Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche We received news on 29 June that Nyima Choedron, Bangri Rinpoche's wife was released in February 2006. She was arrested together with her husband, Bangri Rinpoche (pictured left), who is serving a 18-year prison sentence and is due to get released in 2021. Write to your MP to show your concern for this case now! 'I am writing with an urgent plea for your help with putting to an end a particularly distressing case of injustice and cruelty of the Chinese authorities, which I hope you will respond to if you possibly can. In 1996 Bangri Rinpoche, a lama, (40) and his wife Nyima Choedron (37) founded and began to run an orphanage for some of Lhasa's most deprived children. At its peak, the orphanage was home to 60 children. Until 1999 they were well respected and admired pillars of the Tibetan community in the capital.'

What happened to them three years later and subsequently is a terrible and shameful reflection on the Chinese governments' inhumanity and highlights the worrying trend of targeting community and religious leaders who are trying to improve conditions for their fellow Tibetans.

The exact circumstances leading to Bangri and Nyima's arrest in 1999 remain unclear. However, it is believed that a worker who was among those carrying out a development at the orphanage was arrested for trying to raise a Tibetan flag in protest during the 1999 National Minority Games.

Shortly after this a large number of people connected to the orphanage were arrested in turn, including the founders Bangri Rinpoche and Nyima who were charged with "attempting to split the country".

The orphanage itself was declared an "illegal organisation" and the children were forced to leave, facing a life trying to survive on the streets of Lhasa.

At this time, the lives of Bangri Rinpoche and his wife became nightmarish. Separated from his wife and newborn daughter, Bangri Rinpoche was subjected to severe torture, as is routine in cases of political detentions in Tibet. For five days he was interrogated day and night. He was held handcuffed with one hand behind his shoulder and the other around his waist. His legs were fettered, he was hooded and forced to kneel on a low stool.

Believing he could not survive the cruel treatment to which he was subjected, Bangri Rinpoche confessed to the 'crime' of which he stood accused and was sentenced to life in prison, since reduced to 21 years. Nyima, a former nun, was initially sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, since reduced to 7 years'.

Free Tibet Campaign has received information that both Bangri Rinpoche and his wife are suffering terribly in prison.

Former political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol recalls seeing Nyima in Drapchi Prison, and has said, "Despite the pain Nyima feels on account of her poor eyesight, she is forced to knit for long hours to meet her work quota". She also reports that Nyima was held in solitary confinement during the first year of her sentence.

Similarities with Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche

There are parallels in the case of Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche, a respected figure in the local community who was providing education, welfare and a home for more than 60 children, with the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche. Both cases appear to reflect a harder-line trend of undermining local community leadership by singling out for severe punishment individuals who have been involved with work focusing on Tibetan language, culture and religion. Both Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche and Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche were non-political in their approach, and not known to speak out about Tibetan independence. The authorities have blocked attempts by Western governments engaged in human rights dialogue with China to gain information about both detainees.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Bangri Rinpoche.

The findings of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture calls for the immediate release of Bangri Rinpoche

At the end of 2005, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak, visited China, Tibet and Xinjiang. Dr Nowak stated that "he was struck by the strictness of prison discipline and a palpable level of fear and self-censorship when talking to detainees". He also confirmed that a variety of torture methods are still widely and systematically used; including beatings, use of electric shock batons, submersion in pits of sewage, exposure to conditions of extreme heat or cold, deprivation of sleep, food or water, prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical treatment and hard labour.

Dr Nowak has pointed out the incentives for the police and security officials to obtain confessions through torture. He also noted the lack of independent, fair and accessible courts and prosecutors, as well as the ambiguity of the domestic law regarding political crimes, policies of re-education and sanctions of freedom of religion, expression and association. The situation in Tibet is aggravated by discriminatory treatment of Tibetans and the targeting of political prisoners."

During his mission to Lhasa, Dr Nowak held on-site inspections of detention facilities in Drapchi Prison and the recently opened Chushur (Chinese: Qushui) Prison. In spite of time constraints and limited cooperation by the authorities, such as limited access to prison registers, staff and inmates, the Rapporteur was able to assess the level of repression and maltreatment using information from alternative sources such as ex-prisoners' testimonies. The Rapporteur was particularly concerned with sanctions placed on Tibetan monks, including prohibition on prayers and religious worship. He expressed concern that some prisoners are only "allowed outside of their cells for 20 minutes per day" and noted complaints about "the food, the extreme temperatures experienced in the cells during the summer and winter months and a general feeling of weakness due to lack of exercise".

Despite meeting a number of local officials, including the Vice-Chairman of the TAR Nima Tsering, no-one informed Dr Nowak of the existence of the newly established Chushur Prison, near Lhasa; a prison to which many Tibetan political prisoners had been transferred months before. His attempts to meet ten Tibetan political prisoners were therefore unsuccessful and he was finally able to meet only three: Lama Jigme Tenzin (Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche), monk Lobsang Tsuitrim and Jigme Gyatsu.

The three political prisoners testified to being subjected to severe torture during their interrogation, including beatings, electric shocks and deprivation of food and medical treatment. The report noted that they are still subject to mental and physical torture. Specifically, the report mentions that Bangri Rinpoche suffers from heart disease and gall stones, which are not being treated. The Rapporteur concluded in all three cases that "since (they have) been convicted of a political crime, possibly on the basis of information extracted by torture, the Special Rapporteur appeals to the Government that (they) be released".

Prior to his visit, Free Tibet Campaign, together with International Campaign for Tibet and Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, provided Dr Nowak with a report outlining their main concerns and a list of current prisoners, released political prisoners and death-in-detention cases to be considered during his investigations. It was co-signed by 18 other Tibet support groups.

Unclarity is surrounding the status of the report on the visit to China and Tibet by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. The report was to be presented to the UN Human Rights Commission in April, but the creation of the new UN Human Rights Council has put the presentation on hold. Currently all of the former Commission's mechanisms are being reviewed, including the Special Rapporteurs' roles, mandates and functions.

However Free Tibet Campaign will continue to lobby and campaign to ensure the reports' recommendations, both general and on individual cases of victims of torture, are not ignored, as they provide a sound platform to end torture in China and Tibet.

Please help us to help Bangri Rinpoche by taking action in two ways.

Firstly, please write to the Chinese Embassy, calling on the Chinese authorities to release Bangri Rinpoche as an urgent priority.

And secondly, please make a donation of whatever you think you can afford to aid us in our efforts to secure improved conditions, or preferably the release of these two prisoners.

Click here for the Stop the Torture file on Bangri Rinpoche