Submitted by: tibetlondon@gn.apc.org (Tseten Samdup)

UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Fifty second Session Agenda Item 8

Oral Statement by Mr. Gendun Rinchen on behalf of United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation 9 April, 1996

Eight-months Solitary Confinement in Tibet

Mr. Chairman,

On 1 June 1993, the European Community members States said they (I QUOTE) "were deeply concerned by reports of arrest of Tibetans, including that of Gendun Rinchen and Lobsang Yonten, before and during the visit to Tibet" (UNQUOTE) and requested that (I QUOTE) "the Chinese authorities should release those detained at once" (UNQUOTE).

My name is Gendun Rinchen. I am one of the Tibetans referred to in that demarche. I was arrested in May 1993 just before the arrival of the European Community delegation, after the police found an English typewriter and a letter I had written for the delegation, in my room in Lhasa. I was accused of (I QUOTE) "stealing State secrets" (UNQUOTE), a very serious charge in present-day China.

Mr. Chairman, what was more unusual about my case was that I was not tortured, physically. This must also have been due to the prompt action by the EC Ambassadors to secure our release. However, other methods were used to contain or punish me, which I would describe as the mental form of torture. For example, I was detained for eight months in solitary confinement in Sic Chu Prison, near Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

Although international minimum standards outline differently, in my case, it was more than 240 days of solitary confinement, without legal protection. 240 days, Mr. Chairman, which is 5,760 hours. Solitary confinement was used to torture me mentally and to keep my detention a secret, in my case. It was an attempt to stop information about a well-known prisoner reaching the outside world and to prevent me from communicating with other prisoners.

The cell was dirty and from the floor upwards it was covered with spit, shoe prints, and blood. It had two windows, and one was allowed to be opened. For the first three months, I was forbidden to look at any other prison mates. These are the realities which the Chinese delegation in this room, including Tibetans do not speak about truthfully.

For instance, when I was taken out of my cell for interrogations, the prison guard would order me to walk straight and not to look here and there. I saw other prisoners being forced to face the wall if I happened to walk past them. I was let out in the sun for about 15 minutes a day at that time. Sometimes a prison guard would mark out a space of 2 yards by 3 yards on the ground and I was allowed only to walk within this space during the "exercise" period. This is the reality of the human rights of political detainees in Tibet or China although the Chinese legal system paints a totally different picture.

I have been told that the Chinese authorities have spoken in this room about the many wonderful facilities provided for prisoners in Tibet. However, these so-called "facilities" exists only in paper. When I recited prayers, for example, sometimes I was caught doing it. The guards warned me that this was not allowed in the prison. Furthermore, I was not allowed to see any visitors or talk to other Tibetan prisoners during my eight months of solitary confinement.

In the beginning, when the interrogators failed to make me confess, the guards would come to my cell and would warn (I QUOTE) "it is better to confess and go home; otherwise there is not other way to free yourself from the prison" (UNQUOTE). The interrogators would (I QUOTE) "when you see the black hole of the gun barrel, it is too late to think about confessing" or "when you see the coffin it is too late to repent" (UNQUOTE).

Mr. Chairman, for other political prisoners in Tibet who are not known to the outside world, solitary confinement is used in combination with torture. In Drapchi and Gutsa prisons in Lhasa, there are many tiny dark cells where prisoners can be kept with their feet and hands shackled. These detainees are forced to stand the whole time. The cell is so small that a prisoner cannot sit down; there is not enough space for him or her to bend their knees. It is like they are trapped in a vertical coffin. There is a small hatch in the door with just enough space to pass a mug through. This hatch is kept bolted from the outside. You can only tell day from night by counting the times when food and water are given.

These political prisoners have no bedding or blankets. Diarrhoea is a common disease in the prisons. Many prisoners lose control of their bowels within a few days of confinement, and clothes get filthy and stinking due to diarrhoea. They are not allowed to change their clothes. Medication, for example, is unheard of during solitary confinement in Drapchi and Gutsa prisons. In most cases, medication is not given when asked for. A prisoner is scolded for complaining of illness. Those who face solitary confinement suffer kidney, liver, spine and joint complications. A few prisoners suffer from paralysis while there have been 12 known cases of deaths.

At the Trisam Prison in Lhasa, there is a building with eight small rooms used for solitary confinement. Each room is approximately two square metres and has no windows. Prisoners are kept chained by their wrists and ankles.

They are not let out for "exercise.

Mr. Chairman, another kind of solitary confinement was becoming common practice in Tibet, especially at police stations when I left. This was to put the prisoner in a room with concrete walls and a tin roof, for varying lengths of time; from 12 hours to several days, often without food and water. Sometimes the prisoners were stripped naked and kept in one of these cells, which became uncomfortably hot in the day, but with temperatures falling below zero at night, especially during winter.

I was able to collect reports of many such cases of torture and ill-treatment in Tibet for about six years until I escaped into Nepal in May 1995 (after my release). It is hard for an outsider to get any information about the real situation in Tibet, particularly on the human rights of political detainees. Today, as a free man and by informing this Commission about the true conditions of prisons in Tibet, I believe that I have fulfilled one of my obligations to safeguards the rights political prisoners in Tibet.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I take this opportunity to appeal to this Commission, on behalf of all the political prisoners in Tibet and China, to adopt a strong resolution on China, at its present session. Such an international action will definitely send a clear message to the Chinese authorities and similar governments that they can no longer suppress human rights of detainees and human dignity with impunity.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.