please consider signing and passing on..
-J
---- ------- -------
Forwarded Mail Follows ------- ------- ----
Forwarded from Aitken
Roshi in Hawaii...
Subject: Amnesty International and TSG Urgent
Action
Please take a few moments to read this e-mail, and if you agree,
add your
name.
Ngawang Sangdrol is a Buddhist nun who believes that
Tibet should be
independent from China. At the age of 10 she was arrested for
the first
time by Chinese authorities. Her only crime was to participate in
a
peaceful demonstration for the independence of Tibet from China. When
she
was 13 she again took part in a peaceful demonstration. She was too
young
to be brought to trial under Chinese law. Nevertheless,
Chinese
authorities held her for 9 months.
In June 1992, at the age of
15, she was once more arrested by Chinese
authorities for trying to stage a
peaceful demonstration with fellow
nuns. Subsequently she was accused for
"subversive and separatistic
activities" and sentenced to 3 years
imprisonment in the notorious Drapchi
prison.
Her sentence was
extended for another 6 years in October 1993. The reason
for this was the
fact that she had sung and recorded independence songs
in the prison together
with 13 other nuns. The tape with those songs was
smuggled out of jail and
distributed throughout Tibet.
In 1996 Ngawang Sangdrol's sentence was
again prolonged for another 8
years as she shouted "free Tibet" while
standing in the rain in the
prison's yard. The third extension of Ngawang's
sentence was announced in
October 1998 when she refused to acknowledge the
Panchen Lama, whom the
Chinese authorities had chosen (The Panchen Lama is
the second most
important political and religious dignitary of Tibet. He died
in 1998 and
ever since there has been a dispute between Chinese authorities
and the
Dalai Lama about who was the reincarnation of the Panchan
Lama).
Including this last extension of 4 years her total sentence
amounts to 21
years. Together with other prison inmates in the Drapchi
Prison, Ngawang
Sangdrol suffers under inhuman treatment including beating
and solitary
confinement with reduced food rations. Today she has problems
with her
kidneys as result of torture. This inhuman treatment of Ngawang
Sangdrol
and prisoners throughout China is a clear violation of Article 5 of
the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights which prohibits torture at all
times
and under any circumstance.
"Alas this sad song in my mind
I
send to those who help prisoners
These feelings in this dark season
[line
indistinct]
I'll never forget the horrible tortures.
May this present
misery in prison
Never be inflicted on any sentient being"
I ask you
to help Ngawang Sangdrol by signing this petition and sending a
copy to all
your friends.
The list will be printed out and sent to:
Premier of
the People's Republic of China
ZHU Rongji Zongli
Guowuyuan
9
Xihuangchenggenbeijie
Beijingsh1 100032
People's Rebuplic of
China
By signing this, we demand that Ngawang Sangdrol is to be
released
unconditionally and immediately. Furthermore we demand that the
Chinese
authorities respect Article 5 of the UDHR by treating Ngawang
Sangdrol and
other prisoners in China with dignity, and by bringing to an end
any form
of torture and inhuman treatment. We demand the Chinese authorities
to
disclose all information about the health of prisoners throughout China
by
allowing an independent organization to inspect prisons in
China.
NAME, CITY, COUNTRY
1) Matthias Noester, Vienna,
Austria
2) Angelika Gerstacker, Vienna, Austria
3) Ilse Heinecke, Vienna,
Austria
4) Zeynep Guven, Vienna, Austria
5) Seniz Oezhan, Vienna,
Austria
6) Philippe Natural, Vienna, Austria
7) Anette Lillestrand,
Halden, Norway
8) Maya Ghrewati, London, England
9) Joanna Huddart,
Oxford, England
10) Helena Earnshaw, Machynlleth, Wales
11)Aaron
Griffiths, Brighton, UK
12) Zaza Curran, Brighton, UK
13) Suzy Sumner,
Brussels, Belgium
14) Rachel Boyd, Norwich, UK
15) Michelle Gentle,
Norwich, UK
16) Paul Golding, London, UK
17) David Lindsey, Aberdeen,
Scotland
18) Elizabeth Lindsey, Aberdeen, Scotland
19) Daphna Williams,
Torphins, Scotland
20) John Williams, Torphins, Scotland
21) Alison
Buchanan, Barcelona, Spain
22) Odile Bancod, Macae, Brazil
23) Laurence
Reynolds, Macae, Brazil
24) Daryl Brydun, Fyvie,Scotland
25) Stuart Watts,
Fyvie, Scotland
26) Duncan Buck, Fyvie, Scotland
27) Bryony Buck, Fyvie,
Scotland
28) Alex Alongi, Edinburgh, Scotland
29) Stephen Johnston,
Edinburgh, Scotland
30) Tristan Bayne, Cambridge, England
31) Crystal
Zevon, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.A.
32) Michael O'Keefe, LA, CA, USA
33)
Kate Crisp, Boulder, CO, USA
34) Fleet Maull, Boulder, CO, USA
35) Jack A.
Van Allen, Santa Rosa Calif
36) zoketsu norman fischer, muir beach, ca
37)
Robert Aitken, Pahoa, HI. USA
38) Wendie Dyson, Honolulu, HI, USA
39) Ann
Sturley, Los Angeles, CA, USA
40) Katherine Greenman, Old Town, ME,
USA
41) John Greenman, Old Town, ME, USA
42) Michael Greenman, Columbus,
OH, USA
43) Mary D. Cole, Madison, NJ,USA
44) Rory Winter, Forres, Scotland.
PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and
forward it
(It is better to copy rather than forward the petition) to
everyone on
your address lists. If you receive this list with more than 50
names on
it, please e-mail a copy of it to : [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
.
Even if you decide not to sign, please pass it over!
Thank
you.
David Reith, member of group 10 amnesty international
Austria.
For further information about amnesty international and Tibet
visit the
following sites:
www.amnesty.org
<http://www.amnesty.org>
www.hrchina.com
<http://www.hrchina.com>
www.amnesty.at <http://www.amnesty.at>
For
a transcript of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights visit the
following
site.
www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
<http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html>
Please note:
Amnesty international takes no position on the question of
Tibetan
independence, self determination or any other
territorial
question.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
F
R E E T I B E T C A M P A I G N
1 Rosoman Place, London EC1R 0JY,
U.K.
Telephone: +44 (0)207 833 9958 Fax: +44 (0)207 833 3838
<http://www.freetibet.org>
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
- an independent
membership organization campaigning in support of the
rights of the Tibetan
people to freedom and
independence.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The
views expressed here are not necessarily those of Free Tibet
Campaign.