die Route der 3 Gäste aus Indien sieht wie folgt aus.
27.01.04 RG Necker Alb in Tübingen (Jürgen)
28.01.04 RG Karlsruhe (Simone)
29.01.04 RG Ulm-Neu Ulm (Iris)
30.01.04 RG Ulm-Neu Ulm (Iris)
31.01.04 RG Würzburg (Eva)
01.02.04 RG Würzburg
02.02.04 RG Würzburg (Gespräch der Gäste aus Indien mit Fr. OB M. Schäfer, Schulreferent Hartenstein, Simone und Bernd J. im Rathaus)
03.02.04 RG Düsseldorf (Inge)
04.02.04 RG Hannover-Hildesheim (Iris)
05.02.04 RG Hannover-Hildesheim (Iris)
06.02.04 Frankfurt (Treffen mit Tibetern)???
07.02.04 TID Delegiertentreffen in Frankfurt
08.02.04 Berlin
09.02.04 Berlin (Montag wg. Sitzung des Bundestags)
10.02.04 Berlin und Abflug nach Indien
Durch den Ausfall von Hamburg und wegen dem Delegiertentreffen der TID
in Frankfurt in Februar gibt es leichte Änderung. Anstatt Hamburg kommen
sie nach Frankfurt und dadurch entfällt der erste Termin in Frankfurt.
Vielleicht können sie ein Tag länger in Würzburg bleiben, wenn nicht
gehen sie nach Düsseldorf.
Die Kosten der 3 Gäste (wie Verpflegung, Tagegeld sowie An- und
Abreise) sind voll gedeckt. Es muß lediglich vor Ort private
Unterbringung mit Frühstück gewährleistet sein. Im Gegensatz zu unseren
anderen Gästen, braucht Ihr für sie keine Spende zu sammeln. Wenn
Spenden kommen, dann sollen sie für ihre Organisationen sein, aber nicht
für sie.
Ven. Yeshi Togden (ein ex prisoner) www.guchusum.org
Jampa Monlam (ein ex prisoner) www.tchrd.org
Kalsang Phuntsok Lama (Präsident) www.tibetanyouthcongress.org
Was Programme angeht, so muß aus der Sicht der Heinrich Böll Stiftung
als Gastgeber keine öffentliche Veranstaltungen sein. Gespräche (mit
NGO-Vertreter, Politker, Medien), Kontaktverknüpfung, Besichtigungen
etc. reichen völlig aus. Sinn solcher Sache muß es sein, dass die
Erfahrungen den Gästen und ihrer Organisationen nützlich sind.
Wie ich schon erwähnte, fahren sie mit German Railpass (1 Twin und 1
Single, leider gibt es kein Trio-Pass) und sie können am Tag unabhängig
von Entfernung fahren.
Ich habe keinen Titel. Vielleicht "Ein Tibetabend mit Vertretern von
drei führenden Organisationen" wäre nicht ganz schlecht. Ich habe auf
Deutsch eine kurze Biografie der drei zusammengestellt. Wert
ausführlicher oder anders will, kann gerne anhand der ausführlichen
Biografie auf Englisch erweitern.
Da ich am Freitag, dem 23.1.04 in die Schweit fahre, bitte ich Euch mir
bis Mittwoch (21.1.04) das Programm und Kontaktadressen per mail
zukommen zu lassen.
Herzliche Grüße
Tsewang
Yeshe Togden
Der Ehrwürdige Yeshe Togden, geboren um 1965 in Meldro Gungka bei
Lhasa, hat später 1990 in Dharamsala Gu-Chu-Sum, den Verein ehemaliger
politischer Gefangener, (www.guchusum.org) mitbegründet und ist seither
Vorsitzender. 1986 trat er dem Ganden-Kloster bei und nahm am 5. März
1988 an der großen Demonstration im Jokhang-Tempel während des
Monlam-Festes teil. Er wurde verhaftet und fünfundeinhalb Monate
gefangengehalten, zunächst in Gutsa und später in Sangyip. Während
dieser Zeit lernte er die grausame Wirklichkeit des Gefängnisalltags,
die katastrophale Ernährungssituation und Folter in Tibet kennen.
