Melody in Prison: Ngawang Choephel
	UPDATE 16 December 1999

This letter from U.S. Senator James Jeffords of Vermont has been distributed by Kate Lazarus, Tibet/China Co-coordinator at Amnesty International USA. CHMOD has not yet been able to obtain a copy of the letter from Ambassador Li to which he refers therein.

NGAWANG CHOEPHEL
DECEMBER 16, 1999
#2476

I am writing with regard to former Middlebury College student and Fulbright Scholar, Ngawang Choephel, and to share recent developments in this Tibetan human rights case that is so closely tied to Vermont.

The most significant development in the case to date occurred at the end of October when the other members of the Vermont delegation and I received a letter from Ambassador of China Li Zhaoxing concerning Ngawang. Since Ngawang was arrested over four years ago, we have contacted the Chinese ambassador and other high level officials many, many times and have received little information. As you can see from the enclosed copy of the letter, much of the information provided is questionable. My staff has, however, consulted governmental and non-governmental experts and learned that the Chinese may be indicating a willingness to release him on humanitarian parole. I am currently urging physicians all over the world to write and press for such a release so that he can be treated for his illnesses in the United States.

Shortly after we received this letter, Ambassador Li agreed to a meeting in my office. This was another very unexpected development as it was the first time that the Ambassador had agreed to meet with any member of the delegation. I pressed very hard on Ngawang's behalf, but the Ambassador repeated the Government of China's position that Ngawang committed crimes of espionage. He did, however, promise to personally look into the request of Ngawang's mother, Sonam Dekyi, to obtain a visa to travel to Tibet to visit her son in prison. I have followed-up with the Embassy but no further information has been made available to date.

President Clinton nominated Admiral James Prueher to serve as the new U.S. Ambassador to China. On November 2, I met with Admiral Prueher. I requested the meeting to educate him on Ngawang. I made it very clear that his case is one of my highest priorities and that I expect him to make it one his priorities in Beijing. Admiral Prueher has since been confirmed, and the delegation has contacted him in Beijing to share the letter from Ambassador Li concerning Ngawang.

As you are probably aware, Ngawang Choephel's mother, Sonam Dekyi, is an elderly, impoverished woman who has been campaigning on the streets of New Delhi to raise awareness for her son's plight. In April 1999, I established the Sonam Dekyi Fund of Vermont in conjunction with the Middlebury Students for a Free Tibet. The Fund has raised over $10,000. With the help of the Tibet Fund in New York City, and the Tibetan Welfare Office in New Delhi, Sonam is drawing from the Fund. The funds are covering her monthly living expenses, any health care needs that arise, and costs incurred in promoting her campaign to free her son. Many Vermonters and others have been extremely generous in their support for Sonam.

I have been assured by the U.S. Department of State and Tibetan experts that prisoners always benefit from international attention being focused on their case. The benefits of international interest may include better treatment and conditions, and sometimes, as we hope in this case, release. Therefore, I feel that the interest of countless Vermonters, and other supporters from all over the world, has been catalytic to these recent events. It is an auspicious moment in Ngawang's case, and I would like to think we will have more progress in the coming months.

If you would like to write to the Chinese directly on Ngawang's behalf, your letters should be sent to:

The Honorable Jiang Zemin
President
The Peoples' Republic of China
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008

I hope you will not hesitate to contact me with regard to Ngawang Choephel or his mother Sonam Dekyi.

(signed)
Jim Jeffords