Photo/RFA
China’s pervasive use of torture was the subject of a hearing convened by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on April 14, 2016 in the U.S. Congress. The witnesses who testified and made policy recommendations to the U.S. Government were: Sophie Richardson, China Director, Human Rights Watch; Margaret K. Lewis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law; Golog Jigme, Tibetan Buddhist monk, human rights advocate, and survivor of torture in Chinese detention centers; and Yin Liping, Falun Gong practitioner and survivor of torture, forced labor, and sexual violence in the Masanjia Labor Camp.
Representative Christopher Smith, Chairman of CECC presided over the hearing and he was joined by Representatives Randy Hultgren and Timothy Walz who serve as Commissioners.
For Kusho Golog Jigme la, the well-known former Tibetan political prisoner and torture survivor now living in Switzerland, this was his first appearance in the U.S. Congress. His visit was organized by the International Campaign for Tibet. Kusho in both his written and oral testimony shared his personal story of the hardship and torture he suffered at the hands of the Chinese government and urged the U.S. Congress and government to continue to pay attention to the situation inside Tibet. He said ‘ as human beings, we Tibetans have the right to peacefully express our views without fear of being arrested and tortured. We have the right to freedom of movement and to freedom of religion, and China should be held accountable for denying us these basic freedoms, and subjecting us to arbitrary detention and torture when we try to exercise these basic rights.”
Representative Kaydor Aukatsang and staff of Office of Tibet attended the hearing.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China was created by Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China, and to submit an annual report to the President and the Congress. The Commission consists of nine Senators, nine Members of the House of Representatives, and five senior Administration officials appointed by the President of the United States.
Complete testimonies of all the witnesses can be found here
