In March 1989 the Associated Press quoted a tourist as saying that during rioting, Lhasa's "hospitals were only treating Chinese, leaving injured Tibetans to fend for themselves."12

There are conflicting reports about the treatment of Tibetans injured during demonstrations. It is evident that many Tibetans have been treated for injuries following demonstrations, but the quality and timeliness of such care remains controversial. In addition, questions have been raised about collusion between hospital employees, including physicians, and the police. Further research is needed to

determine the extent of access to patients' records and the role of physicians in granting that access. One man said that those who were badly injured were indeed taken to the hospital,113 but some Tibetans who were admitted to the People's Hospital were later

112 John Pomfet, "China Declares Martial Law in Tibet".

113 TIN, Int. #5, p.7. The South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) published a picture on March 8, 1989 showing three medics in white tunics carrying an injured or dead person, allegedly from the scene of a demonstration. Neither the caption nor the article states whether the person being carried is Tibetan or Chinese and it is not apparent from the photo. Nor is it known whether the medics are Tibetan or Chinese or whether the person is being taken to the People's Hospital or the Tibetan Medical Institute.

found to have been transferred to prisons. At least four other Tibetans are known to have remained at the People's Hospital because they reportedly died there.

In Prison

We received only one second hand account of a prisoner being taken to the hospital after two months of regular interrogation and torture sessions, allegedly because prison authorities were afraid she would die from a vaginal infection after being repeatedly violated with the cattle prod. A recent article reported that another woman was tortured so badly she had to be sent to the hospital to receive "treatment which, if successful, will allow the woman to return to prison."

114

We were unable to interview any prison physicians and have no substantial evidence that physicians are actually taking part in torture... [Yet] it is evident that physicians in Tibet's prisons

are not providing medical attention to the extent warranted by internationally recognized standards.

Several interviewees said that prison physicians provided health care only when the prisoner's life was in danger. One 25-year-old nun said, "When I became unconscious [from torture], they poured cold water over me. A doctor came and asked [if] I were sick. When I said I didn't fell well, they beat me again. Some medication was given." The Tibet Information Network received a report that in Drapchi, "There was no proper medical treatment. They just gave a tablet for any kind of complaint. Severe cuts and wounds only were taken care of by a doctor."

115

116

We were unable to interview any prison physicians and have no substantial evidence that physicians are actually taking part in torture. However, the revival of critically injured prisoners is viewed by some prisoners as a means of keeping them alive so that they may be interrogated and tortured further. Nima Pasang (Delhi, 12/6/88), who had his face repeatedly slammed against a concrete floor in Drapchi, stated that he was given no medical attention even though he was still bleeding profusely from his mouth and his upper left lip was almost torn off. From this and other testimony it is evident that physicians in Tibet's prisons are not providing medical attention to the extent warranted by internationally recognized standards."

197

114 John Gittings, "Tibetan nuns defy might of China," Guardian, Nov. 8, 1989.

115 TIN, Int. #7. p.3.

116 TIN, Int. #8, p.11,

117

See Amnesty International, Ethical Codes and Declarations Relevant to the Health Professions, 2d Edition (London, 1985).

118

In Gutsa one inmate reported that there was a Chinese doctor in the prison but prisoners were only given treatment if they were dying.' However, another prisoner stated that he was treated by one of two Chinese doctors in Gutsa. He received a bad cut in the head and stated that it was really not well treated. He said that prisoners are only taken to see a doctor if they are bleeding badly." Amnesty International reported from their sources that "medical care was minimal and only those critically ill could see a doctor or go to a hospital."

121

"120

119

The United Nations Special Rapporteur wrote that a prisoner who had been taken to a Lhasa hospital on May 10, 1988, died as a result of severe beatings in Gutsa prison.' Still, even these interviews and the rest of the literature cannot confirm whether Chinese or Tibetan physicians are present for, or participate in, the interrogation and torture of prisoners.

Violations of Medical Sanctuary

Following the March 5, 1988 demonstration, many Tibetans were taken from local hospitals to local prisons. In one documented case, three monks, Tagu, 36 (Jokhang), Lobsang Phuntsok, 41 (Ganden), and Kelsang, 22 (Jokhang) were taken from the Norbulingka TB hospital by March 12." Gyaltsen Tharchin Jampa Tenzin, the monk who was badly burned and whose picture appeared in Time and the New York Times Magazine, was also reported to have been arrested in the hospital.'

122

123

Kelsang Wangyal (Dharamsala, 12/1/88) a 22 year-old Jokhang monk, said he was caught and beaten with an iron rod on March 5. He fell to the ground and covered his face while he was being kicked. He lost consciousness, and when he woke up he saw 12 bodies, all badly beaten, bloody and seemingly dead, but he could not be sure. He could not move.

After a while several jeeps came with Tibetan doctors from the Tibetan (Mendzakhang) hospital. They picked him up and put him in the back of the jeep. As they were leaving the square, Chinese police stopped the vehicle and assaulted the Tibetans, including the doctors. Some of the doctors were injured and bleeding themselves while they tended to the injured monks.

121 United Nations "Report by the Special Rapporteur, Mr. S. Amos Wako, pursuant to Economic and Social Council Resolution 1988/38," p.13.

122

These three monks are on the prisoner list published by Asia Watch in "Evading Scrutiny" (#249, 250 and 251).

123 See John Ackerly, "Fire in Tibet", New York Times Magazine, Nov. 11, 1987.

Burned monk waives a Khata, a traditional white Tibetan scarf, during a demonstration against Chinese rule of Tibet on October 1, 1987. (Photo: John Ackerly)

Kelsang spent two months in the Tibetan hospital recuperating from a concussion and bruises covering his entire body. While he was there Chinese police came to the hospital several times to photograph and interrogate the patients. The police told him that someone else said that he was seen hitting a police man and if he did not confess he would be taken to prison. Kelsang said he thought they were bluffing and denied the charge. After some time the police left.

Kelsang also told us that one night the Tibetan hospital staff prevented the police from taking one patient to prison, and that after this incident some of the patients snuck out of the hospital long before they would have been discharged, including several who could barely walk. One, a 23 year-old Sear monk named Sopa, was arrested and taken from the Mendzakhang on April 5, 1988. He was freed in June of 1988 with other prisoners in a widely publicized release.

Kelsang also told us of a man named Thubten Namdrok who was arrested in front of the Tibetan hospital on October 1, 1987. Kelsang did not know whether the man was trying to enter the hospital for treatment. He was released in February 1988, then arrested again on March 5, 1988 and is reportedly still in prison. Kelsang decided that since he himself had been involved in two demonstrations and had argued with the Chinese at several re-education sessions, he was likely to be harassed and arrested again. He decided that rather than live under such conditions, he should join a monastery in exile. Kelsang snuck through the mountains to Nepal and made his way to Dharamsala.