Namgyal's distressing testimony

Namgyal, a 37-year-old monk from Kandze County was arrested on 17 March 2008 in Kandze Town. Namgyal was accused of attempting to organise a protest against China's rule in Tibet. The accusations were based on transcripts of phone calls he made. He was held for over a year without charge.

Namgyal describes his ordeal in a newly built prison in Kandze Town.

" Whenever they thought I was not telling the truth, the interrogator displayed a handcuff, an electric baton, and a handgun on the desk and asked me:‘Which would you like to choose? Confession or tools?'..

"The policemen ordered me to stretch my hands out and lean on the wall. They put an electric stove between the wall and me. It was very hot. I sweated first. Then I felt I was going to burn. When I tried to move the policeman pushed me against my back. I could not bear the heat anymore and almost fell on the stove. Then they pulled me up from behind before I fell on the stove. They threw cold water on me. It was extremely painful. My body felt like it was burning up. They kicked me back and forth between the two of them…

"They put an automatic handcuff on my right wrist, put a stool under my feet and hung me off the door frame. It lasted about half an hour. They shouted and beat me. Suddenly one of them kicked the stool from under my feet. I fainted. I only regained consciousness when they threw water on me. I was still hanging from the doorframe. I felt my body was split into pieces. The cuff went into my flesh. I felt I was going to die. I asked them to kill me...

"They then put me back on the floor. One of them pulled a handgun from a bag and said I should not close my eyes or I would reincarnate as a demon after I was shot dead. He pressed the gun onto my forehead and the gun clicked. I closed my eyes in fear. Then another man kicked me, stamped on my neck and warned me that I should confess or he would shoot me. Still I did not say anything: he then got angry and hit me in the eye with the handle of the gun. I felt my eye smashed, it was bleeding...