Nach seiner Freilassung kehrte er ins Ganden-Kloster zurück. Im März
1989 nahm er wieder an der einwöchigen Demonstration teil, die vom 1.
bis 7. März andauerte. Erstmals in der Geschichte Tibets wurde das
Kriegsrecht verhängt. Yeshe Togden wurde am 7. Demonstrationstag
verhaftet und sass ohne Anklage zweiundhalb Monate in Seitru ein. 42
Mönche wurden aus dem Ganden-Kloster ausgewiesen.
Am 1. Juli 1990 floh er nach Indien und erreichte Dharamsala am 1.
Oktober. Im gleichen Jahr gründete er zusammen mit zahlreichen anderen
ehemaligen politischen Gefangenen den Verein Gu Chu Sum (wörtlich heißt
es: September, Oktober und März, denn in diesen drei Monaten 1987, 1988
und 1989 fanden die größten Demonstrationen in Lhasa gegen die
chinesische Fremdherrschaft statt).
Heute hat Gu Chu Sum etwa 170 Mitglieder und ist aktiv auf dem Gebiet
der Betreuung und Ausbildung von ehemaligen Gefangenen.
Kalsang Phuntsok Lama (seit 2002 Präsident of TYC)
Geboren 1960 in Kathmandu. Er hat bereits während seiner Schulzeit in
Mungod und Darjeeling und während seines Studiums an der Punjab
University in Chandigarh aktiv beim Tibetan Youth Congress in leitender
Funktion mitgewirkt. 2002 wurde er zum Präsidenten des TYC
(www.tibetanyouthcongress.org) gewählt.
Der Tibetan Youth Congress, 1970 von damals führenden jungen Tibetern
im Exil gegründet, stieg sofort zu der einflußreichsten Organisation in
der tibetischen Exilgemeinde auf.
Jampa Monlam
Jampa Monlam, geboren 1968 in Lhasa, ist Mitarbeiter des Tibetan Centre
for Human Rights and Democracy (www.tchrd.org) in Dharamsala.
Nach seiner Schule trat er 1985 ins Drepung-Kloster ein. Am 27.
September 1987 nahm er zusammen mit 20 Mönchen aus seinem Kloster zum
ersten Mal an der Demonstration auf dem Barkhor in Lhasa teil. Er wurde
mit anderen Mönchen verhaftet und saß vier Monate ein. Nach der
Freilassung trat er der Free Tibet Organization bei, einer
Geheimorganisation von zehn Drepung-Mönchen.
Sechs von ihnen wurden im Juni und die anderen vier im Juli 1989
verhaftet und saßen Sangyip ein. Nach dem Urteilspruch vom 14.1.1990
wurden sie ins berüchtigte Drapchi verlegt. Nach fünf Jahren wurde er
17.7.1994 freigelassen.
Im Januar 1998 entschloß er sich zur Flucht und trat am 1. Mai 1998
beim Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) die Stelle
als Field Officer an, mit der Aufgabe, neu angekommene Flüchtlinge zu
befragen. Nach vier Jahren wurde er im März 2002 zum Researcher
befördert.
Das TCHRD ist die einzige tibetische Nicht-Regierungsorganisation
(NRO), die ausschließlich zum Schutze und zur Förderung der
Menschenrechte des tibetischen Volkes gegründet und am 04.05.1996 ins
Vereinsregister eingetragen wurde. Seit Februar 1998 hat das TCHRD eine
Zweigstelle in Kathmandu/Nepal.
