. His visit was purely a cultural and there was no indication of his involvement in any political activities.
China's accusation that Ngawang Choephel was sent by the Tibetan government-in-Exile is totally baseless and refutable. The charges arising out of their assumption are totally in disregard to international law and a crass violation of human rights. China's acknowledgement of Ngawang's detention after a year's imprisonment confirms the arbitrary detention of Ngawang without trial and further reinforces the arbitrary and politicised nature of the Chinese justice system. We are dismayed by the fact that the Chinese authorities have accused Ngawang without proper investigation.
The true motive of Ngawang's visit to Tibet has been testified to by concerned people who have assisted and funded him to undertake research on traditional Tibetan music and folk dances.
Tibetans are concerned with the safety and freedom of Ngawang Choephel.
China's accusation of Ngawang's "engaging in illegal separatist activities and violating China's law" may endanger his life as a result of torture and inhuman prison condition. We therefore appeal to you to urge the Chinese authorities to immediately release Ngawang Choephel.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/fax/airmail letters expressing your concern about the safety and freedom of Ngawang Choephel. Urge China to immidiately and unconditionally release Ngawang Choephel as the reasons given for his arrest are totally groundless.
Write APPEALS to:
H.E. Li Peng Zongli
Premier of the People's Republic of China
Guowuyuan
9 Xihuanchenggenbeijie
Beijingshi - 100032
People's Republic of China
Telexes: 210027 FMPRC CN or 22478 MFERT CN
Fax: +86 10 512 5810
H.E. Shao Wenguang
Counselor
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue
N.W., Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 328 2509 Fax: (202) 234 4055
Gyaltsen Norbu Zhuxi, President
Tibet Autonomous Region
1 Kang'angdonghu
Lhasa City - 850000
P.R.C.
Telexes: 68014 FAOLT CN or 68007 PGVMT CN
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FOR MORE INFORMATION please contact:
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
Narthang Building
(First Floor)
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala (HP)
India
Ph: +91 1892 22457/22510
Fax: +91 1892-24957, E-mail: diir@dsala.tibetnet.ernet.in
Released by TIBETAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
Department of Information and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala
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2. This is the text of the letter sent to the Chinese embassy by Congressman Sanders and Senator Leahy on Ngawang Choephel
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Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515
October 22, 1996
His Excellency Li Dauyo
Ambassador
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008
Dear Ambassador:
Thank you for responding via your Counselor, Shao Wenguang, to Representative Sanders' letter of September 15 regarding the detention and treatment of Ngawang Choephel, a former resident of our state of Vermont. As you know, thousands of Americans are keenly interested in Mr. Choephel's fate, including several hundred of our Vermont constituents and the 50 other Members of Congress who joined us in contacting you.
We appreciate the information provided in your Counselor's letter.
However, that letter also raised a number of important questions which he did not address. Therefore, on behalf of our constituents who are concerned about Mr. Choephel, we respectfully request answers to the following questions:
1. How is Mr. Choephel's health?
2. Where is Mr. Choephel being held?
3. Does Mr. Choephel have a regular access to a private attorney?
4. Has Mr. Choephel been formally charged with a crime? If so, what are the charges?
5. What is the evidence against Mr. Choephel?
6. Who are the Americans alleged to have conspired with Mr. Choephel to, as Mr. Wenguang wrote, "gather sensitive intelligence" in Tibet, and what is the evidence of their involvement in such a conspiracy?
7. When will Mr. Choephel be brought to trial, and how will the trial be conducted?
Your prompt response to these questions would be greatly appreciated.
Along with other Americans of goodwill, we want very much to pursue close, friendly and productive relations between our peoples and governments, but cases like that of Mr. Choephel continue to be a source of widespread concern.
Sincerely,
Bernard Sanderst Patrick Leahy
Member of Congress U.S. Senator
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3. Appeal from the Assembly of Tibetan people's Deputies to the Parliamentaries Worldwide.
