On March 10, 2004, the 45th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day, former political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol testified before the U.S. House Committee on International Relations, as part of the hearing on human rights practices around the world.

Statement of Ngawang Sangdrol Tibetan Nun and Former Political Prisoner
My name is Ngawang Sangdrol. I am 27 years old. From age 8, I was a nun in Garu Nunnery in Tibet. From age 11, I began to speak out with my fellow nuns against the Chinese rule of our country. Most of my life, from age 15, I have only known what it means to live as a political prisoner inside the walls of Lhasa’s Drapchi prison. During my 11 years in prison and even during my interrogation I was subjected to torture and prolonged ill-treatment. I was released from prison on good behaviour parole in October 2002 — 9 years before my sentence was due to expire but only days before the Chinese President was to meet with President Bush at his ranch in Texas. Five months later, I was put on a plane to the United States for medical treatment. People who saw me board the plane said that I did not look back. Last week, almost exactly a year after I arrived at Reagan National Airport, I received news that my political asylum application has been approved.

I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to you and, through you, to the American people for all your efforts on behalf of the Tibetan people. Thank you. It is an unimaginable honour to be invited to speak to the United States Congress. This is also a very meaningful day for the Tibetan people as March 10, 1959 was the date the Tibetan people rose up against Chinese rule in our homeland. Since that time His Holiness the Dalai Lama has addressed the Tibetan people from exile annually on this date. This is the first year that I have been able to hear broadcast His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s March 10 address. I thank you for this gift.

Since I have been in the United States, I have been often overwhelmed by kindness and by the solidarity that so many Americans freely express for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause. It is taking me time to adjust to this new atmosphere of freedom. This is because I was brought up under an authoritarian system where freedom is found only in one’s heart.

I sit before you today, proof that when the United States insists on human rights, even powerful countries can be moved. From my own small experience I can say that the guards in Drapchi prison knew of the international attention given my case and that their attitude towards me changed. At least they were more careful in their dealings with me. I was obviously released many years before my scheduled date because of pressure from the international community.

I have learned that Phuntsog Nyidrol, a fellow nun with whom I served in prison, was just released on February 26, 2004, also as a result of consistent pressure on the Chinese government by the United States and other free countries. I hope to be able to see her soon, both of us meeting as free human beings for the first time.

My colleagues at the International Campaign for Tibet have read to me the State Department’s country report on human rights in Tibet. When I hear read the descriptions of the injustices suffered by my fellow Tibetans, I am filled with a strong desire to try to do something to help. I hope that by sharing my experiences with you, their presence may also be felt here today. This is my story and, in many ways, it is their story, too.

I was first detained in 1990 for participating in a small demonstration at a cultural festival in front of the Norbu Lingka palace in Lhasa. At the time, I was a 12 year old nun. We prayed for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and called for freedom in Tibet. For this measure of free expression, I was detained for nine months in Gutsa detention center without charges. Upon my release I was forbidden from going back to my nunnery.

In 1992, I was again arrested for participating in a pro-independence demonstration in Lhasa, along with other Garu nuns, and some monks from Gaden monastery. I was sentenced to three years imprisonment “for incitement to subversive and separatist activities” at Drapchi prison.