Der Verein lebt von Spenden individueller Förderer und Zuwendungen von
Stiftungen u.a. von der Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Die Aufgabe des Vereins
ist, die Einhaltung der Menschenrechte in Tibet zu fördern und im Exil
zum Aufbau einer Gesellschaft beizutragen, die auf den Prinzipien von
Demokratie und Menschenrechten basiert. Zur Erreichung dieser Ziele hat
sich das TCHRD folgende Kernaufgaben gestellt:
- Überwachung und Recherche der Menschenrechtssituation in Tibet
- Erstellung von Dokumenten und Berichten über spezifische Fragen der
Menschenrechte in Tibet und deren Verbreitung
- Lobbyarbeit bei internationalen Gremien zum Schutze der
Menschenrechte des tibetischen Volkes
- Förderung der Prinzipien von Menschenrechten und Demokratie in der
tibetischen Exilgemeinschaft
- Das Zentrum veröffentlicht das Monatsbulletin *Human Rights Update"
sowie einen Jahresbericht in englischer Sprache
- Es veranstaltet zahlreiche Bildungsprogramme für Tibeter aller
Altersstufen mit dem Ziel, die tibetische Exilgemeinschaft zu befähigen,
in einem zukünftigen demokratischen Tibet eine wichtige partizipative
und beobachtende Rolle übernehmen zu können. Um seine Arbeit
international besser und effektiver zu gestalten, arbeitet das TCHRD eng
mit einschlägigen Schwesterorganisationen zusammen
**************************************
Ven. Yeshe Togden
Yeshe Togden, founder of the Gu-Chu-Sum ex-Political Prisoners
Association was born around 1965, in the village of Meldro Gungka, near
Lhasa City. From the ages of twelve to fourteen he attended the village
school just before he was recruited by the Chinese to do socialist
reform farm labor which gave him no pay, but was the only way that the
villagers were able to avoid starvation. In 1986, he entered Ganden
Monastery in Lhasa and on March 5, 1988, during the Great Prayer
Festival called Monlam, he took part in the major demonstration at the
Jokhang where he was arrested and detained for five and a half months.
He was first taken to Gutsa where he stayed about one and a half
months. The food consisted of a light rice broth at five a.m., two small
tingmo for lunch at one, and a few "vegetables" with broth. The soup
contained mostly just the roots of the cabbage, and as the guard poured
it in the bowl, the prisoners would try with their hands and keep the
roots from being pulled out by the ladle, which the guards would then
use to hit them over the head. But according to Yeshe Togden, this food
was "very good" in comparison to Sangyip where he and several others
were next transferred to.
Here, thirst was the most difficult thing for him to deal with. The
political prisoners received a handful of tsampa with some black tea in
the morning, and some broth with a tiny bit of betsel in the afternoon,
in which lots of salt and chilly was purposely added. The hunger was
easier to deal with because one could just "faint and sleep it off," but
thirst was impossible. He mentions how many prisoners were driven to
drinking their own urine, but in his case, without any water at all
there was no urine to drink. He often found himself sticking his tongue
between the bars just to feel the cold air outside. At times he would
ask for cough syrup which he would drink, and many times he would eat
the toothpaste they were given. Several others would also go to the
extent of eating their soap. Opposite his cell were the criminals who
saw how terrible the situation of the political prisoners was, and they
would take pity on them and gather money amongst themselves to buy them
powdered milk or extra tingmos. Hunger overrode their fear of the
guards, and he and several others would take turns sneaking into the
kitchen for extra tingmos or else they would slyly snatch them while the
guards were distributing to fellow cell-mates.
Yeshe Togden received beatings on countless occasions, and at this time
the officials would hold big metal shields to protect themselves from
the thrashing of the prisoners. They often hit the prisoners over the
head with these shields, cracking their skull at times, as they did with
Topchen, a man presently living at Gu-Chu-Sum. Even though Yeshe Togden
was beaten to the point that blood was running from his eyes, and his
ears and legs received permanent damage, this was easier to forget and
to get used to than the hunger and thirst which was ever-present. He
even mentions how they would return to their cell after the beatings
and> start cracking jokes about it, saying how they are curious and want
to know what all the other prisons are like.
After his release and his return to Ganden monastery, a Chinese
re-education team had now arrived. It wasn't long before, on March 1-7,
1989, he took part in yet again another demonstration in Lhasa. This was
a seven day demonstration which a large part of the city took part in.
