December 17

Through My Eyes

Saturday December 17

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of Chinese torture.)

" That said, I cannot forget the present situation in Tibet, where neither discontent nor repression are confined to Lhasa. Between the end of September 1987 and May 1990, more than either separate demonstrations have been reported. Many have involved no more than a handful of protestors, and not all have ended in bloodshed. But as a result, my fellow countrymen and women are enduring a new reign of terror. In the capital itself, where Chinese now far outnumber Tibetans, tanks have recently been sighted while recent reports by organisations such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch make clear that brutal repression continues throughout Tibet. Arrests without justification, beatings and torture, prison sentences and even execution without trial, characterise the behaviour of the Chinese authorities.

To this unhappy list must be added the testimonies of several Tibetans who, having been imprisoned and pitifully ill-treated following one or more of the demonstrations, have since succeeded in escaping to India. One, who must remain nameless for fear of reprisals against his family, described to human rights investigators how he was kept naked and handcuffed in his cell for prolonged periods, during which he was abused physically and verbally. On occasions, drunken guards came into his cell and beat him. One night his head was repeatedly struck against the wall until his nose bled, although he remained unconscious. He also described being used as a target for martial arts' practice by guards 'smelling of alcohol'. In between periods of interrogation trying to force him to confess that he had taken part in the protests, he was sometimes left alone for days without food or bedding in a bitterly cold cell.

On the fifth day of detention this person was woken after dawn and taken to an interrogation centre outside the prison compound. He was first pinned to the ground by two guards, while a third, having knelt on his head, then took it both hands and repeatedly banged his left temple against the ground for some ten minutes. He then described how he was subjected to the so-called 'hanging airplane' method of torture:

I was picked up from the ground and two soldiers began to bind a rope around my arms. This long rope had a metal ring in the middle which was positioned behind my neck. Both ends were then passed in front of my shoulders and wound in a spiral tightly around my arms, finally trapping my fingers. One soldier then drew the two rope ends back through the metal ring, forcing my arms up between the shoulder blades. Holding on to the rope he kneed me hard in the small of the back, which caused a sharp pain in the chest. The rope was then passed over a hook in the ceiling and pulled downwards so that I was suspended with my toes just touching the ground. I quickly lost consciousness. I don't know how long I blacked out for, but I woke up back in my cell, naked except for handcuffs, and shackled around my ankles.

Four days later he was again led naked from his cell, handcuffed but without leg shackles, outside the prison compound. He was not brought to the interrogation room, however.

One soldier took a thick piece of rope and tied me to a tree. The rope was wound around my body from the neck down to the knees. The soldier then stood behind the tree and put his foot against, pulling the rope tight..Chinese soldiers were sitting around the tree having lunch. One stood up and threw the remains of his bowl of vegetables and chillies in my face. The chillies burned my eyes and I still suffer a little. I was then untied and taken back to my cell, but I stumbled often as I still found it difficult to walk and I was beaten every time I fell.

Other ex-detainees have related how they were repeatedly given shocks from the electric cattle prods that police used while the demonstrations were actually taking place. A young man had one forced into his mouth, causing severe swelling, and a nun told investigators of how she had had this instrument of torture forced into both her anus and vagina.

While it is tempting to take this sort of information as definitive of the Chinese people as a whole, I know it would be wrong to do so. But equally, such depravity cannot be dismissed. So although I have now spent the greater part of my life in exile and although I have naturally taken keen interest in China's affairs throughout that time, as a result of which I have some experience as a 'China watcher' , still I must admit that I do not fully understand the Chinese mind. "

( Unbelievable cruelty. I promise to add more tomorrow...)

*( please click here to read of the day with me )

* This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth

Dalai Lama of Tibet.

( Please see my spinning for you!)

( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day in our studio spinning for you then worked for awhile with the equipment and on some ideas for the site. Two as one we've put up the monthly pages for October and November! After that I tidied up in our studio for awhile before heading up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to check the trees and native plants resting by your Medlar tree as usual before returning to our studio to work on the pages for a Windhorse Project. You'll notice I've added all of the pages for the work on the sculpture of Tara Drolma; there are a lot of them! Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes.I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up a bit early so we can rest.

