Nepal Repatriates Tibetans to China, Protest Planned in Toronto

Nepal Repatriates 3 Tibetans to Tibet, Protest Planned in Toronto

"Going Home" By Dolkar Tso

Screenshot of Dolkar Tso's 5th Blog

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Dolkar Tso which was posted on her blog on July 21, 2010. Dolkar Tso is the wife of businessman, environmentalist and philanthropist Karma Samdrup, sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 24, 2010 in Xinjiang on charges of alleged "grave-robbing".

Dolkar Tso started blogging in June 2010 during her husband's trial, providing a personal insight into the case. Her blogs, hosted on Chinese site Sohu.com, have been repeatedly closed down and she is currently on her 5th blog.

Whilst the case of Karma Samdrup and his imprisoned brothers Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal fades out of the news, Dolkar Tso's blogpost is a portrait of a distressed woman trying to imagine how best to carry on for the sake of the family. The blogpost starts with the summer, usually the time of the year when the family would leave the city of Xining and go home to the grasslands. The English translation reflects the original Chinese language nostalgic internal monologue style and confused grammar.

Follow this link to see all posts by Dolkar Tso that High Peaks Pure Earth has translated to date.

Dolkar Tso and Karma Samdrup's daughters

My favourite part of the year is going home, the children getting excited before their exams and starting to think about seeing their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, the fresh air, green grass and blue sky... My children, the beautiful scenery of home may still be as tranquil as it was before but something in the air has changed, your mother really doesn't want you to be aware of these changes or to see them.

Summer was such a wonderful time, my husband would often come back with us to the grasslands of Yushu, we would breathe in the scent of various herbs, see black pearl-like yaks and white cloud-like sheep. When the tents were up, we would see the neighbours in far off tents, we would smile at each other, looking up to the skies, red faced under the sun with white teeth. Children who are born and grew up on the grasslands are kind-hearted and sincere. My husband loved to take photos of us, that was our best and happiest time.


Kids are still playing and noisily running around the public square in Xining, among these kids, one experienced the major earthquake in April, witnessed destruction and death, lost his mother; two of them haven't see their father for half a year and perhaps have to wait fourteen and a half more years. The boy who lost his mother still doesn't know what death means; my two girls whose father suffered injustice still don't know what separation means. The younger daughter once wrote in her essay "Secret" that she wants to marry the same kind of man as her kind, big and tall father when she grows up. If this is true that the fifteen years have to be used to prove my husband's innocence, a seemingly endless amount of time is needed to show that this was a miscarriage of justice, would my daughters still remember what their father looks like? The time of their youth will be spent without a father, at the time when they begin to think about getting married, will the shadow of their father not appear in their partners?

This kind of thing really makes me feel pain. But what else can I think about? With parents on the one hand, I have to force myself to pretend I am strong enough to take the pain. With the children on the other hand, I can only pretend that nothing has happened. But no one can control my thoughts, not even myself. My husband's figure, which has become so slight, always appears in front of my eyes, I hear him describing his experiences of torture, this time the world was able to admire his courage and steadfastness but I can not get rid of the overlapping images in my mind of the tall and thin physique of my husband. It was like films and documentaries I had seen, images of Nazi concentration camps actually appeared in my mind.

Never did I dream that these misfortunes would happen. In a sound legal system, I never thought my husband would face these grievances. If he is not bogged down by this misfortune, he will still pursue the protection of culture and the environment and continue to study wall paintings, stone carvings, ancient philosophy, and the connection between ancient life philosophy and current environmental disasters, he will miss his two lovely daughters and simple and honest chats with his friends; the happiness of today also carries with it the feelings of yesterday, my quiet life to his surprise has been hijacked by "aliens"[1].

How is he now? Is he starving? Is he being beaten again? Is he subject to abuse? Nobody dares to think of these things. The parents are of benign countenance, family members are neither obsequious nor arrogant. They are on my side by comforting me that there are no difficulties that cannot be overcome and no time that would stand still as long as we adhere to our original minds and do not lose ourselves. My friends say the most valuable thing is: he is still himself, your husband will not be changed.

Good and evil stand together, the contrast between black and white is so obvious. The world is always a mixed blessing, no one knows what tomorrow will look like, the evil of all will collapse, sooner or later; insist on the good but encountering difficulties is Buddhist practice in itself.

[1] This is a reference to a "funny" message left by Sohu.com when a blog is deleted that the blog has been "abducted by aliens".

SFT UK at the UK’s Biggest Student Festival!

Wales has many positive qualities, but its weather isn’t usually one of them. So I’m glad to say that stereotype didn’t hold true when we headed to Pembrey in Carmarthenshire for Beach Break Live, the UK’s biggest student festival. The sun shone down on our little stall all week making our time there all the better.

