From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: Prisoner Suspended from Ceiling
Date: 16 Aug 92 19:57:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700379:000:3883
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Aug 16 12:57:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: Prisoner Suspended from Ceiling

/* Written  6:46 am  Aug 16, 1992 by gn:robbieb in cdp:reg.tibet */
Tibet Information Network / 7 Beck Rd London E8 4RE  UK
TIN News Update / 15 August, 1992 / total no of pages: 2

  Prisoner Suspended from Ceiling

A Tibetan prisoner says that he was hung from the ceiling of his
cell for over a month after taking part in a prison protest last
year, according to a personal statement by the prisoner, received
in London last week.

His statement conflicts with a "White Paper" released by the
Chinese Government on Tuesday 11th August. The White Paper,
"Criminal Reform in China", describes Chinese prisons as "a new
type of socialist prison, where the prisoners are regarded as
human beings ... and where they receive fully humane treatment".

The prisoner, a Tibetan monk in his mid-thirties, was one of a
number of political prisoners who took part in a brief protest in
one of Lhasa's prisons in 1991. The protest, which was peaceful,
was in support of Tibetan independence.

"After the demonstration those of us who took part were put in
solitary confinement," said the prisoner.

"Then they chained my thumbs together and hung me up by my hands
from the roof", he said, "I was kept there without my feet
touching the floor for one month and ten days".

The description, which did not give further details of the
torture, formed part of a signed statement sent two weeks ago by
the prisoner from Tibet to the Tibet Information Network, an
independent news-gathering organisation based in London.

It has not been possible to verify the account, or to establish
whether the suspension was intermittent or continuous over the 40
day period.

The prisoner, jailed for allegedly taking part in a pro-
independence demonstration and possessing a Tibetan flag, made
the statement a few days after his release from jail in Lhasa
earlier this year. The name of the prisoner and other details
have been withheld to protect him from repercussions.

The involvement of the prisoner in the 1991 prison protest was
documented by other sources at the time, and it was known that he
had been singled out for punishment of some kind. Several of the
protestors had their sentences increased by several years for
involvement in the incident.

There were frequent reports in 1988 and 1989 that Tibetan
prisoners were being subjected to aerial suspension, known in
Tibet as the "flying airplane", but this is the first detailed
account which shows that it was still taking place in 1991, a
year after Beijing began to allow foreign officials to inspect
Tibetan prisons.

Since his release from prison, the monk has been expelled from
his monastery and his ration card has been withdrawn by the local
office of the Public Security Bureau. In his statement he says
that all the other monks released from prison with him were also
expelled from their monastery.

The use of torture does not appear to have been effective as a
deterrent, and the former prisoner says he will continue to
campaign for independence.

"All the sufferings which I have described here are true", he
says, "but many other heroic Tibetan men and women have been and
are still being subjected to much worse experiences than those I
went through. As for myself, I am willing to sacrifice my life
for the just cause of Tibet."

The Chinese have never publicly admitted that there is ill-
treatment in Tibetan jails, but last month an Australian MP who
had visited Lhasa claimed that Raidi, a deputy Secretary of the
Tibet Region Communist Party, had told him that some 20 prison
staff had been punished for maltreating prisoners since 1987.

"China respects prisoners' dignity, and allows no torture,
humiliation or maltreatment of prisoners", said Xinhua, the
official Chinese News Agency, on Tuesday, commenting on the White
Paper.

- end -