And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow

my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright

long dark mane in sunlight

so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday December 17 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of Chinese torture.) " That said, I cannot forget the present situation in Tibet, where neither discontent nor repression are confined to Lhasa. Between the end of September 1987 and May 1990, more than either separate demonstrations have been reported. Many have involved no more than a handful of protestors, and not all have ended in bloodshed. But as a result, my fellow countrymen and women are enduring a new reign of terror. In the capital itself, where Chinese now far outnumber Tibetans, tanks have recently been sighted while recent reports by organisations such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch make clear that brutal repression continues throughout Tibet. Arrests without justification, beatings and torture, prison sentences and even execution without trial, characterise the behaviour of the Chinese authorities. To this unhappy list must be added the testimonies of several Tibetans who, having been imprisoned and pitifully ill-treated following one or more of the demonstrations, have since succeeded in escaping to India. One, who must remain nameless for fear of reprisals against his family, described to human rights investigators how he was kept naked and handcuffed in his cell for prolonged periods, during which he was abused physically and verbally. On occasions, drunken guards came into his cell and beat him. One night his head was repeatedly struck against the wall until his nose bled, although he remained unconscious. He also described being used as a target for martial arts' practice by guards 'smelling of alcohol'. In between periods of interrogation trying to force him to confess that he had taken part in the protests, he was sometimes left alone for days without food or bedding in a bitterly cold cell. On the fifth day of detention this person was woken after dawn and taken to an interrogation centre outside the prison compound. He was first pinned to the ground by two guards, while a third, having knelt on his head, then took it both hands and repeatedly banged his left temple against the ground for some ten minutes. He then described how he was subjected to the so-called 'hanging airplane' method of torture: I was picked up from the ground and two soldiers began to bind a rope around my arms. This long rope had a metal ring in the middle which was positioned behind my neck. Both ends were then passed in front of my shoulders and wound in a spiral tightly around my arms, finally trapping my fingers. One soldier then drew the two rope ends back through the metal ring, forcing my arms up between the shoulder blades. Holding on to the rope he kneed me hard in the small of the back, which caused a sharp pain in the chest. The rope was then passed over a hook in the ceiling and pulled downwards so that I was suspended with my toes just touching the ground. I quickly lost consciousness. I don't know how long I blacked out for, but I woke up back in my cell, naked except for handcuffs, and shackled around my ankles. Four days later he was again led naked from his cell, handcuffed but without leg shackles, outside the prison compound. He was not brought to the interrogation room, however. One soldier took a thick piece of rope and tied me to a tree. The rope was wound around my body from the neck down to the knees. The soldier then stood behind the tree and put his foot against, pulling the rope tight..Chinese soldiers were sitting around the tree having lunch. One stood up and threw the remains of his bowl of vegetables and chillies in my face. The chillies burned my eyes and I still suffer a little. I was then untied and taken back to my cell, but I stumbled often as I still found it difficult to walk and I was beaten every time I fell. Other ex-detainees have related how they were repeatedly given shocks from the electric cattle prods that police used while the demonstrations were actually taking place. A young man had one forced into his mouth, causing severe swelling, and a nun told investigators of how she had had this instrument of torture forced into both her anus and vagina. While it is tempting to take this sort of information as definitive of the Chinese people as a whole, I know it would be wrong to do so. But equally, such depravity cannot be dismissed. So although I have now spent the greater part of my life in exile and although I have naturally taken keen interest in China's affairs throughout that time, as a result of which I have some experience as a 'China watcher' , still I must admit that I do not fully understand the Chinese mind. " ( Unbelievable cruelty. I promise to add more tomorrow...) ( please click here to read of the day with me ) This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. ( Please see my spinning for you!) ( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day in our studio spinning for you then worked for awhile with the equipment and on some ideas for the site. Two as one we've put up the monthly pages for October and November! After that I tidied up in our studio for awhile before heading up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to check the trees and native plants resting by your Medlar tree as usual before returning to our studio to work on the pages for a Windhorse Project. You'll notice I've added all of the pages for the work on the sculpture of Tara Drolma; there are a lot of them! Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes.I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up a bit early so we can rest. And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright long dark mane in sunlight so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)