We went with two aims in mind – to sell our lovely range or merchandise and to spread the word about SFT UK’s fantastic work, hopefully getting lots of new people involved. Whilst our sales could have been better, we did meet lots of enthusiastic people and almost everyone that stopped at our stall signed our petition to free Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen or joined our email list or stayed for a chat about what we do. Some of them were keen to start campaigning at their universities and colleges and one of them, Sophie, is starting a new SFT group at the University of Plymouth this year and left with a box load of leaflets, postcards and other great stuff to get the group off to a flying start. Watch this space to see how she gets on.

Whilst we worked hard making our stall the most beautiful on site and keeping it open for over 12 hours a day, there was still time for fun and the week was full of memorable moments. From the impromptu yoga class outside our stall, to dancing at the Granny Gaff, from our neighbours at On Your Beach accidentally making tea with vodka, to a barbeque on the beach at sunset.

Massive thanks go to our volunteers Fenya, Sonam, Gabby, Lizzie and Pete who were tireless throughout the week; we really could not have done it without you guys.

To find out more of our pictures click here

photos & report prepared by Ben Martin

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High Peaks Pure Earth Summer 2010 Reading List

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated the Winter holiday reading list to create the Summer 2010 reading list! With these reading lists, High Peaks Pure Earth recommends books for those interested in Tibet and particularly in Tibetan literature in translation. Click on the links below to see the books on Amazon. If you have read any of these books, leave a comment or short review...if you have any of your own recommendations, please let us know! On Tibet and Tibetan Literature:

FOOTBALL, ROBBEN ISLAND & THE RELATIVISM OF POLITICAL CRUELTY

From JamyangNorbu.com Well, the World Cup’s over and the teams and visitors have all gone home, but the afterglow of achievement hasn’t entirely faded for South Africans. The people of this struggling “rainbow nation”, especially its new president Jacob Zuma, can be deservedly proud of having successfully hosted this tremendous international sporting event. Over forty years ago Zuma was a player himself, in fact the captain of the Rangers club, one of the teams that made up the Makana Football Association, organized by the prisoners of South Africa’s notorious Robben Island state prison.

An article in the New York Times mentioned that in Robben Island “…soccer brought relief from the exhausting life of breaking rocks in a quarry. It conferred dignity on prisoners subjected to beatings and humiliating body searches.” An inmate, Lizo Sitoto who was imprisoned on Robben island from 1963 until 1978, claimed that “football saved many of us. When you were outside playing, you felt free, as if you were at home.”

Nelson Mandela was kept in an isolation unit and not allowed to play football, but it appears that he somehow managed to keep himself physically fit. On Thursday February 11, 1990, when he was released from Robben island and the whole world celebrated his freedom, some observers noticed how spry and energetic he looked in spite of his 27 years behind bars.  His physical and mental fitness, was of course, in great part, the product of his own discipline, political focus and iron will.

(more...)

"I Am Tibetan" Series: Poem by Mu Di

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem originally written in Chinese by a Tibetan calling themselves Mu Di, 牧笛, meaning "reed pipe". This poem was originally posted by Tibetan writer Woeser on her blog on February 15, 2010 along with several other poems of the same title. High Peaks Pure Earth has now translated all of the other poems and prose pieces that appeared in that blogpost: I Am Tibetan by Gade Tsering I Am Tibetan by Adong Paldothar I Am Tibetan by Dechen Hengme I Am Tibetan by "Son of Snow" Dhondup The poem below forms part of the series of poetry and prose pieces on High Peaks Pure Earth titled "I Am Tibetan".

A Letter of Appeal to the Authorities by Dolkar Tso, Wife of Karma Samdrup

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a letter of appeal written to government officials on June 25, 2010, by Dolkar Tso after learning that her husband, Karma Samdrup, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for charges of alleged tomb-robbing and dealing in looted relics. 

The letter of appeal was posted online on the blog of Karma Samdrup's lawyer, well-known Chinese civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang on this URL: http://puzhiqianglawyer.blog.sohu.com/155565868.html However, this post is now inaccessible. The letter can be read on Woeser's blog where it was re-posted in full on June 29, 2010.


High Peaks Pure Earth has posted several translations of blogposts by Dolkar Tso.




To the honoured reader:

I am from the town of Jyegu in the Yushu Prefecture of Qinghai Province, my name is Dolkar Tso. Not that long ago, I was just an ordinary housewife, a happy wife and mother. My husband’s name is Karma Samdrup; he is from the Chamdo District of Gonjo County and for a long time had dedicated most of his energy to protecting culture and the environment, he was widely respected. We have two lovely daughters together who are lively and kind-hearted and who currently go to a primary school in Chengdu. But now, my innocent husband has been sentenced to 15 years in prison accused of “robbing ancient graves”, our two unaware daughters still hope for a phone call from their father day and night. The past year’s earthquake and many other unexpected events have gradually destroyed our simple but happy family.

If my husband had really broken the law, I would by no means beg for leniency on his behalf; but we – all his relatives, friends and I – have known Karma for many years, and especially after his three-day trial from 22 to 24 June, we are more convinced than ever that Karma is innocent; he is no criminal.

