"Remembering the First Time I Met Karma Samdrup" by Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for Radio Free Asia on June 17, 2010 in Beijing and posted on her blog on June 21, 2010.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes an account of her first encounters with Karma Samdrup, the Tibetan businessman, philanthropist and environmentalist who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 24, 2010 in Xinjiang. Read a report about Karma Samdrup by Human Rights Watch here, a report which is also cited by Woeser in her blogpost.

High Peaks Pure Earth has also translated two blogposts by Karma Samdrup's wife Dolkar Tso, read the first one "Praying" here and the second one, in which she thanks Karma Samdrup's lawyers, here.







A number of days ago, Human Rights Watch submitted a report to the Chinese government requesting to rescind the accusations against the philanthropist and environmentalist of the Tibetan people, Karma Samdrup and his brothers. It states: “these people embody the characteristics the government says it wants in modern Tibetans – economically successful, lending support to only approved cultural and environmental pursuits, and apolitical – yet they, too, are being treated as criminals.” This made me remember when I first met Karma Samdrup. It was one day in May 1998; I had travelled from Lhasa to Chengdu for business and at the entrance of the Chenghua District Government, to my surprise, I saw a group of Tibetans quietly sitting on newspapers, bamboo or plastic mats, they looked exhausted and their clothes were tatty but one glance was sufficient to see their anger and grievance. I went over to speak to them; I wanted to know why they were there. Right at this moment, Karma appeared carrying two large boxes of bottled mineral water.    

Originally, those Tibetans were trading with Chinese caterpillar fungus, most of them were Khampas from eastern Tibet but some also came from the Ngaba grasslands of Amdo. After the caterpillar fungus season the year before, they had brought more than 5000 kilos of caterpillar fungus to sell, which had been collected by over 7000 families to Chengdu. All of their merchandise was collected by some Pharmaceutical Company belonging to the Chenghua District Government. It had been agreed that payment would be made on a certain day. But when it came to that day, the boss of the Pharmaceutical Company had vanished into thin air and the 5000 kilos of caterpillar fungus had also disappeared without a trace. When the traders saw the altogether almost 40 million RMB coming to naught, they were burning with impatience because they had taken the fungus from the local villagers merely on the basis of goodwill and promise, as it is traditionally done. So the hard working villagers looked forward to promptly receiving the money to take back home. Some of them had to settle many urgent payments. For those traders who don’t do big business, their entire belongings are at stake. In addition, 15 million RMB was loaned from the bank and another 5 million RMB was taken from the poverty alleviation funds. Thus, they had no alternative but to stay in Tibetan places around the Chengdu Office, demanding payment every day. But after countless months had passed without any results, they could do nothing but carry out a quiet sit-down protest. It was said that the number of traders participating in the sit-down protest reached 60. Yet, can a sit-down protest solve the problem? Who can make up for a loss of 40 million RMB? I heard that a trader named Dorgey from Ngaba was in such extreme despair that he committed suicide. 

So, was Karma also one of the people who had been tricked? No, he wasn’t. At the time, he was a little over 30; he was trading in "dzi" (heavenly beads) and had also just arrived in Chengdu and randomly run into this group of Tibetans carrying out a sit-down protest. Without any hesitation he put aside his business and took the initiative to help them. He firstly brought them water, medicine and food and secondly, he used his network to find an important person to speak for them. For example, after much effort, Karma found Phuntsog Wangyal who was living in Beijing. Although Phuntsog Wangyal had retired from his position as the Deputy Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission many years ago, he was still influential. Moreover, he was the very first Tibetan revolutionary, an eminent patriot. Of course he would lend a helping hand when the lives of so many common Tibetans were affected. He explained this situation to the then Premier of the State Council, Zhu Rongji. Thereupon, as I came to know much later, after a period of three years, provincial departments on all levels in Tibet, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, as well as Chengdu, renumerated those Tibetans who had been cheated. 

At the time, the noble Karma and I had both been in a rush, I had not been able to help him. It wasn’t until summer 2002 at a banquet in Lhasa that I met Karma again. I was astonished by his brilliant words saying that when one carries out environmental protection work in Tibet one should also consider the benefits of local Tibetans, otherwise one might as well not do it. It is said that Karma established the very first environmental non-government organisation in Tibet – “Three Rivers Environmental Protection Group”, which he also sponsors himself. After interviewing him a few times I wrote an article titled “Karma, ‘King of Heavenly Beads’”, which was published in 2006 in the “Southern Weekend” newspaper. I remember how in the very beginning he said to me: “I have never been to hell, I don’t know how terrifying hell really is but I have suffered a lot; I have never been to heaven, I don’t know how magnificent heaven really is but I often feel happy.” What really is a shame is that today, Karma is commonly portrayed in the light of the first half of this sentence, which really is very unjust.

