Melody in Prison: Ngawang Choephel
	UPDATE 17 January 1997

Congressmember Bernard Sanders (I-VT) has begun circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter, co-signed by five other members of the House, requesting colleagues to join them in signing a letter to Secretary of State Albright. The letter requests a statement from the Clinton administration condemning Ngawang's treatment and, further, that when the UN Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva in March, the US work towards passage of a resolution condemning human rights practices of the PRC.

Text of "Dear Colleague" Letter

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Help End a Human Rights Abuse in China

Dear Colleague:

We urge you to join us in the attached letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright concerning Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan Fulbright scholar and former US resident who has been wrongly sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Chinese regime.

As you may know, this is a case in which the American people and Congress have already taken great interest, already sending thousands of letters to President Jiang Zemin and the State Department. The Chinese government's response has been an extraordinary prison term and baseless accusations that Mr. Choephel was spying in collaboration with American citizens.

We are not aware of any evidence which supports Mr. Choephel's conviction or his extraordinary prison sentence, and we take strong issue with the Chinese Government's assertion that American citizens suborned espionage by Mr. Choephel. To the contrary, we know that he studied ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont in 1992 and 1993, and returned to his homeland in 1995 to make a nonpolitical documentary about Tibetan music and dance. Sometime in the fall of 1995, he was arrested by Chinese authorities, and on December 26, 1996, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison and four years subsequent deprivation of political rights for espionage.

In light of Mr. Choephel's unjust imprisonment - as well as China's long record of violating international law and human rights - we urge you to join us in asking the Administration to respond appropriately to this situation. Specifically, the attached letter requests the United States work towards passage of a resolution condemning China's human rights practices at the U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva this March. It also requests an Administration statement on Mr. Choephel's case.

For more information or if you would like to sign on, please contact Steven Bressler at 5-4115 (Sanders) or Kelly Currie (Porter) at 5-4835 by February 26.

Sincerely,

Bernard Sanders
Member of Congress

John Edward Porter
Member of Congress

Tom Lantos
Member of Congress

Benjamin Gillman
Member of Congress

Maurice Hinchey
Member of Congress

Frank Wolf
Member of Congress

Letter to Secretary of State Albright

The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of State
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Madam Secretary:

We have been heartened by your statements on human rights in recent weeks. We write to draw your attention to a particularly egregious violation of human rights in Tibet, and to urge a strong response from the State Department.

Ngawang Choephel, is a Tibetan former Fulbright scholar whom the Chinese have convicted on engaging in American-sponsored espionage. As you may know, Mr. Choephel studied ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont in 1992 and 1993. In the summer of 1995 he returned to Tibet to make a non-political film about traditional Tibetan music and dance. Sometime in the fall of 1995, he was arrested by Chinese authorities, and on December 26, 1996, he was sentenced by the Shigatse Intermediate Court to 18 years in prison and four years subsequent deprivation of political rights for espionage.

We are not aware of any evidence which supports Mr. Choephel's conviction or his extraordinary 18-year prison sentenced, and we take strong issue with the Chinese Government's assertion, made in a letter to several Members of Congress last October and again on Chinese state-sponsored radio, that American citizens suborned espionage by Mr. Choephel.

In light of these circumstances, we are dismayed to learn that the State Department is considering a hollow approach to the China resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission. We believe that "strengthening those around the globe who are working for human rights" should be the policy of the United States. As such, China's abysmal, increasingly harsh, human rights practices must be met with an appropriate response.

We are aware of the importance placed by the administration on strengthening the U.S.-China relationship, and share your desire to have strong and productive relations between the U.S. and China, in full recognition of human rights and international law. To that end, we respectfully request that you keep faith with your commitment to vigorously pursue human rights in China and Tibet, and that you reexamine your plan of action for the Commission.

A New York Times editorial recently opined that "diplomatic realism does not require Washington to mute its distaste for provocative and repressive policies, as it has most conspicuously done in the case of China. Overlooking such behavior weakens American credibility abroad and feeds cynicism at home. The American people expect their foreign policy to reflect American ideals."

We urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to lead a multilateral effort for successful passage of a China resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, the legitimate forum to examine the human rights practices of the U.N. member states. We further urge you to raise with your Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, the case of Ngawang Choephel and other victims of China's vicious crackdown in Tibet. Finally, we ask that the State Department issue an appropriate public statement of condemnation regarding the case of Mr. Choephel.

We look forward to hearing your views on human rights in China and Tibet, and the rationale for your timetable in Geneva as well as the specific issues you will be raising with the Chinese. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,