Karma was born in a remote mountain village, never received any formal education but has always been kind-hearted and intelligent by nature. Starting from small business activities in his childhood, later on, he turned into a respected and well-known businessman. Nevertheless, compared to those wealthy contemporary families, our family still looked quite poor. This is because Karma invested all his hard-earned money into his activities of protecting culture and the environment. He also built bridges, renovated schools and supported widowed elderly people in his hometown. He also set up the “Three Rivers Environmental Protection Group”, which has been awarded many prizes of special honour. Moreover, he was very devoted to the protection of cultural antiquities and established the “Tibet Gzi (Heavenly Beads) Road Cultural Communication Company Limited”. He often cooperated with provincial museums and even managed to sign an agreement with the China Tibetology Research Centre preparing to donate 200 cultural items to the state. He has always dedicated everything to the harmonious existence between different people and between people and nature and has always believed that the protection of culture and the environmental go beyond the notions of nationality or state. For this reason, he has received varies different awards from the government. He has always obeyed the law, has always loved the country and his family and has gained trust and respect from friends of different ethnic origins. He particularly liked to make friends with inland intellectuals; he liked to study radiant Han culture and never entertained any separatist thoughts. His friends and relatives all think that his words and deeds have always represented the unity of ethnic nationalities and that he is in fact a role model for law-abiding citizens. But this person was taken as a captive, was tortured to confess to an extent that I couldn’t trust my own eyes when I was at the opening of the trial on June 22 and saw the tall and heavyset, even a little chubby Karma was now skinny and small, his body was crooked so that we already started shedding tears like rain before he had even started telling us about the cruel torture he had suffered. I already more or less knew what he had gone through, but when we heard his statement about how he had been forced to wrongly confess by means of numerous different methods, how he had been tormented day and night, we just couldn’t bear it any longer up in the public gallery. In the past half year, he led a life that wasn’t worth living; he often bled through the seven holes in his head and fainted, he did not have any food, was not given any time to rest and we only found out at the court that his left ear had almost gone deaf, his vision was blurry and his whole body was in agony. Yet, with a determination, which we are unable to imagine, he persisted in not telling lies, but in remaining an honest person, something, which made his friends and relatives feel proud and shaken.

For a housewife coming from a family like mine, this trial was so obviously not fair. The collegial panel only listened to the words of the prosecutor and turned a deaf ear to the questions of the defending advocates. The prosecutors’ proceedings revealed too many loopholes and the evidence, which they submitted was contradictory and full of flaws, making him a suspect on false grounds. But when Karma and his defenders requested evidence or wanted to call in a witness, which are all very legal requests, they were refused. According to the sentence, Karma should stay in prison for 15 years; this is so unjust and signifies the loss of any impartiality. Just as Karma said in his last statement, how can a person who protects antiquities and feels sad every time any cultural artefact is being destroyed be accused of “destroying ancient graves”? How can a person who grew up with traditional customs that taught to be superstitious about tombs be so defaming and “sell coffins and dried corpses” or “rob ancient graves”? We really don’t understand how Karma can endure such immense misfortune when we have such an advanced Party and Government and wide-ranging legal system in place?

Recently, our country has promulgated new laws and regulations against giving false evidence thus, strengthening citizens’ rights, putting an end to unjust cases out of pure hatred. This makes me feel very hopeful that the collection of evidence and investigations are being carried out according to the law and I believe that justice will be done to Karma. He has been serving his country for all his life and will certainly keep doing what he can do, will not strive for idealism and contribute to society.
Today, the heavy burden of the family, the business and the lawsuit entirely rests on my shoulders. Our innocent children still don’t know what calamities their dad is experiencing. Apart from Karma, his older brother, Rinchen Samdrup, and his younger brother, Chime Namgyal, were also arrested in August last year. To the present day, the older brother’s trial has not commenced and the younger brother was transferred to a hospital under strong surveillance on 11 June due to his disability. A different cousin was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for “being the instigator of a group of villagers appealing to the higher authorities” at the end of last year. Yet another cousin, Rinchen Dorje, was also seized by Ku'erle (in Xinjiang) city police in connection with Karma’s case and his whereabouts remain unknown. Already 5 family members have been arrested, every time I think of the peaceful life in the past, I cannot help but feel sadness welling up.

I earnestly request the respective departments to urge the local law enforcement offices to strictly follow the law and I also call for treating a good person like Karma in a humane way. A case like this can also stand as a model case in accordance with the newly promulgated laws and regulations. It will not only give back an honest person who has endured cruel punishment his legitimate right to live, it will also be a valuable experience helping to prevent similar cases in the future. But most importantly, it will be a great encouragement for people from all nationalities to do everything for the unified and harmonious existence of all nationalities.

Once more, I earnestly request the officials in charge to pay attention to this case and to pay attention to Karma Samdrup. For this I show my highest respect, appreciation and compliments. Tashi Delek!

Dolkar Tso
June 25, 2010