Beijing, June 17, 2010

Dolkar Tso Thanks Karma Samdrup’s Lawyers

High Peaks Pure Earth and JustRecently have translated a blogpost by Karma Samdrup's wife, Dolkar Tso, that was posted online on her blog on June 26, 2010. Most of the translation was done by JustRecently here on this blogpost and High Peaks Pure Earth is grateful to JustRecently for granting us permission to reproduce the translation within the full translation below.

Dolkar Tso's blogpost was deleted shortly after it was posted but it was re-posted in full on the same day on Woeser's blog and the screenshot below shows us what the posting looked like:




Dolkar Tso has written a few blogposts since the start of Karma Samdrup's trial. Read the High Peaks Pure Earth translation of her account of the first day in court, titled "Praying". Just two days later, on June 24, 2010, Karma Samdrup was sentenced to 15 years in prison. This article by TIME magazine gives an overview of the case and also refers to Dolkar Tso's blogpost.

Dolkar Tso's blogpost mentions Yang Jia, a young Chinese citizen who became frustrated with the law, launched an attack on a police station and stabbed six policemen to death in Shanghai on July 1, 2008. Executed for his crimes in November 2008, Yang Jia nevertheless became an internet hero and gained public sympathy for his stance against injustice, read an August 2008 Daily Telegraph article about him here. By mentioning his case in the title of her blogpost, it is clear that Dolkar Tso identifies with Yang Jia's feelings of frustration with the Chinese legal system and gives credit and thanks to Karma Samdrup's Chinese lawyers for not losing her mind.

Dolkar Tso also mentions the Uighur name "Abliz", a person who was involved in the original 1998 case against Karma Samdrup involving alleged grave-robbing and who also testified against him.




We are on the plane leaving Urumqi. As the plane took off, misty rain swept the plane's wing as though tears were overflowing from a pair of eyes.

A friend next to me quietly says what I can't bear to say myself: Karma, we will leave you for a while.

The three colleagues all could not detach themselves from the experiences of the past few days. In my left ear hauntingly echoed the words "Abliz Abliz ... ", my right ear could hear the lawyer's eloquent powerful voice. I know that many people worry about me, "15 year sentence", how heavy this weighs down on people's hearts, even I myself have not clearly thought through what this means. On the third day of the trial, at first upon seeing the botched evidence I still had some hope, afterwards seeing how obviously the court and prosecution were protecting each other, my worse expectations were confirmed - everything had already been set up, the whole trial was made up of fabricated evidence and the entire process was a painstaking show.

I have felt despair, however I also find comfort - in such lawyers, in Karma, in us.

Last night on the return trip, lawyer Pu finally fell asleep, there was another case waiting for him straight after, another family waiting in despair for a genuine lawyer they can talk to and depend on. Sitting behind him, we can not help but shed tears, he and lawyer Li, working and rushing around day and night, lacked sleep from the start, especially the ailing lawyer Pu who in the night of the second day in court couldn't rest and had to leave the courtroom to take an injection and medicine. How I hope they can rest, or hope even more that such good people no longer have to worry about these kinds of miserable stories. However, with more and more people facing difficulties, out of empathy I don't want them to stop their work - such lawyers are too too few, the harder they work, the more innocent people will be comforted. In the same way that Karma endured physical and spiritual ravages, the hard work of lawyers is also harsh physical punishment imposed on them by society. In the same way that Karma does not yield, the lawyers will also not give up.

“Thank you” – these two words are too weak to express my gratitude to the two lawyers. I don’t know how to express my gratitude adequately. I'm unable to imagine what situation I would be facing if not even the lawyers had followed the law, but succumbed to the temptation of money and confused common notions of right and wrong. How deep would my despair run in that case? That would be the kind of bottomless despair that would force those of us who believe in Buddhism to bear deep hatred. Nobody wishes to hate others, and Yang Jia didn’t want to become Yang Jia. My heart doesn’t wish evil on others, and would fear turning into Yang Jia’s abysmal, hopeless and lonely state of mind. Therefore, I can only once again use these weak words of gratitude to salute these two lawyers!

You have not only preserved our faith in law and justice, but made me even more convinced: when the choice is between right and wrong, there is no ethnic difference. We are striving for truth and justice together, no matter  if we are Han or Tibetan. I appreciate the treasures and common life of our nationalities. Diversity provides us with experience and self-awareness. The common pursuit of goodness and beauty provide us with real unity and harmony.

I believe that even though we have seen this trial – a trial that benumbed my limbs and made tears well up in my eyes -, I’m still not Yang Jia. I thank these two lawyers, I thank all friends of all nationalities, and from the beginning to the end, I have not felt alone.

FUNERAL GAMES*

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RANGZEN ALLIANCE, SWITZERLAND

I was in Switzerland at the beginning of this month and gave a slideshow and talk at Zurich on Saturday the 5th, “Was Tibet an Independent and Sovereign State?”, based on my essay Independent Tibet – The Facts, but with a more polemical title. The talk was well attended by Tibetans. In fact the auditorium [...]

