EMBARGOED UNTIL FRIDAY, MAY 23
POLITICAL PRISONERS SMUGGLE LETTER OUT OF TIBET CLAIMS OF TORTURE, "CRUEL AND INHUMAN TREATMENT"
Torture is the only method of interrogation used in Tibet, according to a letter written by political prisoners at Drapchi prison in Lhasa and recently smuggled out of the country. The prisoners des cribe the treatment they receive in the prison as "cruel and inhuman".
The Australia Tibet Council is releasing the text of the letter to coincide with today's arrival in Australia of Chinese Vice-Premier Zhu Rongj.
The letter is dated 10 March 1997, which was Tibetan National Uprising Day, and also the opening day of this year's session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The letter is an appeal to "people of the world who love and support truth, peace, democracy and human rights".
The Drapchi prisoners say that "cruel and degrading methods of torture are inflicted to extract confessions. These include: deprivation of food, water, and air; confinement in a freeze room; setting guard dogs onto prisoners and the use of electric cattle prods".
"On political grounds prisoners are required to denounce from their heart His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibetan freedom, and to pledge their love for the Communist Party ... If the prisoners refuse to accept these principles, they are subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment using all torture instruments: beating with iron rods, sticks, iron padlocks and cuffing of hands and feet for many days without any food."
The prisoners claim that they do not have beds, are forced to eat rotten and contaminated food, and are deprived of access to medical treatment.
The 153 political prisoners at Drapchi are aged from 15 to 70 years, and are serving sentences ranging from 1 to 19 years. Most are Buddhist monks and nuns arrested for taking part in peaceful demon strations. There are currently 1018 known political prisoners in Tibet.
Releasing the letter today, Australia Tibet Council President Ms Alex Butler said: "This letter has been written by the very people that the Howard Government abandoned when it dropped its co-sponsorship of a resolution criticising China at last month's UN Human Rights Commission session in return for more trade and a visit by Zhu Rongji.
Their hopes of an improvement in their conditions or an early release from prison have been diminished by Australia's action."
These latest allegations are consistent with reports published over the past 10 years by human rights agencies including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Asia. They indicate that there has been no improvement in human rights conditions in Tibet as a result of the policies of "engagement" adopted by Australia and the United States in recent years.
The prisoners' letter was smuggled out of Tibet into India, where it was translated from Tibetan into English by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. A copy of the English language translation is attached.
Australia Tibet Council can also provide more detailed information on individual political prisoners at Drapchi, as well as a list of the names of all 1018 known Tibetan political prisoners.
Further information:
Australia Tibet Council:
Alex Butler 03 9499 1841 Paul Bourke 0419 420 526
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Dharamsala, India:
Liz Cossor 91 1892 22457 or 91 1892 22510 (Liz Cossor is an
Australian human rights lawyer currently working at TCRC)
