Melody in Prison: Ngawang Choephel
	UPDATE 28 November 1998

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), located in Dharamsala, India, reports that on July 1, 1998, Ngawang Choephel was transferred to the remote and high security Powo Tramo Prison in Tramo County. Choephel, who had been imprisoned in Nyari Detention Centre in Shigatse since August 1995, was moved to Drapchi Prison, Lhasa, on June 27, 1998. According to what TCHRD identified as “a reliable source,” he was detained there for just three days before being transferred to Powo Tramo Prison, which is officially called the Tibet Autonomous Region Prison No. 2 and was formerly known as Powo Tramo Labor Camp.

This latest transfer further inhibits the efforts of Ngawang's mother, Sonam Dekyi, who is currently campaigning in Europe to obtain permission from the Chinese government to visit her son in prison. Since 1995, the Chinese have failed to respond to her appeals or to any of the countless petitions and inquiries into Ngawang's location and condition made by his friends and fellow students, governmental representatives, Tibet support groups, musicians and human rights advocates around the world.

It has been reported that many political prisoners were moved from Drapchi prison to other prisons near Lhasa after protests in the prison in May 1998 that have led to the deaths of at least 11 prisoners. Visitation rights have also been denied for political prisoners in Drapchi. It appears that the transfer of political prisoners is to reduce the risk of further disturbances in Drapchi prison. In August 1998, an Urgent Action Campaign was organized out of concern for Ngawang Sandrol and other political prisoners, especially nuns, whose lives and health are believed to be at serious risk as a result of the torture and conditions to which they've been subjected since the protests.

TCHRD reports that Powo Tramo Prison, an isolated high security prison, is located approximately 500 km east of Lhasa in a remote area of Dzona, Tramo County. The prison is located in the Kongpo region (Ch: Nyingtri) where China has a military base. Tourist activity is said to be severely restricted in the area. Unlike in other prisons, political prisoners detained here are denied any visitation rights. The prison currently has a total of approximately 480 male inmates. The prisoners are subjected to harsh labour and a poor prison diet, and the movement of political prisoners is restricted solely to within the prison grounds. Due to its isolation, information from the prison is not readily accessible.

Of the 480 inmates in Powo Tramo Prison, TCHRD has knowledge of only 12 Tibetan political prisoners, each with long-term sentences. No information about the condition of these prisoners is available.

Prisons in Lhasa are visited by foreign delegations to see the prison conditions and political prisoners there have always received the attention of important dignitaries, however powerless those dignitaries may have been to actually see the subjects of their concern or to do anything on their behalf. However, according to TCHRD, due to the remoteness of the Powo Tramo Prison, no delegation has ever visited the prison. Ngawang's transfer indicates that China is attempting to isolate him from international attention and from whatever expressions of support might reach him through the prison walls.

Lobsang Nyandak, Executive Director of TCHRD, commented: “It is a harsh response from Chinese authorities to the appeals of a helpless mother. By not allowing Sonam Dekyi to visit her son in prison, the Chinese authorities violate both the international law and their own Prison Law which provides for visits of relatives. It is an attempt of the Chinese authorities to make the international community forget the case of Ngawang Choephel. We cannot let an innocent Tibetan suffer quietly, no matter where in Tibet he is imprisoned.”