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Oct 19, 1996
The Members of Parliament
On behalf of the Tibetans in and outside of Tibet, we appeal the members of Parliament for solidarity of our stand to safeguard the freedom and human rights to all. Despite the claim of the Republic of China to honour freedom and human rights, the arrest of Mr. Lui Xiaobo unveiled the truth on 8th October 96, who expressed his views that the Tibetans should be granted Self-Determination to the people of Tibet and for this open negotiation with H.H. the Dalai Lama.
In world's present political scenario, whether it may be or may be in the interest of the Chinese authority, many parliamentarians, NGO's, human rightist, scholars and great thinkers including the Chinese in and outside of China are extending their support to the views of Mr. Lui Xiaobo to settle the Sino-Tibetan problem.
Therefore, we appeal to all the Parliamentarians and the International community to:
1) Support and appreciate Mr. Lui's bold and righteous step.
2) Condemn his arrest and pressurise the Chinese to release him immediately.
3) Stop torturing and prosecution of nuns and monks by forcing them to accept the will and wish of the Chinese authorities through so called Re-education and search for H.H. the Dalai Lama's portraits in Tibet.
With warm regards,
Assembly of Tibetan People's Deputies
Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala
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1. Chinese acknowledges the detention of Tibetan musician
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Dharamsala, 22 October 1996 (DIIR) - For the first time, China has officially acknowledged the detention of Ngawang Choephel, the Tibetan Fulbright scholar and musician, who was arrested in Tibet by the authorities last August when he was doing research on Tibetan folk music and dances.
In response to an inquiry by Senator James M Jeffords of Vermont, Mr Shao Wenguang, counselor of the Chinese embassy in Washington DC, said, "We have learnt that funded by some Americans, Ngawang Choephel was sent by the Dalai Lama's "government in exile" to Tibet, used the cover of the so-called collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities. His activities are suspected to have violated Article 4, section 2 (5) of the National Security Law of the People's Republic of China."
"The Chinese accusation that the Tibetan Government in exile has sent Ngawang Choephel is only an excuse for his further detention," said Mr Tempa Tsering, the secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamsala.
"There is nothing new in this allegation. Many Tibetans have been arrested and tortured by the authorities in Tibet on the pretext that they have been sent by Dharamsala," Mr Tempa Tsering said.
"Ngawang Choephel, a talented musician went to Tibet on his own volition, to do research on Tibet's folk and secular songs and dances before they are lost forever," said Mr Tempa Tsering.
"We challenge the authorities in Tibet to produce Ngawang Choephel before an impartial international tribunal so that Ngawang Choephel could defend the charges levelled against him either on his own or assisted by a competent lawyer," Mr Tempa Tsering said.
"Right now, our main concern is the safety and the health of Ngawang Choephel. We appeal to the international community to urge the Chinese leadership to release Ngawang Choephel immediately. We know and the Chinese authorities know that Ngawang Choephel's only crime is the crime of trying to preserve the rich Tibetan musical heritage which the Chinese have sinicized to suit their claim over Tibet," Mr Tempa Tsering said.
Ngawang Choephel was an important member of the Dharamsala based Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. Since his school days he has been a music enthusiast. Between 1993 and 1994, he won a Fulbright scholarship to study and teach ethnomusicology at Middlebury college in Vermont, where he impressed a lot of his American colleagues by his dedication and musical talents.
In 1995 he went to Tibet to produce a documentary film on the state of traditional Tibetan music. He was arrested by authorities in Shigatse, Tibet's second largest town in August 1995.
The fact that he might have been arrested by the authorities in Tibet was first known to Ngawang Choephel's mother who lives in South India. Since then there has been a sustained international campaign to obtain his release.
Department of Information and International Relations Central Tibetan Administration Gangchen Kyishong Dharamsala 176 215 INDIA
5. China confirms detention of Tibetan Fulbright scholar
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Beijing, Oct 22, (AFP) - China has confirmed the detention since August of a Tibetan Fulbright scholar and musician, Ngawang Choephel, for "separatist activities," the Office of Tibet in London said Tuesday.
The confirmation, following an enquiry by US Senator James Jeffords, came in a statement from, Mr Shao Wenguang, counselor of the Chinese embassy in United States.
