IV
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 476
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding several indi-
viduals who are being held as prisoners of conscience by the Chinese
Government for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupa-
tion 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 regard-
ing several individuals who are being held as prisoners
of conscience by the Chinese Government for their in-
volvement 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 na-
tional identity of China;
Whereas armed forces of the People’s Republic of China in-
vaded 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-
•HRES 476 IH
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 dem-
onstrate its willingness to abide by internationally accept-
ed 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 occupa-
tion 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 slo-
gans 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;
•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 indi-
viduals as prisoners of conscience for involvement in ef-
forts 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 de-
tention without public trial of Tibetans who peacefully ex-
pressed their political or religious views: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the Government of the People’s Republic
of China should, as a gesture of good will and in order
to promote human rights, release prisoners of conscience
such as Phuntsog Nyidron.
Æ