By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, April 18: Speaking at a hearing organized by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), former Tibetan political prisoner Golog Jigme testified against the use of excessive torture in Chinese detention centers and urged the US and other governments and organizations including UN to look into the situation inside Tibet.
Also known as Jigme Gyatso, the 47-year old who was detained three times without being formally arrested, said, “I believe that it is essential for the US and other governments, as well as the UN and other entities, to understand what actually happens inside Chinese detention facilities from someone who has experienced it, and to understand the human rights situation in Tibet today.”
He also urged them to look beyond the prison walls and pay attention to the present situation inside Tibet where ‘Tibetan brothers and sisters are suffering.’
“As human beings, we Tibetans have the right to peacefully express our views without fear of being arrested or tortured. We have the right to freedom of movement and to freedom of religion, and China should be held accountable for denying us these basic freedoms, and subjecting us to arbitrary detention and torture when we try to exercise these basic human rights,” said the monk, who is currently living in exile in Switzerland.
The former political prisoner, who assisted in the making of ‘Leaving Fear Behind’, testified before the European Parliament last month on the same, urging the parliament to challenge China’s oppressive policies.
Created by Congress in October 2000, CECC is responsible to monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China, and to submit an annual report to the President and the Congress.
Last year’s annual report of the bipartisan commission had marked the year 2015 as ‘another punishing year for human rights in China’. Similarly, the US Department of State in their annual report published on April 13 concluded that the situation in TAR and Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties under China remains ‘severe’ with civil rights ‘strictly curtailed’.