"We have learnt that funded by some Americans, Ngawang Choephel was sent by the Dalai Lama's `government in exile' to Tibet, used the cover of the so-called collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities," Shao said.
The Tibetan government in exile, based in the Indian town of Dharamsala, strongly denied that it had sent Choephel on a spying mission and dismissed the Chinese charges.
"The Chinese accusation ... is only an excuse for his further detention," said Mr Tempa Tsering, the secretary of the exiled government's department of Information and International Relations.
"Many Tibetans have been arrested and tortured by the authorities in Tibet on the pretext that they have been sent by Dharamsala," Tsering said, adding that Choephel had visit the Himalayan region as a musician "on his own volition".
Choephel, a member of the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts was granted Fulbright scholarship 1993 to study and teach ethno-musicology at Middlebury college in the US State of Vermont.
"Right now, our main concern is the safety and the health of Ngawang Choephel," Tsering said, adding that his crime was "trying to preserve the rich Tibetan musical heritage which the Chinese have sinicized to suit their claim over Tibet"
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6. Tibetan musician under investigation by Chinese Authorities
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By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- A Fulbright scholar who returned to his native Tibet to research musical traditions is under investigation by Chinese authorities for allegedly spying and promoting Tibetan independence.
In a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, China confirmed it is investigating Ngawang Choephel, who has been missing for more than a year.
The letter, from the Chinese embassy in Washington, was sent to Sen. James M. Jeffords, a Vermont Republican, who wrote to enquire about Choephel's status.
The embassy alleged that Choephel had been sent to Tibet by the exiled government of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, with financial support from Americans whom it did not identify.
It said Choephel "used the cover of so-called collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities."
The letter said Choephel was suspected of having broken China's National Security Law and judicial authorities were handling the case.
It did not say whether Choephel is in custody. The exiled Tibetan government has said Choephel was arrested in August 1995 in Shigatse, Tibet's second largest town.
Choephel studied and taught ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Vermont in 1993-94 on a Fulbright scholarship. He was affiliated with the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama's government is based.
A statement from the exiled government said Choephel went to Tibet on his own volition to film a documentary on Tibetan music and research Tibetan "songs and dances before they are lost forever."
Sen. Jeffords, in his letter to the embassy, said Choephel's trip was "purely cultural, not political."
Choephel reportedly was traveling on an Indian identity card that listed him as a Tibetan refugee: His family fled Tibet in 1965 when he was 2 years old. The Chinese government does not recognize the certificate.
China sent its army into Tibet in 1950 and formally took over the country a year later, claiming it historically was Chinese territory.
The Dalai Lama and other senior clergy members fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising.
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7. China says Tibetan scholar was U.S.-funded spy
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By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuter) - China has detained a Tibetan-born Fulbright scholar on charges of spying for the Dalai Lama's exile government, the Chinese embassy said in a letter to members of Congress made public on Tuesday.
The embassy said it had learned that Ngawang Choephel, last seen in Tibet in September 1995, had been using the cover of collecting Tibetan folk songs to spy and take part in illegal separatist activities in his Himalayan homeland.
"We have learned that, funded by some Americans, Ngawang Choephel was sent by the Dalai Lama's 'government-in-exile' to Tibet, used the cover of so-called collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities," embassy counsellor Shao Wenguang wrote.
In a letter to Bernard Sanders, an independent congressman from Vermont who was one of the moving forces behind a congressional petition on Ngawang's behalf, the embassy added that Ngawang was suspected of violating Article 4, Section 2(5) of the Chinese State Security Law, an espionage statute.
"The judicial department of the Tibetan Autonomous Region is handling his case according to law," Shao Wenguang wrote on behalf of Ambassador Li Daoyou in the October 15 letter.
Embassy officials did not respond to requests for comment on Ngawang's health and any plans to put him on trial. The State Department had no immediate comment on the case.
The International Campaign for Tibet, a Washington-based group that monitors human rights, said Ngawang had been filming a documentary about traditional Tibetan music and dance that he feared would be lost because of alleged Chinese efforts to swamp Tibetan culture. He was arrested in a market in Shigatse, Tibet, on or about September 15, 1995.
