Free Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche

'I am writing with an urgent plea for your help with putting to an end a particularly distressing case of injustice and cruelty of the chinese authorities, which I hope you will respond to if you possibly can.

In 1996 Bangri Rinpoche, a lama, (40) and his wife Nyima Choedron (37) founded and began to run an orphanage for some of Lhasa's most deprived children. At its peak, the orphanage was home to 60 children. Until 1999 they were well respected and admired pillars of the Tibetan community in the capital.'

What happened to them three years later and subsequently is a terrible and shameful reflection on the chinese governments' inhumanity and highlights the worrying trend of targeting community and religious leaders who are trying to improve conditions for their fellow Tibetans.

The exact circumstances leading to Bangri and Nyima's arrest in 1999 remain unclear. However, it is believed that a worker who was among those carrying out a development at the orphanage was arrested for trying to raise a Tibetan flag in protest during the 1999 National Minority Games.

Shortly after this a large number of people connected to the orphanage were arrested in turn, including the founders Bangri Rinpoche and Nyima who were charged with "attempting to split the country".The orphanage itself was declared an "illegal organisation" and the children were forced to leave, facing a life trying to survive on the streets of Lhasa.

At this time, the lives of Bangri Rinpoche and his wife became nightmarish. Separated from his wife and newborn daughter, Bangri Rinpoche was subjected to severe torture, as is routine in cases of political detentions in Tibet. For five days he was interrogated day and night. He was held handcuffed with one hand behind his shoulder and the other around his waist. His legs were fettered, he was hooded and forced to kneel on a low stool.

Believing he could not survive the cruel treatment to which he was subjected, Bangri Rinpoche confessed to the 'crime' of which he stood accused and was sentenced to life in prison, since reduced to 21 years. Nyima, a former nun, was initially sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, since reduced to 7 years'.

Free Tibet Campaign has received information that both Bangri Rinpoche and his wife are suffering terribly in prison.

Former political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol recalls seeing Nyima in Drapchi Prison, and has said, "Despite the pain Nyima feels on account of her poor eyesight, she is forced to knit for long hours to meet her work quota". She also reports that Nyima was held in solitary confinement during the first year of her sentence.

On 29 June that Nyima Choedron, Bangri Rinpoche's wife was released in February 2006. She was arrested together with her husband, Bangri Rinpoche (pictured left), who is serving a 18-year prison sentence and is due to get released in 2021.