Published by: World Tibet Network News Thursday, September 17, 1997

DHARAMSALA, 17 September 1997

On 10 September 1997, the granting of prison term reductions or parole for 132 prisoners in the "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR") was reported by Xinhua, China's official news agency. Judges from the regional Higher People's Court and the intermediate People's Court of Lhasa have reportedly granted prison term reductions or parole to the prisoners, all detained in "the Regional Prison in the northern suburb of Lhasa." A court official in Lhasa reportedly told the Western news agency Reuters that 111 of the prisoners had been granted early release and that two of the prisoners who had received a commutation of their sentence had been serving prison terms for counter-revolutionary charges.

"The release of any political prisoner is greatly welcomed and encouraged," said Mr Lobsang Nyandak, Executive Director of TCHRD, but added, "Unfortunately, China's gesture appears directed more towards deflecting international censure than any real improvement in the situation for the more than one thousand Tibetan men, women and children who are arbitrarily detained in Tibet."

The prison referred to by the Chinese report appears to be the prison known as "Drapchi", named after the neighbourhood in Lhasa where it is located in the north-eastern outskirts of Lhasa. Officially known as the "TAR's" No. 1 prison, Drapchi is the only "prison" acknowledged by the Chinese government in Tibet. It is known to hold 253 political prisoners and is infamous for its appalling prison conditions and ill-treatment of political prisoners.

An "excited" inmate called 'Ciwang' (Tibetan: Tsewang) is quoted in the Xinhua report as saying; "[t]he government has provided us with good conditions for reform in the prison" and that he had learned to weave wool carpets during his imprisonment. Other sources from Tibet report no such vocational training in Drapchi. They say male prisoners in Drapchi are put to work growing vegetables, labouring in construction sites and quarries or repairing automobiles and that prisoners who fail to satisfy Drapchi's fixed annual production quotas are subjected to torture sessions.

In an appeal letter signed "From all political prisoners of Drapchi Prison, 10th March 1997" and smuggled out of Tibet, the prisoners report; "In prison, 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." In 1996 there were reports of two Tibetan political prisoners dying after torture sessions while in Drapchi prison.

According to the Xinhua report, 'Ciren Lamu' (Tib: Tsering Lhamo), a female prisoner sentenced for "endangering state security" (the term which has recently replaced "counter-revolutionary crimes") says "[t]he living conditions and food in the prison are very good here. I will continue to strengthen my reform here". Other sources say female and sick inmates of Drapchi are required to collect human excrement or do tailoring work and in their letter of appeal Drapchi prisoners write; "Political prisoners have no bed, instead they must use rubbish cloths as their bed. Political prisoners are forced to eat rotten and contaminated food and no one has the rights to appeal for their good health Political prisoners are regularly subjected to forced blood extraction and intensive exercises."

As at the end of 1996, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy had a list of 1018 known political prisoners in Tibet. The release of two such prisoners leaves at least 1016 still languishing in Chinese prisons and detention centres across Tibet.

As in the past, China's grand gesture is carefully timed to offset international criticism of its human rights record. Early this year, as governments deliberated whether to sponsor a resolution on China at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in April, Beijing announced that it would give "positive consideration" to ratifying the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Many governments accepted this as positive progress towards an improvement in China's adherence to international human rights and decided it need not be discussed before the UN. No more has been heard from China on the matter.

The Xinhua announcement came just one day after a group of German parliamentarians announced that 1800 prisoners in the "TAR" are being detained for breaking national security laws, 200 of these being monks and nuns. The seven members of the parliamentary subcommittee on human rights and humanitarian aid held a news conference after spending three days in and around Lhasa. Said one delegate of their visit to Drapchi, "The visit to the prison was totally set up. There were a couple of prisoners weaving carpets. It was very obvious that the prisoners were not allowed to look at us."

The German delegates said officials had admitted that "so-called political prisoners" accounted for 11 percent of those imprisoned in Tibet - a rate times larger than the rest of the China. When asked about torture the officials gave contradictory answers but the delegation said that such items were in clear evidence in the prison.

The release of Tibetan prisoners is also a timely forerunner to a visit by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, due to travel to Tibet after Beijing in October this year. The Working Group has previously identified specific cases of arbitrary detention in Tibet and called on China to remedy the situation.

"Of the 111 prisoners released only two were political prisoners, both of whom had nearly completed their prison terms of four and five years. The reduction in prison terms of the two political prisoners by three and four months is a meaningless gesture on the part of Chinese authorities," said Mr. Nyandak of TCHRD. He added; "There are individuals serving prison sentences of up to 28 years. China should realise that real improvement in the human rights situation in Tibet can be achieved only by respecting the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people and releasing all prisoners of conscience in Tibet."

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy is gravely concerned at the continuing arbitrary detention of more than one thousand political prisoners in Tibet. Forty-three of these are known to be serving more than 10 years in prison as a result of voicing their political opinions. TCHRD is also alarmed at the innumerable reports of torture, mistreatment and deaths in Chinese prisons in Tibet. We call on the People's Republic of China to abide by international standards regarding prison standards and access of prisoners to legal representation and fair trials and to allow open and genuine access to prisons in Tibet.

Contact: Elizabeth Cossor

Tenzin Chokey

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