The Canada Tibet Committee of Vancouver feels that it is very important that journalists reporting on the film “What Remains of Us” and audience members know that the Tibetans whose faces are shown on camera have put their lives in jeopardy.
If found, they will not simply be rebuked or called in for questioning. By speaking openly about their love for the Dalai Lama and their unhappiness with the Chinese occupation of Tibet, these Tibetans can be accused of various “crimes” such as “splitting the motherland”, “seriously undermining national security”, and “spreading counter-revolutionary propaganda” – all of which would lead to lengthy prison sentences, expulsion from monasteries or nunneries, loss of economic privileges, persecution, and, sadly, torture and inhumane treatment.
According to Amnesty International, there are at least 145 cases of political prisoners who are currently being held in Tibet for a variety of peaceful activities such as advocating Tibetan independence from China and also for refusing to renounce their faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Common accusations relate to the possession or translation of banned books, texts or prayers which refer to the Dalai Lama; taking part in peaceful demonstrations; producing and pasting onto walls leaflets or posters calling for Tibet’s freedom from China. Other prisoners have been accused of clandestine links with the Dalai Lama or have refused to denounce the Dalai Lama during “patriotic re-education” sessions.
Some examples of these harsh sentences are: — Thubten Yeshe, who received a 15-year sentence for shouting “Free Tibet” at a town meeting; — Jamphel Changchub, serving 19 years, after he and 9 other monks were arrested for printing “reactionary literature” such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; — Chime Dorje and 4 other monks who received 15-year sentences for putting up posters which read “May His Holiness the Dalai Lama Live for Ten Thousands Years”; — Sonam Tsewang, who, during a 1997 visit to Drapchi Prison by a delegation from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, shouted “Long live the Dalai Lama” and was reportedly given a five-year extension to his sentence.
Amnesty International has reported that throughout their detention, prisoners of conscience face a harsh regime of military-style exercises, long work hours, poor sanitation and inadequate food. Prison rules are enforced through acts of violence and beatings including being in the kidneys and liver, being hit in the face and around the ears, and the use of electric shock batons on sensitive areas.
Torture is used to obtain confessions and often used to force prisoners into renouncing their political and spiritual beliefs. Many prisoners report that prison guards use virtually any implement to beat prisoners, including gun-butts, bicycle pumps, iron rods and belt buckles. Other prisoners have been suspended from the ceiling with their hands tied behind the backs or hung by their ankles until they lose consciousness.
Tibetan nuns have been subjected to some the of the harshest treatment, including acts of rape with electric batons and other acts calculated to humiliate them, such as being stripped naked in front of other prisoners or guards.
This brutal treatment and blatant disregard for the prisoners’ fundamental human rights has resulted in at least 41 deaths in custody since 1987. According to the Tibet Information Network, this number would be higher, but prison officials are known to release prisoners they think are going to die in order to avoid having them die in prison.
The above examples of Amnesty International prisoners of conscience clearly show the consequences of speaking out in Tibet. Yet these prisoners acted locally and their message reached only small groups of Tibetans inside Tibet. What sort of repercussions would those who appear in an internationally show.