"Praying" – A Blogpost by Dolkar Tso, Wife of Karma Samdrup

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Dolkar Tso, wife of businessman and environmentalist Karma Samdrup, which was written on June 22, 2010 and posted on her blog on June 23, 2010. The blogpost is an account of the first day of the trial of Karma Samdrup which took place in Yanqi county, Xinjiang, but was online merely a few hours before being deleted.


The screenshot below shows what Dolkar Tso's blogpost looked like and was posted on Woeser's blog earlier today along with a full re-posting of the blogpost.







Woeser had previously also posted this photo of Dolkar Tso and her husband Karma Samdrup on her blog:


The curious case of Karma Samdrup and his brothers, the environmentalists Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal - all currently under detention, has attracted attention from media, international human rights NGOs and Tibet Support Groups. Whilst Karma Samdrup's trial is ongoing, Rinchen Samdrup's has been postponed indefinitely and Chime Namgyal's trial date is unknown.

Dolkar Tso's blogpost gives us an insight into the emotional feelings during difficult times and also documents Chinese legal proceedings from the point of view of a lay person. The details of the prison conditions come from Karma Samdrup himself, a rare first-person account. The lawyer that Dolkar Tso refers to in her blogpost is Karma Samdrup's lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, a respected civil rights lawyer in China who himself is updating events surrounding the case on his blog.




The hearing was adjourned, it was almost 11 o’clock at night. My husband turned his head, peeked into the court. They took him away in the other direction and shut the door, we were once more separated.

In the morning I had felt so distressed and hurt that I only felt extreme grief, from the afternoon till the evening I had felt anger from all that justice and injustice. Now, after having received numerous missed calls and many text messages asking for news, I just don’t know anymore what I feel. 

Early in the morning, around 9:30 am, I saw a police vehicle, I guessed that he might be inside and when the people from inside the car were led out I almost missed him. Or rather, I just didn’t recognise him. How could his tall and upright body become thin and small? The body that passed me looked like one of a slim and fragile college student. 


Before we entered the court, I was already in tears. Relatives and friends didn’t speak a word, well, what was there to say?! Only when he stood there with his back to us, and started speaking, everyone’s sadness just poured out. We all rather closed our eyes, we didn’t want to look at this cold shadow, we just wanted to listen to this so very familiar voice – only this was really him, only this really managed to turn that poor fragile shadow into the person we remembered. 


I never thought his cheekbones could be this high, his chin so pointy, his arms so skinny, there’s nothing left of his pot-belly. And he even tells us that over the past 20 days he had already recovered quite a bit, he had started eating regularly and does not have to suffer any maltreatment anymore.  

Then he paused for a while, “Today my friends and relatives are here, and there is probably a lot I shouldn’t say.” The account we heard afterwards exceeded our worst imaginations, we heard about hundreds of different cruel torture methods, maltreatment around the clock, hitherto unheard of torture instruments and drugs, hard and soft tactics, and even of fellow prisoners being grouped together to extract a confession. If he did not reveal certain details he would be mentally tormented. If he wanted to eat or go to the toilet he had to write an "IOU", an "IOU" which has already amounted to 660,000 RMB. The “purchased” food would first be crushed by people using their feet, there would be beatings for no reason, this was common and occurred too many times to count. He said in a sad voice that he had already prepared for death and he had written a letter to tell his relatives what to do. Two elderly interpreters had red eyes and started crying bitterly.    

The lawyer also almost started crying. During the afternoon trial, the submission of evidence and translations was an endless process, endless but extraordinary. All of the evidence that was “temporarily put aside”, to my understanding, contained many loopholes and contradictions. Even the lawyers seemed to think that much was illegal in the procedures and they raised their doubts. It was just a pity that the panel discarded them as “unrelated to the respective issue” or said that “this has already been clarified”. Sitting in court were two lawyers and a defendant - three amazing people. Justice gives people an incomparable power, for a moment I didn’t think of all the disasters, I was entirely absorbed by this optimistic wisdom, surrounded by hearts of such warmth, I thought that my husband would also feel it. I clearly saw him turning his head and when he saw us his eyes were smiling. Or maybe we are fortunate people, fewer and fewer people receive such noble blessings. 



I really don’t know after this endless but extraordinary afternoon what will follow tomorrow. But we are all sure that our Karma Samdrup is no criminal, he is innocent, an unyielding and magnanimous person who can withstand any storm. We all know that he is not a criminal! As long as the court acts justly and fairly, he will certainly come back to us very soon. He will come back home and embrace his two daughters and also embrace freedom – this is the life, which he should live. 

Please listen to the prayer, which I, this rushed and weary, burdened but hopeful woman am saying. An effect presupposes a cause. May Buddha protect us.