NEWS UPDATE AUGUST 2001
Two Tibetans die at labour Re-education Camp
Tibet Information Network News Update
London, 10 July (TIN) -Two Tibetans have died after being forced to carry out hard labour at Xinhua Re-education Through Labour Centre (Chinese: Xinhua Laojiaosuo) in Mianyang municipality (Chinese: shi), northern Sichuan. One of the deaths is likely to have been of Tsering Wangdrag, a Tibetan farmer whose death last summer following maltreatment was reported by TIN in February (see http://www.tibetinfo.co.uk/news-updates/nu060201.htm). The identity of the second Tibetan who died is unknown. A reliable report received by TIN said that the two Tibetans collapsed while being forced to work in hot weather in summer last year. They were not given water or medical treatment and died shortly afterwards.
Tsering Wangdrag, who was in his thirties, was being held at the labour camp following his participation in protests against the arrest of a respected Buddhist teacher, Sonam Phuntsog, in October 1999. Eleven more Tibetans associated with these demonstrations in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) county town in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan are currently being held at Mianyang, according to reliable reports. These Tibetan prisoners include Pema Phuntsog, Wangdu, Lobsang Jampa (known as Loka) and Phuntsog, who are all serving three years in Xinhua Re-education Through Labour facility, which is about 220 km northeast of Chengdu, the provincial capital. TIN has been unable to confirm the identities of the remainder of the 11 reportedly held at Mianyang following the Kardze protests.
A report received by TIN indicates that Tibetans appear to be more at risk than Chinese at the Xinhua facility due to their lack of acclimatization to the heat and humidity of Sichuan summers, combined with hard labour and poor conditions. Prisoners at Mianyang are chiefly involved in construction work; many labour re-education facilities and prisons in the Sichuan region are involved in producing the materials needed for infrastructure development, which is one of the main economic priorities of the authorities. This linkage between prison labour and local markets helps to support the development of the local economy of the region. Prisoners at Ngaba prison in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, also in Sichuan, produce construction materials while in Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding) in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture there is a prison that utilises forced labour to manufacture cement.
One of the prisoners who died last summer at Mianyang, Tsering Wangdrag, reportedly collapsed while he was working and died two hours later. Tsering Wangdrag, who is survived by his wife and two young children, was serving a sentence of three years. Reports received by TIN indicate that he was beaten unconscious at least once during his initial period of detention in the Kardze County Public Security Bureau Detention Centre, and he continued to suffer from beatings at Mianyang. No details are available about the identity of the second Tibetan who died last summer at the Mianyang facility.
A laojiao (meaning education through labour) centre such as Xinhua houses detainees
who have received administrative sentences, usually up to a maximum of three
years, handed down by the Bureau of Re-education Through Labour without a trial.
Tibetans and Chinese who serve terms in re-education through labour camps may
have committed offences such as theft, violent assault or petty crimes, but
they can also be sentenced to terms for "disrupting public order", "anti-Party"
and "anti-state" activities. The Tibetans at Mianyang who participated in the
demonstrations at Kardze, which involved hundreds of Tibetans, following the
arrest of senior religious leader Sonam Phuntsog are likely to be included in
one of the latter categories (for information on the Kardze demonstrations refer
to http://www.tibetinfo.co.uk/news-updates/nu171199.htm). Conditions are harsh
in these detention facilities; prisoners who do not meet production quotas or
who are accused of attempting to avoid work can be punished by beatings or solitary
confinement.