Tibet Information Network - 12 June1996

A 13 year old boy was interrogated and beaten by troops in reprisals for taking part in a protest at a major Tibetan monastery near Lhasa and is now in custody, according to unofficial reports from Tibet. The boy, a novice monk, was among at least 60 Tibetan monks from Ganden monastery who were arrested last month after resisting official demands that photographs of the exiled Dalai Lama be removed.

One of the monks who was shot when troops fired into the monastery from surrounding mountains during reprisals for the protest has now died from his wounds. Kelsang Nyendrak, aged 40, died several days after a bullet entered his lower back, according to unofficial sources in Tibet. Several hundred other monks remain in hiding, at least five of them with bullet wounds, and between 61 and 90 are in prison.

The Chinese authorities are now offering 5,000 yuan ($600) as a reward for information about the monks who are in hiding, and have issued a general ultimatum saying any "splittists" involved in violence, together with those hiding them, must give themselves up to the police before 30th June.

The raid took place at Ganden monastery, 40 km east of Lhasa, on 7th May, the day after hundreds of monks threw out a team of Chinese officials who had instructed the monks to take down pictures of the Dalai Lama on display in the monastery.

Video footage obtained by TIN this week shows dozens of monks running down the mountainside as escaping Chinese officials drive away from the isolated hilltop monastery. Later, groups of jubilant monks can be seen cheering and shouting "Tibet is Independent" and "Long live the Dalai Lama" in the monastery.

At 8.40 on the evening of 6th May, six hours after the monks' protest, ten truckloads of troops drove towards the monastery, but stopped well short of the monastery buildings, according to a Tibetan eyewitness. The troops then took up positions on surrounding hillsides overlooking the monastery, and at about 10pm began shooting at random into the monastery.

The next morning soldiers fired warning shots with automatic weapons as teams carrying riot shields and batons entered the monastery before arresting at least 61 monks, who were taken away in handcuffs. "They took down the photographs of the Dalai Lama from all the temples of the monastery and threw them on the floor, and kicked them and walked all over them", said the eyewitness, who has asked not to be named.

A further 25 monks were arrested on 10th May, according to an unconfirmed report, which said that by 16th May, when Chinese officials convened a formal meeting at the monastery to condemn the protestors, there were less than 50 monks left. "They were either old or sick", he said, "All the other 700 monks had either been arrested or had escaped".

Chinese officials have confirmed that Ganden monastery is now closed for "re-structuring and re-organisation". Two western tourists who were able to obtain official permission to visit the monastery on 23rd May had to surrender their cameras to the police guarding the area before entering. The tourists said they saw no monks in the monastery, which they described as looking like "a dead fortress".

Five other monks with bullet wounds are known to be amongst those in hiding in Tibet, three of them shot in the leg or buttocks, and two shot in the hand. A sixth monk, a 52 year old teacher at the monastery, is in hiding in a critical condition after being severely beaten around the head.

CHILD MONKS DETAINED

40 of the arrested monks are now known to be in Gutsa detention centre, 4 km east of Lhasa, and the names of 26 are known. At least three are under 16 years of age and one, Gelek Jinpa, is described as 14 years old, meaning that he is 13 years old by the western method of counting age.

Gelek Jinpa, whose lay name is Tenzin Dawa, comes from the village of Serkhang in Taktse county. After the 6th May protest he was interrogated and beaten six times by police in the monastery before he was taken to Gutsa prison on 16th May, according to separate sources in Lhasa. Another of the detainees was a 15 year old novice monk named Gyatso Rinchen.

The report of his arrest, the 74th case of a Tibetan juvenile detained for a political offence in the last six years, comes five days after China escaped criticism from the UN for its practice of detaining child dissidents. Last Friday the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child concluded its four yearly assessment of China without referring to the widespread imprisonment of child dissidents. After pressure from its Russian delegate, the Committee also omitted from the written record its earlier expression of concern about the disappearance of the disputed Panchen Lama.

CHECKS IN LHASA HOUSES

Tension remains high in the capital Lhasa, where government employees, probably the majority of the population, have been required to give a signed statement saying how many Dalai Lama photographs they possess, according to an informed source in the city.

