Free Jigme Gyatso

Jigme Gyatso was arrested in Lhasa, Tibet on March 30, 1996 under charges of establishing an 'illegal' Tibetan organization.

According to a report by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Jigme Gyatso distributed pro-independence leaflets and put up posters and in 1992, he established a pro-independence group named the 'Association of Tibetan Freedom Movement.'

According to the TCHRD report, after Tsering Samdrub, a member of Jigme Gyatso's group, was detained in July 1993 and imprisoned in Drapchi (TAR Prison), Jigme Gyatso eluded capture by police until 1996, when he was detained in Lhasa.


Jigme Gyatso, who is reportedly suffering from very poor health as a result of beatings during detention, was originally sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but his sentence was extended by two years after shouting "long live the Dalai Lama" while in detention in March 2004.

Currently being held in Chushur prison, Gyatso told Dr Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture who was visiting the prison in November 2005, of his prison extension and was subsequently kicked and beaten, including with electric batons.


The Special Rapporteur expressed concern that in some cases prisoners at Chushur (Chinese: Qushui) are only allowed outside of their cells for 20 minutes per day, suffer from extreme temperatures in their cells during the summer and winter months, and a general feeling of weakness due to lack of exercise.

Today, Jigme Gyatso remains in a Chushur prison. He has reportedly been tortured and his physical condition has deteriorated. Therefore...International Campaign for Tibet calls for the immediate release of Jigme Gyatso.

WAYS TO HELP:

• you can sign the online petition at ICT, calling on Mr Wang Guangya, the Chinese Ambassador for the United Nations, for the immediate release of Jigme Gyatso. You can find this petition at: http://www.savetibet.org/action/itemjigmegyatso.php

• You can also call the Office of the Chinese Mission at the United Nations ((212) 655-6100) and request to speak to Ambassador Wang Guangya. If you do call, please request that Jigme Gyatso be freed based on Manfred Nowak's (the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture) findings on prisoner conditions in China.
• If you prefer not to sign the petition online, and would rather collect signatures yourself, then you can print off a copy at the ICT website http://www.savetibet.org/action/itemjigmegyatso.php and send it on to Ambassador Wang Guangya yourself.

It only takes a minute to sign a petition, but you never know the help that such a simple gesture may be able to provide to a cause like this.

Thanks and best wishes to you all!