World Tibet Network News Tuesday, May 12, 1998

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Body Shop (over 1400 shops in 30 countries) has launched its international "Make Your Mark" campaign on May 11th in Atlanta, Georgia -- featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama as keynote speaker. The campaign is a

collaborative effort with Amnesty International.

In the US and Canada the Body Shop has chosen to support a young defender named Ngawang Sangdrol. Ngawang is a 21 year old Tibetan nun who is serving an 18 year sentence for expressing her opinion. In a unique call to action, we are asking our customers to make their mark by leaving their thumbprint on the world's

first thumbprint petition. At the end of the campaign, we will gather all the thumbprints collected nationwide and arrange them into a giant portrait of Ngawang. Your thumbprint is a strong statement of your individuality. In a symbolic act of solidarity, each individual's mark will come together to make a louder and stronger call for human rights. We will also be asking customers

to sign postcards urging Ngawang's immediate and unconditional release.

Ngawang Sangdrol, a Buddhist nun in Tibet, is 21 years old. She was first arrested in 1990 at the age of 13 for participating in a non-violent demonstration calling for Tibet's independence from China. The demonstration lasted less than five minutes. She was held for four months.

Ngawang was arrested again, at age 15, after staging another demonstration calling for Tibetan independence. She was sentenced to three years in jail. While serving her sentence, a cassette recorder was smuggled into the prison. Ngawang and 13 other imprisoned nuns recorded pro-independence songs and messages onto the tape. The tape was smuggled out of prison and circulated

secretly in Tibet. For composing and recording songs inside Drapchi prison, Ngawang's sentence was increased to nine years.

On the tape, each nun dedicates a song or poem to their supporters. "We are beaten and treated brutally" sings one, "but this will never change the Tibetan people's perseverance." Tibetan political prisoners are often tortured or ill-treated, in violation of Article 5 of the UDHR, which prohibits torture and

ill treatment.

Despite her suffering, Ngawang Sangdrol continued to proclaim her beliefs. In 1996, while suffering punishment for a breach of prison rules, she shouted "Free Tibet." As a result, Ngawang and four other nuns who were also being punished were reportedly beaten by guards.

Ngawang was subsequently singled out for severe punishment. She was held in a solitary confinement cell with reduced food rations for several months. In July 1996 her prison sentence was doubled to 18 years, the longest sentence passed on a woman political prisoner in Tibet. If Ngawang serves her full sentence, she will have been jailed from the age of 15 to 33 simply for expressing her opinion -- a right protected by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaiming freedom of opinion and expression.