Neighbourhood committees, which have responsibility for urban residents who are not government employees, have been collecting the names of residents who have relatives living in exile in India, and there are continuing reports of police teams visiting private houses late at night to check for photographs. In the countryside, meetings have been taking place for some months warning people to remove Dalai Lama photographs, and in May rural officials have been telling villagers that they cannot hold gatherings.

Tibetans from outside the capital are also coming under stricter control, and hotels in Lhasa are now fined 100 yuan ($12) for any Tibetan guest who has not shown an identity card.

On 1st June, the day which this year marked the Sagadawa or anniversary of the Enlightenment of the Buddha, government officials were instructed not to take part in the ceremonies, and checkpoints were placed from 30th May on roads leading to Drepung and Sera monasteries on the outskirts of Lhasa to prevent monks entering the city during the festival.

In the early morning of 1st June military trucks with motorcycle escorts patrolled along the river every 10 minutes carrying armed squads, and Tibetans who took part in the main celebrations, which consist of walking along the Lingkor or "outer circuit" around the old city of Lhasa, were filmed from daybreak by a video camera mounted on a police vehicle positioned besides the telecommunications centre, which overlooks the Lingkor.

At 11am on 30th May, two days before the festival, a parade of convicted prisoners was held in Lhasa, the third such parade since 9th May, when Tibet launched its version of the China-wide "Strike Hard" campaign against crime. The parade consisted of three trucks, each carrying five prisoners with police guards, who were being taken to a public sentencing rally in a local stadium, according to some reports, some of which claim that a monk from Ganden was amongst the prisoners.

"Before they used to announce executions in the Polo Lingka, and now, in May, the stadium is open again and they have started using it to announce death sentences," one Tibetan resident told TIN, saying that Beijing had become more confident since avoiding a censure motion in the UN in April.

"Now they are announcing death sentences in the stadium it is if they are starting the Cultural Revolution again," added the Tibetan, who asked not to be identified.

"In the face of [the Dalai clique's] interference and sabotage, we must remain solemn and adopt forceful measures to ensure Tibet's stability, social tranquility and sustained, rapid and healthy development," TAR's Party Secretary told cadres on 18 May, according to the BBC Monitoring Service.

LIST OF 26 MONKS DETAINED FROM GANDEN MONASTERY AFTER A PROTEST ON 6TH MAY 1996.

Religious name Lay name Age

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Yeshe Rabten Sangye Tseten 25 yrs

Gyatso Rinchen Lobsang Choegyal 15 yrs

Thubten Ngawang Ngawang Kelsang 23 yrs

Jampa Tsultrim Gyurme Tenzin 25 yrs

Tenzin Khedrup Tashi Dorje 44 yrs

Tenzin Norbu Yonten Gyalpo 25 yrs

Dragpa Kunsang Karil [dkar ril] 41 yrs

Ngawang Joglang Thubten Nyima 25 yrs

Lobsang Tenzin Dawa Tenzin 37 yrs

Phuntsog Dondrup Tsering Bagdro 32 yrs

Jampa Thamdoe [mthar 'dod] Gyatso 26 yrs

Lobsang Pelgye ['phel rgyal] Dondrup Kelsang 25 yrs Lobsang Khetsun Lobsang

Dawa 22 yrs

Phuntsog Rabjor Tsering Thubten 16 yrs

Khedrup Tenzin Lobsang Dawa 22 yrs

Gelek Jinpa Tenzin Dawa 14 yrs

Phuntsog Serthub Tashi Lhundrup 23 yrs

[name not known] Bu-yak 19 yrs

Phuntsog Thosam Tsering Bagdro 32 yrs

Ngawang Palden Dawa 27 yrs

[name not known] Tamdrin 22 yrs

Khedrup Gelek Jamyang Dondrup 42 yrs

Ngawang Donden Phuntsog Yonten 21 yrs

Lobsang Tenpa Lodroe 19 yrs

[name not known] Pasang 20 yrs

Ngawang Konchog Dragpa Tenzin 19 yrs

These monks are currently held at Gutsa Detention Centre, Lhasa. The names of at least 35 others arrested are not known. The monks were all arrested on 7th May or 10th May 1996. Ages are given by the Tibetan method of counting.