Expressing Sense of House Regarding Prisoners of Conscience by Chinese Government for their Involvement in Efforts to End Chinese Occupations of Tibet

EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN EFFORTS TO END CHINESE OCCUPATION OF TIBET -- (House of Representatives - February 03, 2004)

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 157) 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.

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Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to rise in support of my bill, House Resolution 157, which calls on China to release its Tibetan prisoners of conscience. I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on International Relations, for moving this bill to the House floor today.

Around 100 political prisoners remain behind bars in the Drapchi prison in Lhasa, the most notorious Chinese prison in Tibet. I was lucky enough last fall to meet one of Drapchi's most recently released political prisoners. Ngawang Sangdrol was her name. This humble remarkable young woman survived 11 years of torture and deprivation in prison before she reached her 21st birthday. She was released from prison in 2002 and was allowed to travel to the United States for medical treatment in March of 2003.

Despite the horrific treatment she suffered in prison, her spirit was never broken and her dedication to the cause of Tibetan freedom never flagged. The horrific treatment that Ngawang Sangdrol experienced in prison is unimaginable to most of us. She recalls being made to stare at the sun while holding newspapers under her arms and between her knees.
If the newspapers fell, she would be beaten. She was electrocuted with a baton and was made to run with her arms behind her while stones were thrown at her.

When I asked this young woman, who had been through so much, what the worst day of her imprisonment was, she responded she had no answer; "they were all the worst day of my life," she said.

Many of the Tibetan nuns and monks who suffered along with Ngawang Sangdrol remain in Drapchi prison today.
Mentioned explicitly in this resolution is a nun by the name of Phuntsog Nyidron. This 34-year-old Tibetan nun is the longest serving female political prisoner in Tibet. She was only 20 years old when she was arrested in 1989 for taking part in a peaceful protest. Her sentence was extended in 1993 when she and 13 other nuns recorded and smuggled out of prison songs about their love for their country, their people, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetans are a peace loving and resilient people, and even under the Chinese occupation they have been able to retain their culture outside Tibet's borders. In my district in New Mexico I enjoy having a significant group of Tibetan refugees as constituents. It is these Tibetans and the people who care about them who led to this resolution's introduction and its eventual passage.

This resolution also comes at a crucial time in the treatment of Tibetan refugees elsewhere. After the Nepalese government handed over 18 Tibetan refugees to the Chinese Government last summer, the U.S. Congress put significant pressure on them to issue an official policy stating that it would not happen again. We now know definitively that at least two of the Tibetans who were given to the Chinese authorities were thrown in prison, whereupon they were tortured. However, even after the Nepalese government issued its new policy, reports continue to surface that they are handing over Tibetan refugees to the Chinese. This is unacceptable. I take this opportunity not only to call on the Chinese Government to release its political prisoners but also to tell the Nepalese government that the United States takes very seriously the welfare of Tibetan refugees everywhere.

With the passage of this resolution today, we send a message to the Chinese Government that we have not turned a blind eye to Tibet. Quite the contrary. We closely monitor what occurs in Tibet and will continue to do so. And with that we call on the Chinese to release its political prisoners out of good will and responsibility.

There is a poem by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama that ends: "Work for peace in your heart and in the world work for peace. And I say again never give up. No matter what is going on, never give up."

It is with this sentiment that I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution. There is credible evidence that international action on behalf of prisoners in China improves their situation. Since 2002, nine political prisoners have been released from prison as a result of international pressure.

On behalf of Phuntsog Nyidron and her fellow prisoners who are being so unjustly treated, please join me in voting in favor of House Resolution 157. I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) for his assistance in this matter and all the other Members the bipartisan group of Members that are a part of this resolution.