China frequently accuses the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of the more than six million Tibetans and winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, of fomenting anti-Chinese uprisings in Tibet, which Chinese troops entered in large numbers in 1950.
Ngawang, a refugee brought up in southern India, had travelled to the United States for his Fulbright, a U.S. Information Agency-funded programme, on an Indian Identity Certificate, according to the campaign for Tibet.
The campaign said Ngawang "did raise money for his cultural project from private sources in the United States," but the government in exile, based in Dharamsala, India, denied that he had been sent to spy in Tibet.
"Many Tibetans have been arrested and tortured by the authorities in Tibet on the pretext that they have been sent by Dharamsala," Tempa Tsering, a government spokesman, said in a statement relayed by the campaign.
Until its letter to members of Congress, China had made no mention of the fate of Ngawang, despite appeals from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a wide range of others.
Sanders and Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, asked Ambassador Li in a letter on Tuesday to name the Americans alleged to have conspired with Ngawang.
"Along with other Americans of goodwill, we want very much to pursue close, friendly and productive relations between our peoples and governments, but cases like that of Mr Choephel continue to be a source of widespread concern," they wrote.
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8. Tibetan activists to step up efforts for detained scholar
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WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (AFP) - Exiled Tibetans opposed to China's rule over their Himalayan homeland plan to step up a campaign on behalf of a Tibetan scholar whom China has now acknowledged detaining.
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is "trying to see if members of Congress will take up this case and ask (China) for evidence," said ICT official Bhuchung Tsering.
"We're also trying to see what action the United Nations can take" on behalf of Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan music scholar who disappeared in Tibet in September 1995, he said.
In a letter to a US congressman dated October 15 and circulated Tuesday, Shao Wenguang, a counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Washington, said Chinese authorities believe Choephel was sent on a US-funded spying mission in Tibet.
"We have learned that, funded by some Americans, Ngawang Choephel was sent by the Dalai Lama's 'government-in-exile' to Tibet, where he used the cover of collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities," Shao said.
The letter failed to say where Choephel was being held or whether he had been formally charged with any offense.
Choephel, who was studying in the United States on a Fulbright scholarship, is suspected of violating a broad security law against acts aimed at overthrowing the socialist system or stealing state secrets for an enemy, Shao's letter said.
Human rights groups and several dozen members of Congress have pressed the Chinese government for more information about Choepel, who is believed to have been transferred to a prison in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in the Indian town of Dharamsala, strongly denied earlier Tuesday that it had sent Choephel on a spying mission.
Tsering, who knew Choepel in Dharamsala, said the young man would be an unlikely spy in any event, describing him as introverted and scholarly.
"He wasn't very outgoing," Tsering said. "He was more interested in his own performing arts tradition than in politics ... He's a scholar and a musician, not an activist."
Choephel, a member of the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, was granted a Fulbright scholarship in 1993 to study and teach ethno-musicology at Middlebury college in the northeastern US state of Vermont.
Tempa Tsering, secretary of the exiled government's department of Information and International Relations and no relation to Bhuchung Tsering, said his primary concern was Choephel's well-being.
"Right now, our main concern is the safety and health of Ngawang Choephel," Tempa Tsering said, adding that his only crime was "trying to preserve the rich Tibetan musical heritage which the Chinese have (suppressed) to suit their claim over Tibet."
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9. The US State Department today issued a press guidance to its media division on responding to enquiries on Ngawang Choephel's case.
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The US has said it shares the concern of the American public on Ngawang Choephel.
The key messages were:
"In the absence of any evidence that he has committed any crime, we urge the Chinese and the Tibetan Autonomous Region authorities to release Ngawang Choephel immediately.
"We have no information that Mr. Choephel was involved in anything other than pursuing his professional interests in the field of ethnomusicologist, the non-violent video-taping of traditional Tibetan dances. He is a trained ethnomusicologist, and video-taping of a dance is not incompatible with his profession. The US is concerned, as the Secretary stated in his September 25 meeting with Deputy Premier Qian, about the preservation of Tibet's unique cultural, linguistic and religious heritage."