This was very difficult for the Chinese to control, therefore they
called a state of emergency and no one was allowed to leave the city and
troops were camped out around every corner, checking the I.D cards of
anyone who walked by. People were forced to stay in their homes for
almost a year, because if they were to step outside they would most
likely get shot. There were fourteen army tents set up around Ganden
Monastery alone. Yeshe Togden was arrested on the seventh day of the
demonstration and he was at Seitru for two and a half months without a
trial. Forty-two monks were expelled from Ganden, this being the first
major expulsion occurring there, which also set off a number of
subsequent expulsions at Sera, Drepung and several nunneries in the
area. After being taken to district court, Yeshe Togden and eighteen
other fellow monks were given the orders to return to their villages,
never again to engage in any political activity or ever return to their
monastery, to leave their villages only with permission from the
authorities and for no more than seven days at a time.
So after becoming very bored with his life in the village, he left for
India on July 1, 1990 and reached Dharamsala on October 1. That same
year, he and several other former prisoners helped to establish the
Gu-Chu-Sum association, one of the eight NGO's in the community which
has since developed extensively and now holds approximately 170
members.
Its building is located on Jogibara Road in McCleod Ganj, and it is
home to thirty former prisoners of conscience who are given free housing
and food, as well as provided job opportunities, medical aid, and
computer, English and Tibetan language classes. Gu-Chu-Sum also works to
receive information coming in from Tibet in the form of brochures and
information booklets. They also try to send money with Tibetans who are
returning to Tibet for those prisoners who have been recently released
and are struggling financially.
Yeshe Togden is the current president of Gu-Chu-Sum and he spends his
days giving and receiving information, working closely with the Tibetan
Information Network (TIN), campaigning, setting up peace marches and
demonstrations, e.t.c. He does however state his frustration and regrets
for leaving Tibet, because here, he states, it's very difficult to
directly affect the Chinese. Everything here is costing money and one is
not able to really sacrifice and take risks by setting up freedom
posters and taking part in demonstrations; one cannot directly strike at
and anger the Chinese. Also, he expresses great frustration with the
current situation in exile, the differences between those who were
raised in India who tend to be very lazy and to lack motivation, and
those who have come from Tibet riled up and ready to work for the
Tibetan cause. Things tend to move much slower here than what the
Tibetans are accustomed to living under the Communist regime all their
lives. He does mention how wonderful it feels however to be able to move
about freely without always looking over his shoulder and feeling like
he is being followed and closely monitored. This has been something that
has taken a long time to get used to.
Kalsang Phuntsok Lama (President of TYC)
A product of Mungod Tibetan School, completed +2 from Central School
for Tibetans Darjeeling, during which, he served the Tibetan Youth
Congress as a treasurer in the Regional Working Committee or RTYC for
two years (1979-80). Also an allummini of Punjab University Chandigarh,
from where he acquired his Master Degree in Economics in the year 1983
and he further pursued for the post-graduate studies in Business
Management MBM from Kurukshetra University, Hariyana During his college
life, he took the responsibility of RTYC Cashier and President of TFM,
Chandigarh from year 1981-83. He is among one of the founding member of
Songtsen Birkuti Samajic and Sanskritic Sewa Sangh based in Kathmandu,
Nepal. Before he was elected to the post of Centrex President, He served
RTYC Kathmandu as the President from year 1999-2001.
Brief Biography of Jampa Monlem
Early Life
I was born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1968. At the age of six, I joined the
local Government primary school and went on to do Middle School,
spending a total of 11 years at school. I learnt to read and write
Tibetan and Chinese. In 1985, I joined Drepung Monastery to learn the
traditional buddhist teachings. I was 16 years old that time.
The monasteries of Tibet form the basis of Tibetan tradition and
culture making it the very embodiment of Tibet. In the wake of Chinese
aggression on our homeland (1949-1959) and also during the turbulent
Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Tibet underwent the most tragic phase
in history in terms of loss of lives, destruction of traditional culture
and religion, and "socialist transformation" in the name of "peaceful
liberation". With the death of Mao Tse Tung in 1976, Tibet witnessed a
brief period of liberalisation policy whereby a modicum of religious
freedom was permitted. However, Tibet by 1976 has become a barren and
repressed region bereft of its rich cultural tradition and any remnants
of the "old society" scarred irreparably. Tibetans lack freedom of
speech and are denied every fundamental human rights. But nobody dare
express their dissent to China.
