IV

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 476

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding several individuals who are being held as prisoners of conscience by the Chinese

Government for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 9, 2002

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico submitted the following resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding several individuals who are being held as prisoners

of conscience by the Chinese Government for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of

Tibet.

Whereas for more than 1,000 years Tibet has maintained a

sovereign national identity that is distinct from the national identity of China;

Whereas armed forces of the People’s Republic of China invaded Tibet in 1949 and 1950 and have occupied it since

then;

Whereas according to the United States Department of State

and international human rights organizations, the Gov-
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ernment of the People’s Republic of China continues to

commit widespread and well-documented human rights

abuses in China and Tibet;

Whereas the People’s Republic of China has yet to demonstrate its willingness to abide by internationally accepted norms of freedom of belief, expression, and association

by repealing or amending laws and decrees that restrict

those freedoms;

Whereas the Chinese Government has detained several nuns,

monks, and individuals as prisoners of conscience for

their efforts in speaking out against the Chinese occupation of Tibet;

Whereas on October 14, 1989, Phuntsog Nyidron, a Tibetan

Buddhist nun, and 5 other nuns from the Michungri

Nunnery were arrested in Lhasa after chanting some slogans and marching in a procession as part of a peaceful

demonstration that they organized to protest the Chinese

occupation of Tibet;

Whereas Nyidron and the other nuns were kicked, beaten,

and given electric shocks on their hands, shoulders,

breasts, tongue, and face at the time of the arrest;

Whereas 4 years later, Nyidron and 13 other nuns sang and

recorded songs about Tibetan independence in front of

prison guards;

Whereas the Chinese Government determined that the public

distribution of these songs constituted ‘‘spreading

counter-revolutionary propaganda’’ and on October 8,

1993, extended Nyidron’s sentence by 8 years;

Whereas Nyidron is now serving a 17-year sentence, one of

the longest reported sentences of any female prisoner of

conscience in Tibet;
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•HRES 476 IH

Whereas Phuntsog Nyidron was awarded the Reebok Human

Rights Award in 1995;

Whereas Phuntsog Nyidron is just one of many individuals

whom the Chinese Government has held as a prisoner of

conscience;

Whereas the Chinese Government continues to imprison individuals as prisoners of conscience for involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet; and

Whereas the Chinese Government continues to exert control

over religious and cultural institutions in Tibet, abusing

human rights through torture, arbitrary arrest, and detention without public trial of Tibetans who peacefully expressed their political or religious views: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the Government of the People’s Republic

3 of China should, as a gesture of good will and in order

4 to promote human rights, release prisoners of conscience

5 such as Phuntsog Nyidron.

Æ