Dharamshala: Namkyi, a former political prisoner who recently arrived from Tibet, testified about her experiences, describing the events leading up to her protest in her hometown, the hardships she endured while incarcerated in Chinese prison, her escape into exile after being released, and the critical situation in Tibet.
In her address, Namkyi explained, “I was born to a typical nomadic family of Pema Lhathang in Charo village, Ngaba County, Tibet. Like many other nomadic children, I did not have the opportunity to go to school and spent my childhood as a nomad. I grew up hearing about the recent history of Tibet from my parents and elders: “Red China” forcibly occupied Tibet and killed thousands of Tibetans, which led the spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Eminence Kirti Rinpoche, and other great personalities take refuge in exile, and I felt immense sadness. I prayed that Tibet would be free one day and that I would see the spiritual leader in person and hear his teachings.” and added that Tibetan martyrs, of all ages and genders, attempt to conduct activities for preserving and improving our religion, culture, and language. The Chinese government strategically stops them and even imposes heavy restrictions on the freedom of their movement. I had significant concerns while wondering if the United Nations and other foreign governments know the truth of our tragic daily situations and torments of Tibetan people inside Tibet.”
“Beginning in September 2015, my blood relation sister Tenzin Dolma and I had repeated secret discussions during our cattle herding. On 21 October 2015 at 3 pm Beijing local time, we both wore Tibetan attires, holding two large portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in our hands, marched in the crowd on the ‘martyr’s roads’ of Ngaba, calling for “Free Tibet, long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche, and their swift return to Tibet.” No more than 10 minutes into our march, we heard a loud noise, and suddenly, four or five police officers came out from behind us and snatched the portraits from our hands. We did not let it go from our hands and spent half an hour as we pulled back and forth with the police. Finally, the Police dragged us down the road and told us to be silent and not to shout out. But we shouted our slogans continuously. They handcuffed our hands behind our backs, put us into the police van, and took us away to the detention center of Ngaba County. Then, they took us to another detention center in Barkam city. We were interrogated in a small interrogation room where the heater was switched on with excessive heat for six days and nights. Different interrogators asked various questions such as who incited us to instigate the protest, who started the discussion, where we got the portraits of the Dalai Lama and had any acquaintances from outside. The interrogators slapped and kicked us repeatedly, saying that we were dissidents, and we should know what a terrible crime it is. Oftentimes, we thought it would be better to die soon while we were denied food and sleep. On other days, the interrogators acted smoothly and told us that if we told the truth, the punishment would be reduced and released soon. Despite mental and physical torture, we only responded that we both freely decided to instigate the protest, and no one incited us, and also our family members knew nothing about it. We served for seven months in the detention center of Tashi Gyalkaling County. In November of 2016, after our detention period had lasted for one year and one month, the court of Trochu County called my sister and me to the courtroom and were put on trial. That day, we both saw each other for the first time since our arrest. There was no single family member to be seen in the courtroom, but two governmentappointed lawyers were there: a Chinese woman and a Tibetan woman. We were sentenced to three years each on trumped up charges of undertaking ‘separatist acts against the nation’ and supporting ‘the Dalai clique.’ Following the sentence, we were taken to an ethnic minority prison of Sichuan and then after almost three hours, we were taken to the largest women’s prison in Chengdu city. We heard that two other Tibetan women were put in this prison in the past, but there were only two Tibetans out of 6000 prisoners when we were there. For the first three months, it was required to receive military training, ‘patriotic education,’ and learn the Chinese constitution. We had to undergo an oral test after studying numerous documents in Chinese and training for daily activities as a prisoner. After three months, I worked in a labor camp where copper wires were produced, and my sister made cigarette boxes at first, and then we shifted to a wristwatch manufacturing camp. Later, we learned that our family had sent us food and clothes to the prison, but we couldn’t receive anything. We faced problems due to malnutrition, cold in thin blankets during winter, and discrimination against nationalities. We also faced language problems initially because we didn’t speak Mandarin Chinese. On 21 October 2018, we were released from prison after completing the prison term and kept at the police station of Pema Lhathang in Ngaba County for a week as concerned authorities called upon our family to write a promise letter for our release. My family was put on a blacklist because my elder brother was also in prison. Despite our release, our expressions and movement were severely restricted, putting anyone we were in contact with at risk. The Chinese government made trouble for my family members and relatives. My aunt Tsering Kyi was summoned to be interrogated several times. On 13 May 2023, I started my journey of escape with my aunt Tsering Kyi without telling anyone. We arrived at the reception center in Nepal on 27 May 2023 and then reached the reception center in Dharamshala on 28 June.”
After concluding her address, Namkyi answered questions from the media personnel regarding her experiences and the situations inside Tibet.
Additional Secretary Tenzin Lekshay, CTA’s Spokesperson introducing Namkyi before the press conference.