Pro-independence activities
On 27 September 1987, along with 20 other monks from my monastery, I
participated in a peaceful demonstration at Lhasa Barkhor (central
circumambulation and market area around the Jokhang temple), calling for
Tibet's independence. It was the first ever demonstration to be held in
Tibet since the March 1959 uprising against China's occupation of Tibet.
Initially we were only 21 demonstrators, but as we circled around
Barkhor, the number grew to more than a thousand people who called out
for freedom slogans. As a result, Chinese Public Security Bureau
officers (PSB) arrested me along with the other monks in our group who
initiated the demonstration. After repeated appeals by the late 10th
Panchen Lama supported by thousands of Tibetans, we were released after
four months of detention in Lhasa City PSB Detention Centre. Upon
release, I joined the Free Tibet Organization, a clandestine voluntary
organisation consisting of ten monks from Drepung Monastery. Since then,
I was actively involved in Tibetan freedom struggle movement and
promotion of human rights for the Tibetan people. Our activities
included printing and pasting pro-independence posters and leaflets on
the walls of Lhasa City and government offices. We also distributed
United Nations documents such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights
to the general masses throughout Tibet. Only an iota of the actual
situation inside Tibet could reach the outside world that time. We
somehow managed to pass the information collected about systematic human
rights abuses inside Tibet to the world at the risk of our life; a life
that was as good dead without recognition as a dignified human being.
In January 1989, a ceremony was held in Shigatse to commemorate the
erection of a memorial tomb for the late Panchen Lama. During the
ceremony, Shigatse PSB officers arrested me with another monk from
Drepung Monastery on alleged charges of involvement in political
activities. Despite having no evidence against us, we were held in
Shigatse Nyari Detention Centre for more than a month. During our
detention, we were subjected to severe beatings and interrogation
sessions. I was even thrown from the first floor of a building, which
landed me flat on my face. I was unconscious for some time. When I
gained my consciousness, I was hit on the chin with a rifle butt, which
caused serious injuries to my jaw. When the police failed to find
evidence against us, we were released and ordered to leave Shigatse at
once.
We reached Lhasa in early March to participate in one of the biggest
demonstrations in Lhasa that took place from 5-7 March 1989. On the
evening of 7 March 1989 at 4 p.m, Beijing Central Government imposed
Martial Law in Lhasa City. The People's Liberation Army (PLA), People's
Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials swarmed
through Lhasa, fired on the demonstrators and went in search of Tibetans
"culprits" in every nook and corner. Hundreds of Tibetans died on that
day, thousands more were arrested, and several of those arrested
subsequently died from torture while in detention. For the next year,
restrictions were imposed on movement within Lhasa, with a mandatory
requirement that everybody had to possess travel permit. In June 1989,
six members from our secret independence organisation got arrested on
alleged charges of political activism. The remaining four members from
our organisation, including myself, lived in constant fear for more than
a month until "TAR" PSB officers re-arrested us on 18 July 1989. We were
immediately taken to Sangyip Prison. All ten of us were beaten and
tortured mercilessly in the course of interrogation with cattle prods,
and other torture instruments. It is shocking that people have developed
such sophisticated devices to inflict pain on others. Prison Sentence,
Prison Life.
