Update to Urgent Campaigns of 5th March and 15th May 2003(Please contact Free Tibet Campaign if acting after 31st December 2003)

Political Prisoner Profile

Name: Anu 
From: Lhasa 
Age: 48 
Arrested: June 2001
Reason: Unconfirmed 
Sentence: 4 years 
Prison: Rukhag 3, Drapchi Prison

Anu, a 48 year old female amputee is currently serving a four year prison sentence in Lhasa's Drapchi Prison. The reason for her arrest and resultant charge both remain unclear to this date.

Previous information from Amnesty International suggested that Anu was being held at Trisam Re-education through labour centre (see Urgent Campaign 15 May 2003). However the latest information, from ex-Drapchi political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol imparted during her trip to the UK in June 2003 and other sources, indicates she is now being held in the notorious Rukhag 3 unit of Drapchi Prison. Rukhag 3 is where almost all female political prisoners in Tibet are held.

Another Tibetan, Lobsang Namgyal (also known as Lonam) who was detained in June 2001 apparently in connection with Anu's case, is also serving a four sentence in Drapchi Prison. It was previously suggested that Lobsang and Anu had been linked to possession of 'separatist' leaflets distributed by Lhasa and thus suspected of links to the Tibet Government in exile, though this has not been confirmed.

According to earlier reports Anu was just 13 years old when she was run over by a Chinese military truck on her way to school, after which her right leg had to be amputated. Following this, she no longer attended school and was educated by her father in traditional Tibetan tailoring for which she was well respected in Lhasa. Anu lived alone in Lhasa and was believed to be very religious and charitable, apparently giving much of her salary away.

Free Tibet Campaign remains concerned at the treatment that Anu may be facing in Drapchi Prison. In addition to her permanent physical disability, Ngawang Sangdrol confirmed that she is suffering from intense migraines and forced to work as hard as the other inmates. Conventional medicine from the infirmary has been ineffective and she is not allowed to keep the Tibetan medicine she has been given from visitors in her cell, rather she has to ask the guards for it. Furthermore, she is being held in a cell with common criminals, who Ngawang Sangdrol described as "particularly rough". Referring to Anu, Ngawang stated that, "it makes me sad to think of her".

In Tibetan prisons guards often encourage non-political prisoners to spy and gang up on the political prisoners. This causes great pressure on the political prisoners and can undermine their physical and mental health. Anu will therefore have to be on her guard at all times and ensure that she says nothing that can be construed as a challenge to the prison authorities, given their propensity to add to political prisoners sentences unilaterally.

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