Choedon

 

Choedon was only 16 years old in March 2008 when, inspired by the protests in Lhasa, she decided to protest for the freedom of Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama.

She wrote slogans on Tibetan windhorses - small pieces of colourful paper-  and threw them in the air in Kandze Town's main road. She was detained immediately.  She was held for one year and three months without charge and without any family visits. Choedon’s parents only found out her whereabouts several months after her detention. When she was released she was put in a van and driven to the outskirts of town and left alone there.

Here are extracts from her testimony.

"They stretched my arms to either side, put a black hood over my head and started beating me. I could not see who was beating me as my face was covered but I could hear there were many people there...

"As I was made to kneel on the concrete floor for hours, my legs were numb and I was in tremendous pain. I was unable to stand up anymore and fell to the floor. They beat me all over my body. But the beating was still better than having to kneel because after they finished beating me at least I could sit down...

"The policeman punished me by making me stretch my arms straight out in front of me and started to ask me the same questions. 'What did the Dalai give you to protest? Dollar or Yuan?' I felt numb in my arms and I dropped them slightly as I could not hold them out anymore, but when he saw this he took a thick wooden stick and beat me on my hands and the back of my arms to make me stretch them out again...

"I got angry and when the policeman saw this in my face he became furious and suddenly pulled out his gun and pressed it to my forehead, his hands shaking. He shouted: ‘If you don't tell me who sent you to protest I will kill you immediately.' At that time I regarded myself as already dead so I felt no fear...

Namgyal

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...