On 28 November 1989, inside Lhasa City Government Hall, in front of a
large gathering of 1,500 representatives of the "TAR" Government, Lhasa
Intermediate Court declared all ten of us guilty and passed sentences of
varying terms. I was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and
subsequent two years' deprivation of political rights. I was only 20
years old at the time. After the pronouncement of the sentence, on 14
January 1990 we were transferred to Drapchi - Tibet's most dreaded
prison. At that time a new prison unit 5 was newly established and held
only political prisoners. I was put together with the other political
prisoners in Unit 5 for four years and then imprisoned for a fifth year
with older political prisoners. Life in prison was horrible and the most
difficult part of prison life was the forced labour. Sometimes if the
prison officials did not like us they would claim that we broke minor
prison rules and used that as an excuse to punish us. Punishments would
vary; sometimes we would be made to run barefoot at high speed on a
gravel road, sometimes we would be handcuffed for several days. Beating
and kicking are the most common occurrences in Chinese-administered
Tibet's prisons.
Life after release
On 17 July 1994, I was released from prison after completion of my
five-year prison term. Life after release for all political prisoners is
suffocating and prison-like. In fact, it was no better than being in a
prison. I was expelled from my monastery at the order of the Chinese
authorities and my ration card was transferred to my hometown. Despite
being out of prison I continued to be under constant surveillance and
targeted for strict observance. PSB officers frequently come to
interrogate me. The judiciary department had sent a letter to the local
police concerning my case and gave strict instructions to observe me
constantly. They said that I had a polluted mind and that I wasn't
reformed completely and that they should hold me in contempt and
suspicion. This gave the PSB all the more reason to scrutinise me. I had
to report every day about what I had done the entire day. In 1996 the
PSB officers accused me of still working under cover waiting for an
opportunity to initiate political activities. I was restricted from
travelling outside Lhasa and ordered to report every ten days to the PSB
Office. Whenever any political activity happened in Lhasa, I would be
called for interrogation and detained for a day or two. My family
members were also taken for interrogation. It was a dreadful existence.
In the night of January 1997, "TAR" police officers raided my house and
took me to "TAR" PSB Detention Centre. I was detained for seven days and
made to sign many documents pledging to report on my mental condition
and to seek permission if I left Lhasa. I have lost my freedom and that
of my family members also. The police threatened my family and asked me
strange questions about my activities and that of my family.
In exile
Even though three years had passed since my release, I had found no
solace and was left with no peace of mind. Completely frustrated with
the unending harassment, I realised that I had no choice but to separate
with my land and family and escape to India. In January 1998 I fled
Tibet, arriving in India on 9 February 1998. We were given food and
shelter in a refugee reception-house set up in Kathmandu, by the Tibetan
government in exile, India, for almost two weeks. I reached Tibetan
Reception Centre in Dharamsala, North India, in late January 1998 and
stayed there for three months.
TCHRD
On 1 May 1998, I joined the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and
Democracy, a non-governmental human rights organisation based in
Dharamsala, India. The Centre monitors human rights situation inside
Tibet and disseminates these informations throughout the world. The
Centre works towards protection and promotion of human rights and
democratic principles within the exile Tibetan community.
I have worked with full dedication in the capacity of a Field Officer.
I interview new refugees arriving in India from Tibet and collect their
personal testimonies. I write press releases and news brief in Tibetan
language on issues that need immediate media attention, and undertake
research work on specific human rights issues. Being a former political
prisoner and having experienced the situation inside Tibet first hand, I
have become sort of conduit for information verification and
confirmation in the Centre.
In recognition and appreciation of my dedication and sincere service to
the Centre for four years, I was promoted to the post of Centre's
Researcher in March 2002. As a researcher, my job includes (1)
constantly monitoring the latest developments in aspects of politics,
social and economy especially in Tibet and China as a whole, (2) writing
the Centre's monthly newsletter in Tibetan titled "Human Rights Update",
(3) writing the annual report in Tibetan language in the year end, and (
4)to write topical reports as and when deemed necessary.
As a former political prisoner and a Tibetan who has seen the
difficulties of Tibetans under the Chinese rule, I am always dedicated
and committed to work for the welfare of Tibetans back home. It is my
goal and aim to help the Tibetans back in Tibet achieve more freedom and
enjoy human rights through my work at the Centre. I remain optimistic
that the current position at the Centre contribute to ensure and
guarantee the Tibetans in Tibet their basic rights and happiness as
enjoyed by any free loving individual. END
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