For immediate release

Contact: Bhuchung Tsering

February 22, 1996 John Ackerly - (202) 785-1515

Fulbright Scholar Detained in Tibet While Filming Traditional Music

Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan Fulbright scholar who studied at Middlebury College, is reported to have been detained in Tibet while making an amateur documentary video film about traditional Tibetan music. Mr. Choephel was expected to return to India, and then to the U.S. in the fall of 1995 to complete the film.

The report of his detention came from an eyewitness in Tibet who provided the information to the Human Rights Desk of the Tibetan Government in Exile. It is unknown whether Mr. Choephel is still in Chinese custody or not. It is not uncommon for Tibetans to be detained and imprisoned without any formal charges for many months while the case is being investigated. It is during this time, when the prisoner is being questioned, that the most intensive torture and abuse routinely occurs.

Mr. Choephel, 30, had raised funds in the U.S. to make a film on the cultural and historical context of oral traditions in Tibetan music. His funding proposal said that "being born Tibetan, I feel that I am responsible for preserving the history and diversity of Tibetan oral tradition." While Mr. Choephel's proposed film was purely cultural and had no political content, he drew attention in Tibet from local authorities who often questioned him, and ultimately detained him.

Friends of Ngawang Choephel in the United States describe him as a highly motivated individual whose main love in life is music. He studied and taught ethnomusicology at Middlebury before leaving for Tibet, his homeland. His family had fled Tibet in 1965 when he was 2 at the onset of the Cultural Revolution.

On one occasion during his tour of Tibet, musicians agreed to be filmed performing traditional song's for Mr. Choephel, even though the local police had not granted permission for filming, according to Kathryn Culley, an American photographer who traveled with Choephel during the early part of his trip. Ms. Culley had accompanied Mr. Choephel to help with the film, but she said "inside Tibet things went a bit differently than planned. Ngawang was pretty nervous about being there, and it showed."

When Ms. Culley left Tibet on August 22, Mr. Choephel had told her that he planned to visit Shigatse and look for musicians there. Soon thereafter, tourists were ordered to leave Lhasa and Shigatse because of the Panchen Lama controversy, and Mr. Choephel may have been detained during that time. He was reported to have been detained in Shigatse.

As a refugee, he has no passport, and traveled on a Indian Identity Certificate to the U.S.. However, the Chinese government does not recognize the Indian Certificates which designate the holder as a "Tibetan refugee" and requires Tibetans to use "Overseas Chinese" travel papers when visiting or returning to Tibet.

He was first reported missing by his mother, who traveled from southern India to Delhi to inquire about him. The funds he had raised in the U.S. were expected to last until October or November, 1995.

The news of his reported detention spread quickly amongst his friends and acquaintances in the United States. Students and faculty at Middlebury College are organizing events and a publicity campaign on his behalf. Mr. Choephel was one of 125 Tibetans who have studied in the U.S. since 1988 as part of a Fulbright program approved by the U.S. Congress.

Professor Jay Pillay, an ethnomusicologist who was Mr. Choephel's advisor at Middlebury, is convinced that he would not have been detained if he were a Western tourist video-taping music. "It seems that it is a different ball game altogether for a Tibetan refugee to do this," he said. "Ngawang was a scholar who was genuinely concerned about preserving all forms of Tibetan music. At this point, we feel that time is of the essence, and we are simply doing all that we can."

Mr. Choephel's case highlights the insecurities faced by Tibetans who return to Tibet. Officially, the Chinese government welcomes Tibetan exiles to come back. However, it is well known amongst Tibetan exiles that they are often subject to heightened surveillance and scrutiny.

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Still photos of Mr. Choephel in Tibet and a demonstration video made for fund-raising purposes are available to media.

The International Campaign for Tibet is a non-profit human rights and environmental monitoring and advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.