Melody in Prison: Ngawang Choephel
	UPDATE 21 January 1997

On February 5, 1997, in the First Session of the 105th Congress, Senator Daniel Moynihan introduced the following legislation, which was proposed with the support of Senators Dodd, D'Amato, Feingold, Harkin, Helms, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Kohl, Leahy, Leiberman, Lugar, Moynihan, and Wellstone.

105th Congress
1st Session

S.Res. 19

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding United States opposition to the prison sentence of Tibetan ethnomusicologist Ngawang Choephel by the Government of the People's Republic of China.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

Mr. Moynihan (for himself, Mr. Helms, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Jeffords) introduced the following resolution:

which was read twice and referred to.......

Resolution

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding United States opposition to the prison sentence of Tibetan ethnomusicologist Ngawang Choephel by the Government of the People's Republic of China.

Whereas the Chinese Government sentenced Ngawang Choephel to an 18 year prison term plus four years subsequent deprivation of his political rights on December 26, 1996, following a secret trial;

Whereas Mr. Choephel is a Tibetan national whose family fled Chinese oppression to live in exile in India in 1968;

Whereas Mr. Choephel, studied ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Vermont as a Fulbright Scholar, and at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India;

Whereas Mr. Choephel returned to Tibet in July, 1995 to prepare a documentary film about traditional Tibetan performing arts;

Whereas Mr. Choephel was detained in August, 1995 by the Chinese authorities and held incommunicado for over a year before the Government of the People's Republic of China admitted to holding him, and finally charged him with espionage in October, 1996;

Whereas there is no evidence that Mr. Choephel's activities in Tibet involved anything other than purely academic research;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China denies Tibetans their fundamental human rights, as reported in the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, and by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Asia;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is responsible for the destruction of much of Tibetan civilization since its invasion of Tibet in 1949;

Whereas the arrest of a Tibetan scholar, such as Mr. Choephel who worked to preserve Tibetan culture, reflects the systematic attempt by the Government of the People's Republic of China to repress cultural expression in Tibet;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China, through direct and indirect incentives, has established discriminatory development programs which have resulted in an overwhelming flow of Chinese immigrants into Tibet, including those areas incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai, and have excluded Tibetans from participation in important policy decisions, which further threatens traditional Tibetan life;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China withholds meaningful participation in the governance of Tibet from Tibetans and has failed to abide by its own constitutional guarantee of autonomy for Tibetans;

Whereas the Dalai Lama of Tibet has stated his willingness to enter into negotiations with the Chinese and has repeatedly accepted the framework Deng Xiaoping proposed for such negotiations in 1979;

Whereas the United States Government has not developed an effective plan to win support in international fora, such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to bring international pressure to bear on the Government of the People's Republic of China to improve human rights and to negotiate with the Dalai Lama;

Whereas the Chinese have displayed provocative disregard for American concerns by arresting and sentencing prominent dissidents around the time that senior United States Government officials have visited China;

Whereas United States Government policy seeks to foster negotiations between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama, and presses China to respect Tibet's unique religious, linguistic and cultural traditions.

Now, therefore, be it hereby Resolved by the Senate that,
It is the sense of the Senate that --

(1) Ngawang Chophel and other prisoners of conscience in Tibet, as well as in China, should be released immediately and unconditionally;

(2) to underscore the gravity of this matter, in all official meetings with representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China, U.S. officials should request Mr. Choephel's immediate and unconditional release;

(3) the United States Government should take prompt action to sponsor and promote a resolution at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights regarding China and Tibet which specifically addresses political prisoners and negotiations with the Dalai Lama;

(4) an exchange program should be established in honor of Ngawang Choephel, involving students of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and appropriate educational institutions in the United States; and,

(5) the United States Government should seek access for internationally recognized human rights groups to monitor human rights in Tibet.

Notes:

Further information regarding the proposed legislation may be found in the Congressional Record.

As of 4 March 1997, the following senators have joined in supporting SR 19:

1. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
2. Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY)
3. Russel Feingold (D-WI)
4. Tom Harkin ((D-IA)
5. Jesse Helms (R-NC)
6. Jim Jeffords (R-VT)
7. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
8. John Kerry (D-MA)
9. Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
10. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
11. Joseph Leiberman (D-CT)
12. Dick Lugar (R-IN)
13. Daniel Moynihan (D-NY)
14. Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
15. Carl Levin (D-MI)
16. Connie Mack (R-FL)
17. Dan Coats (R-IN)
18. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
19. Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI)
20. John McCain (R-AZ)
21. Jack Reed (D-RI)

UPDATE 4 March 1997: Resolution 19 was passed by a voice vote of the full committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this evening. It now goes to the floor of the Senate.