A display of pro-independence posters in a remote area of eastern Tibet has led to a campaign by police against suspected dissidents resulting in at least five reported arrests, in the course of which one Tibetan is said to have received a seven year prison sentence, one monk has been partially paralysed, and another has disappeared for 10 months.

The police crackdown, known in Chinese as a "Striking A Powerful Blow" campaign, believed to have been running for the last three months, was declared a success in a local paper last week in southern Gansu province. The campaign had sought "to expose organisations [and] to strongly overthrow cases of underground activity", said the Gan-lho Sang-gyur, an official party paper in its 1st September edition.

The crackdown, which has led to at least two appeals from local Tibetans for international intervention, follows the appearance of illegal posters in March this year in Ngulra, a town in Machu county in southern Gansu, and in Xiahe, 150 km north of Ngulra, in May.

Local Tibetans said the crackdown was also linked to large-scale military exercises which ended on 16th September in a rural area 15 km north of Xiahe. 3,000 Chinese troops are reportedly taking part in the exercise, which began three weeks ago, a move which some local Tibetans say is intended as intimidation after the pro-independence posters appeared at Labrang monastery in Xiahe, called Sangchu in Tibetan.

Labrang is one of the most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism, closely associated with the Dalai Lama's Gelugpa school and in particular with the Panchen Lama. Properly known as Labrang Tashikyil, the monastery, which held 5,000 monks before 1950, now has over 500 monks and is ranked as a Chinese national monument, attracting large numbers of Chinese tourists as well as foreigners. The monastery is situated in Amdo, the former north-eastern province of Tibet, an area which is now part of a Tibetan autonomous prefecture called Gan-lho or Southern Gansu (Gannan in Chinese), in Gansu province.

This is the first report of pro-independence activity in the Gan-lho area since a monk was detained for putting up posters in July 1993. A number of Labrang monks were jailed for giving out pro-independence leaflets in March 1990 and five were detained in 1987 for listening to tapes of the Dalai Lama.

- "Paralysed" -

One monk detained in the 1995 crackdown is said to be partially paralysed as a result of police treatment. The monk, Jigme Gyatso, who comes from Tsayu township in Xiahe, was detained on 19th May by the Xiahe County Police on suspicion of involvement in putting up the posters at Labrang monastery. He was not allowed to sleep when first taken into detention, and was beaten very badly by a "young policeman who was drunk", according to an unconfirmed report. It did not name the policeman.

"After the beating Jigme couldn't move his arms and legs," said the source, who cannot be identified. "When police suspected that he was going to die they demanded money from his parents before they would release their son," said the source, who claimed that the parents had to pay 1,000 yuan in return for his release.

"When he came out of the prison his mind wasn't clear and he still couldn't move his limbs," said the source, adding that the prisoner appeared to be suffering from some form of brain or neurological damage. Doctors at the Xiahe County Hospital are said to have refused to treat him because of his political record, and Jigme Gyatso had to be taken to the Traditional Tibetan Medical Hospital for treatment.

Police later say that they found a copy of a speech by the exile Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, in the monk's room but appear to have discontinued their case against the monk after his condition deteriorated. The arrest has been criticised by a large number of Tibetans in the area, many of whom visited the monk while he was in the local Tibetan hospital. In an appeal issued on 25th August and just received in Europe one Tibetan in the area called on international organisations to hold an enquiry.

"In our opinion the Xiahe County Police have violated human rights," said the appeal, which was signed with a pseudonym. "They have also acted illegally according to Chinese law. We call on international organisations as well as the central Chinese authorities to investigate this case," it said, adding that the police had minimal evidence to link the monk to the posters.

- Seven Year Sentence for Drolkar Gyap -

The police crackdown seems to have been a response to the appearance of pro-independence posters in Ngulra and Labrang, resulting in a wave of investigations, searches and arrests.

On 1st September the authorities in Xiahe announced that the "Striking A Powerful Blow" campaign had "brought results" in its attempt "to strongly overthrow cases of underground activity". The Xiahe County Police had "made great strides in achieving social stability" and had "struck a blow against the problem", according to the Gan-lho Sang-gyur, the Tibetan language version of Gannan Xinwen, the official paper for the area, which made no explicit reference to political dissent.

"The article means that Xiahe county police suspected that a political movement existed in the form of underground organisations associated with the independence of Tibet and that they have destroyed a few," said the source. "They justify their actions by claiming it is being done for the preservation of social stability," he added.

The campaign led to increased surveillance in Labrang monastery, where a number of undercover police were installed, and to harassment of local people who speak foreign languages, according to the source, who said that in some cases people seen in the street after midnight had been beaten or briefly detained by police.

At least one layman, Drolkar Gyap, written in Chinese as Zhong Gejia, has been arrested in the crackdown. Drolkar, a 26 year old male from Machu county (written in Chinese as Maqu) in Southern Gansu, was detained in June 1995 for "political reasons", according to a report from China.

Unlike the other reported cases, Drolkar Gyap has already been tried and sentenced, receiving 7 years for his unknown political offence. Drolkar Gyap who was a student of Tibetan language at the North-West Minorities Institute in Lanzhou, according to one report. Another source said he was a teacher who returned last year from spending two years in India teaching at a school for exile Tibetans.

- Ngulra Posters -

Another monk, Konchog Jigme, from Ngulra in neighbouring Machu county, was arrested by the Xiahe County Police in June on suspicion of involvement in putting up posters in Ngulra in March. A search of his room in Labrang was carried out in June by Xiahe police, who are said to have found a video tape and some books connected to the Dalai Lama.

Konchog Jigme, a member of the administration of Labrang monastery and well regarded for his religious expertise, is said to have been badly beaten. He is still in prison, according to the source, who said last week that despite spending three months in detention he had not yet been charged.

A third man, Konchog Choephel, also believed to be a monk from Labrang monastery, was detained by police for similar reasons, but no further details are available about him.

- Benza Trinley: Missing for 10 Months -

Another suspected activist from Labrang, detained several months before the crackdown, is still missing, according to several reports. Benza Trinley, a 26 year old monk from Labrang, disappeared after a trip to Lhasa, over 1,000 km. west of the monastery. He was detained by police in Xiahe in November 1994 after he returned from the Tibetan capital, where he is said to have been searching unsuccessfully for his brother, who had recently run away from Labrang. No news has been heard of Benza since, apart from a rumour that he may be in custody in Tsoe, knwon in Chinese as Hezuo, about 60 km from Labrang.

Reasons for his detention are unclear, but one source notes he had been forbidden to leave Labrang following an earlier detention in 1993, while another source claims that police had accused him of having sent his brother to India on "a political mission".

Benza Trinley had been detained in Xiahe for two months in July 1993 for "counter-revolutionary activity" after pro-independence posters had appeared on walls in Labrang Monastery, as well as on various shops and government offices in the district. Benza, also known as Badza, did not confess to involvement in the poster campaign and was released on condition that he would be available for further questioning at any time, and on condition that he would not leave the area.

Last week friends of Benza Trinley who have since escaped to India called on Amnesty International and other human rights groups to appeal for his release from custody.