World Tibet Network News Tuesday, May 05, 1998 (I)

TIN News Update / 1 May 1998 / total no. of pages: 2 ISSN: 1355-3313

News has reached TIN of changes in sentence for two high-profile prisoners in Tibet. Rinzin Wangyal, who in 1995 was given a 16-year sentence on political charges, has had his sentence extended to life, while Jampa Ngodrup, a doctor accused of espionage in 1989 after compiling a list of Tibetans detained in pro-democracy demonstrations, has had his sentence reduced by a total of three years.

Unofficial reports from Tibet say that Rinzin Wangyal had his sentence extended to life imprisonment, meaning 20 years, inside Drapchi prison last October. Fifty-one year old Rinzin, who was nearly three years into a 16-year sentence for suspected involvement in political activities, is now reportedly imprisoned in Tramo, Tibet's Number 2 prison, which is 250 km east of Lhasa and which is believed to house a number of other political prisoners with long sentences.

The extension order on Rinzin's sentence came from the People's Intermediate Court and was approved before Rinzin could initiate an appeal to the High Court, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala. Although the reason for sentencing Rinzin within the prison is not known, it is likely to have been that he had committed a breach of prison discipline which can include involvement in political activities.

His sentence was extended in the same month as protests by prisoners in Drapchi during and after the visit of a United Nations delegation. Some prisoners were reportedly beaten and put into solitary confinement as a result of disturbances following the visit of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to the prison on 11 October 1997. Security in Drapchi was later said to have been increased, with prisoners and also Tibetan cadres being watched carefully. It is not known whether these incidents had any connection with the extension of Rinzin Wangyal's sentence.

In recent years several other inmates have been sentenced within Tibetan prisons for political offences. Lodroe Gyatso, a 33-year old member of a dance troupe who was serving a 15-year sentence in Drapchi prison for murder, had his sentence extended by six years after he took part in a prison protest in March 1994. On 17 May 1990 two Tibetans serving life sentences for murder at Drapchi prison were executed after being charged with joining a secret pro-independence group in the prison. Although the authorities claimed that Dawa and Migmar Tashi had planned to escape, internal court documents obtained by TIN show that they received the death sentence mainly for their political activities.

Rinzin Wangyal, a former construction worker in an electricity unit in Lhasa, had already served a long prison term, also in Drapchi Prison, between 1967 and 1983 for allegedly organising an underground movement. He was later offered a job at the Geographical Department due to his knowledge of Tibetan and Chinese, but was demoted from this position to that of a labourer in a cement factory due to his "wrong political views". He was arrested for the second time in August 1995 and accused of involvement in a political movement aimed at disrupting the anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region on 1 September 1995. He was sentenced three months later. In spring 1996 Rinzin Wangyal was refused permission to see his wife Sonam when she fell seriously ill and was admitted to the Lhasa People's Hospital. Recent unofficial reports say that she is still alive but continues to be in a poor state of health.

Rinzin Wangyal's brother Tsedor was executed in 1970 after he was accused of forming an underground movement, and his brother-in-law Karma Gelek has been in prison since 1994.

Jampa Ngodrup

Jampa Ngodrup, a 53-year old doctor sentenced to 13 years in prison in 1990 for copying out the names of Tibetans who were injured or arrested during pro-independence demonstrations, has had his sentence reduced by a total of three years. The Tibetan doctor, who is believed to be imprisoned in Drapchi, Lhasa, is now due for release on 19 October 1999. The decision to reduce Jampa Ngodrup's sentence first by one year and then by an additional two years was announced in an official document published in 1995, which said that he had shown "signs of repenting". Since 1995, the Chinese authorities have reportedly made no further reference to the reduction in sentence although Jampa Ngodrup is a high profile prisoner whose case has been taken up by Western non-governmental organisations and governments.

He was found guilty of giving a Tibetan woman named Lhamo Yangchen the names of some people arrested during the pro-independence demonstration of 5 March 1988. Because Lhamo Yangchen was a foreigner, the doctor was regarded as being involved in espionage. Ngodrup's second offence was to make a copy of a list of people injured and arrested during the independence demonstrations in December 1988, which was also passed on to Lhamo Yangchen. He was detained by police in Lhasa on 20 October 1989 and held for ten months without charge until he was formally "arrested" on 13 August 1990. The new sentence decided by the authorities is from 20 October 1989 to 19 October 1999, a total of ten years including detention before arrest.

Despite a reference in the 1995 official document to his health being "normal", reports received by TIN in that year indicated that his body was bloated from severe water retention and that he was unable to walk without the help of crutches due to ill-treatment in prison. He was also thought to be suffering from tuberculosis.

TIBET INFORMATION NETWORK - 188-196 Old Street LONDON EC1V 9FR UK

TIN UK - ph: +44 (0)171 814 9011

fax: +44 (0)171 814 9015

email: tin@tibetinfo.net

TIN USA - ph:+1 (0)307 733 4670

fax: +1 (0)307 739-2501

email: tinusa@wyoming.com

Web site: http://www.tibetinfo.net