World Tibet Network News Monday, June 29, 1998
PRESS RELEASE
Contact persons: Gabrielle A. Meech
Tenzin Chokey Phone: 91 1892 23363
Date: June 26, 1998
In Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the new UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims was commemorated by speeches and prayers conducted at Namgyal Monastery. This was followed by an exhibition of photos pertaining to torture conducted in Tibet in the last ten years, and of torture weapons and blood-stained clothes that had been smuggled out of Tibetan prisons. One of the articles, a blood-stained vest, relates to the recent protests in Drapchi Prison in May 1998 which were violently suppressed by the Chinese authorities. The commemoration activities were organised by Gu Chu Sum, the Tibetan political prisoners movement, and were attended by many former political prisoners as well as the local Tibetan community.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan commented "This is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the unimaginable. This is an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture around the world. The United Nations was founded to reaffirm faith in the dignity and worth of the human person; to create better standards of life in larger freedom. We cannot get anywhere near fulfilling that pledge unless we wipe the scourge of torture off the face of the earth. Let us, therefore, seize this day."
In 1984, the General Assembly adopted the UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Convention obliges States to make torture a crime and to prosecute and punish those guilty of it. It was ratified by China in October 1988. Despite this, incidents of torture against Tibetans, and of Chinese, in Chinese prisons continues. Almost all prisoners who are detained for "interrogation" report that they are tortured to elicit a confession. The incidents of torture are horrific and the methods are constantly being modified although former prisoners report that being beaten with wooden planks, suspended from the ceiling upside down, kicked with the guards' boots, shocked with electric cattle prods and forced to remain motionless in freezing cold rooms are commonplace incidents in Chinese jails.
In a letter received from Drapchi Prison's political prisoners dated March 10, 1997, they said "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. This resulted in the death of Sangay Tenphel." (Sangay Tenphel was a 19 year old monk whose lay name was Gonpo Dorjee and who died on May 6, 1996 from torture-related injuries.) Tibetan political prisoners continue to be routinely tortured by Chinese officials. Lobsang Nyandak, Executive Director of TCHRD commented "Today we remember the atrocities which many Tibetan political prisoners have been subjected to. They suffer not only from their physical injuries but are also left with deep and sometimes permanent psychological scars. We sincerely hope that the prevailing practice of torturing prisoners throughout Tibet and China will be stopped immediately so that no one else wi
ll have to suffer as so many have already."
