Urgent Action – Nami Jhaba (China)

19 December 2008

UA 347/08 – Fear of torture and other ill-treatment (PDF)

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA – Nami Jhaba (m), aged 41, Tibetan

Tibetan former monk Nami Jhaba was detained by police on 19 April, and has been held incommunicado since then. Police recently returned some of his possessions to his family, and he is therefore believed to be in danger of torture and other ill-treatment.

On 7 December, police came to his sister’s home in Daofu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, and gave her some of his personal belongings, among them a religious amulet. In Tibetan culture, relinquishing this amulet means the owner is no longer in control of his physical body and could signify that Nami is being tortured or is otherwise in a critical condition. The police told her that they were waiting for a decision from the central government on her brother’s case. According to local sources, Nami had been detained on suspicion of “leaking state secrets” and held first in Kangding Prefecture, then moved to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and later sent back to Kangding Prefecture. It is unclear if he has had access to lawyers.

Nami Jhaba’s detention was believed to be directly linked to his attempt to pass on to a foreign journalist video footage shot in March of hundreds of police shooting at and arresting monks from Langque Monastery and other Tibetans who had been protesting at the monastery. During an interview with a Radio Free Asia journalist on 9 April, he said he believed he was in danger of being detained by authorities.

Nami Jhaba was once a monk at Langque Monastery. He was arrested twice previously in connection with monks’ protests and the posting of anti-government slogans at the monastery.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A wave of unrest spread across the Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding Tibetan-populated areas in March and April 2008. More than 1,000 people were arbitrarily detained in a crackdown that followed.

The authorities charge people exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly with vaguely defined crimes such as “leaking state secrets,” “subversion” and “endangering state security.”

Amnesty International has documented the widespread use of torture and other ill-treatment in prisons and detention centers, including beating and use of electroshock batons. China ratified the UN Convention Against Torture in 1988, and has its own laws seeking to eliminate the practice, but torture and other ill-treatment in custody remains widespread. In November 2008, the UN Committee Against Torture raised concern about reports of abuses in custody, including high numbers of deaths, possibly related to torture or other ill-treatment, and about the lack of investigation into these abuses.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

• calling on the authorities to release Nami Jhaba immediately and unconditionally, unless he is charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense;
• urging the authorities to ensure that Nami Jhaba is not tortured;
• asking them where Nami Jhaba is held;
• urging them to ensure Nami Jhaba has access to his family, legal assistance of his choice and any medical treatment he may require.

APPEALS TO:

Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People’s Government
Qiangba Puncog Zhuren
Xizang Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
1 Kang’angdonglu
Lasashi 850000
Xizang Zizhiqu
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Chairman

Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China
Wen Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China
Meng Jianzhu Buzhang
Gong’anbu
14 Dongchang’anjie
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100741
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 63099216 (it may be difficult to get through, please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Party Committee
Zhang Qingli Shuji
Zhonggong Xizang Zizhiqu Weiyuanhui
Lasashi, Xizang Zizhiqu
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328-2582

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 29 January 2009.

AIUSA Urgent Action Network Office
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, 5th floor
Washington DC 20003
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
Email: uan@aiusa.org
Web: http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent