Washington DC, December 9, 1996 (ICT) -- Ngawang Choephel, the Tibetan Fulbright scholar arrested last September, is reported to be held in solitary confinement in Lhasa's Sangyip prison. This is the first confirmed report of Choephel's exact whereabouts since he was reported to have been moved to Lhasa.

Sangyip is a grouping of prisons facilities 3 kilometers north of Lhasa which are technically labeled as "laogai," labor camps by China. Sangyip is one of the original prison facilities in Lhasa. Built at the base of a mountain, it has maintained an active quarry for construction materials for decades.

Choephel is likely to be held in Seitru, a part of Sangyip used for state security prisoners. Gendun Rinchen, a tour guide held for 8 months in 1993/94 in solitary confinement at Seitru before being released without trial. There is still no indications that Choephel has been formally charged or tried.

The report was received by the International Campaign for Tibet from sources in Tibet, and was confirmed through separate sources by the Tibetan Government in Exile earlier this morning.

According to one report, Choephel was brought to Sangyip on Oct. 16, over a month after the unconfirmed report that he had been moved from Shigatse to Lhasa. That report said that he was being held in cell #2, row #3. The other report said he was being held in cell #3.

Repeated requests by a number of governments and members of Parliaments, including many members of the U.S. Congress for information about his whereabouts, health and status have not been answered. The only official confirmation came on October 15, 1996, in a letter to Members of Congress from Shao Wenguang, Counselor, Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. The letter accused Ngawang of being sent to Tibet with American funding by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile "to gather sensitive intelligence" and to engage "in separatist activities." It said that Ngawang is "suspected to have violated Article 4, Section 2(5) of the National Security Law," a possible capital offense.