For Immediate Release: Contact: Bhuchung Tsering

Karen Davis 202.785.1515

Washington, D.C. May 6, 1996: - Dr. Tenzin Choedrak, a 74-year-old Tibetan who underwent 17 years of imprisonment in Tibet and China, will be testifying before the United States Congress on Wednesday, May 8, 1996. He will be addressing the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights of the House International Relations Committee, which is holding a hearing on Victims of Torture at 2 p.m. that day.

Dr. Choedrak became one of the personal physicians to the Dalai Lama in 1954. In the wake of the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising, he was arrested in Lhasa where he was held without charge. From 1959 until 1976, he was incarcerated in several prisons in Tibet and China, including Jiuzhen Prison, which was a part of China's dreaded gulags.

Dr. Choedrak will give a detailed account of the torture methods used by the Chinese government during his incarceration as well as information on cases of torture in Tibet today.

The hearing takes place just days after the United Nations' Committee Against Torture passed a severe stricture on China's treatment of prisoners. In its concluding remarks after examining China's second periodic report on implementation of the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Geneva last week, the Committee said, "The special environment that exists in Tibet continues to create conditions that have resulted in alleged ill-treatment and even death of persons held in police custody and in prison."

What: Hearing on Victims of Torture

Where: Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building

When: May 8, 1996 (Wednesday) at 2 p.m.