Chinese officials variously have said he is in Tibet, Gansu province, and Beijing, but have not allowed access to him. Rinzin Wangyal, sentenced in 1995 to a sixteen-year term for political activities, had his sentenced extended to life imprisonment in October 1997. Ngawang Pekar, from Drepung Monastery, had served four years of an eight-year sentence when he was sentenced to an additional six years for trying to smuggle out a list of political prisoners in Drapchi prison. Ex-prisoners and detainees continue to report severe torture. Methods such as prolonged exposure to temperature extremes ensure that subjects bear no obvious signs of their treatment.
Beatings appear to be routine.
There have been reports that in October 1997 and May 1998 during visits by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and an official European Union delegation respectively, prisoners who shouted slogans were severely beaten and otherwise abused.