Dharamsala, April 14 (TCHRD) - Sonam Wangdue, a 44-year-old trader also called Shugden; died in late March 1999 at his residence in Lhasa. His death is directly linked to the torture and inhuman treatment he suffered while detained in a Chinese prison. Sonam Wangdu was arrested in April 1988 for his alleged involvement in the killing of a Chinese policeman during violent crackdown in a massive Tibetan demonstration on 5 March 1988. Many Tibetans were killed during the demonstration.

Sonam Wangdu was sentenced to for life imprisonment after he was accused of the killing of the Chinese policeman. He was first imprisoned in Gutsa Detention Centre. In Gutsa, he was severely tortured resulting in permanent internal injury. His kidney was damaged and his back was broken.

After the sentence Sonam Wangdu was transfer to Drapchi prison in 1989 where he continued to suffer inhuman treatment, including being struck on his damaged kidneys. Consequently, he was not able to contain urine and the lower part of body was in a paraplegic state. In 1993, he was released on medical parole. The lower part of his body had become senseless and he involuntarily passed urine. He had to remain in a wheelchair, with a plastic tube used to drain his urine.

Sonam Wangdu's life-sentence was preceded by almost one full year of pre-trail detention at Gutsa Prison. During that time he was constantly tortured, as officers tried to make him confess to an involvement in the killing of the Chinese policeman. In addition to other methods of torture, he was beaten with electric cattle prods, and manacled by his legs and feet for a period of six months. He was kept suspended from a tree for five days, and put in solitary confinement for one week. He had his head forced into a bucketful of water and had blood forcibly extracted from him. As a result of the torture he was, in April 1988, in a critical medical condition, according to another former political prisoner, Bhagdro.

On 17 January 1989, Sonam Wangdu was taken to the heavily guarded Armed Police Force headquarters, located below Chakpori Hill in Lhasa, for trial. During the trial, he and his fellow accused were asked to confess to the crime. Their plea of not guilty so enraged the Chinese police, who had tortured them for almost a year, that they started beating men in full view of the court.

"They grabbed us and stopped us from talking", stated Bhagdro. The court adjourned for the day and the five accused were led out by the back door, away from the view of the public, and thrown to waiting Chinese police personnel. Hidden from the public view behind a barricade of army trucks they were subjected to savage beatings. "Sonam Wangdu started vomiting blood, and unable was to endure the beatings, but tried to fight back. "Then they put a gun to his temple and took him back to Gutsa," stated Bhagdro, who recalled that by the end of the day they were all semi-conscious.

The following day the prisoners were again produced before the court, along with 16 others who had taken part in demonstration, and sentenced immediately. A round of beatings behind the courtroom again followed the sentencing.

They were then taken to Drapchi prison to serve their prison terms. The men were all put in separate blocks. Sonam Wangdu's condition had been a continuing cause for concern. According to Bhagdro, who escaped to exile sometime in mid-1991, when he last saw Sonam Wangdu he "looked like a lost person". After his release from prison he was a paraplegic. He was permanently double-bent and unable to straighten his back. His ears were badly damaged from beatings to his head and face, and there was fluid running from both of his ears. He was also unable to pass urine.

According to reports, prior to his death Sonam Wangdu's lung, head, kidneys, liver and intestine were seriously damaged. He suffered excruciating headaches, and his hearing and speech were impaired. He was unable to pass urine or to empty his bowels, conditions which physicians in India say are consistent with a serious head or spinal injury. He was said to be able to move only in a hunched position and with the aid of a wheelchair.

Sonam Wangdu was one of the most brutally tortured of political prisoners. After unsuccessful attempts to make him "confess" to his "crime" for about one year, he was finally sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 January 1989. Among the other four persons implicated with him, Lobsang Tenzin was sentenced to death, suspended for two years; Gyaltsen Choephel was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment; Tsering Dhondup was sentenced to 10 years; Tamdin was sentenced to 5 years; and Bhagdro was sentenced to 3 years. According to Bhagdro, none of the five people had met before, much less carried out a murder.

The death of another Tibetan due to torture is a poignant backdrop to the expected visit by United Nations expert on torture and detention to China in the first half of 2000, pursuant to the Chinese government's invitation. Sonam Wangdu's death illustrates the extent of the atrocious and inhuman treatment that Tibetan political prisoners have suffered and continue to suffer in Tibet.

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Last updated: 14-April-99