Ngawang Phulchung, a Buddhist monk from the Drepung monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa, Tibet, is serving a nineteen-year sentence for organizing a "counter-revolutionary clique," spreading "counter-revolutionary propaganda," and "engaging in espionage."

Amnesty International considers Ngawang Phulchung to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely on account of the non-violent expression of his political beliefs. AI calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Ngawang Phulchung is an adoption case of Seattle local AI group 4, which asks your help in our campaign to free him.

On November 30, 1989, the Lhasa municipal Intermediate People's Court held a "mass rally" to sentence ten Drepung monks, arrested on January 15, 1989, for their activities in support of Tibetan independence. Ngawang Phulchung was officially described as the leader of a "reactionary organization" which had printed and distributed leaflets to further the goal of Tibetan independence and "splitting the motherland." These leaflets included a Tibetan translation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a manifesto advocating a constitutional democracy for Tibet after Chinese withdrawal. Ngawang Phulchung was also one of three monks whom the Chinese government says "collected intelligence and passed it to the enemy [the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile], seriously undermining national security."

The prison sentences -- the longest to be handed down to pro-independence demonstrators since the current wave of protests began -- came soon after the award of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama. The award was accompanied by Chinese denunciations of his and the government-in-exile's role in encouraging pro-independence protests in Lhasa.

Monks from the Drepung monastery have been at the forefront of demonstrations in Lhasa. Ngawang Phulchung was one of 21 who led a peaceful march on government offices in September, 1987, an event which marked the beginning of the current wave of pro-independence protests instigated by monks and nuns. He was subsequently detained without charge for four months.

Please send courteous letters expressing your concern at the imprisonment of Ngawang Phulchung. Urge that he be immediately released on the grounds that he is a prisoner of conscience. Write to:

President of the Xizang Autonomous Regional People's Government
Gyaltsen Norbu Zbuxi
Xizang Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
1 Kang'angdonglu
Lasahi 850000
People's Republic of China

Learn about another Drepung monk, Ngawang Pekar

Visit the Group 4 Seattle Website to learn more about Ngawang Phulchung.

Visit the Group 133 Somerville, MA website to find actions for Tibetan Nuns Gyaltsen Drolkar & Gyaltsen Choezom.

Back to AI Group 22 home page

Back to AI Kids