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www.oneworld.org Palden Gyatso displays a set of thumb cuffs, a torture device used by the Chinese guards who kept him prisoner for 33 years. Gyatso brought other examples of such devices with him on his speaking tour of the United States.

A Tibetan monk who was arrested by the Chinese government in 1959 for his involvement in a political uprising protesting Chinese rule, Gyatso was released from prison in 1992 due to what he terms “the unselfish work of Amnesty International’s letter-writing campaign.” After his release from prison, Gyatso began a speaking tour to inform the world about conditions in Tibet.

Gyatso stated that even today many Tibetans are being held in conditions like the ones he survived. “The Chinese government continues to destroy our religion and culture and people in front of the world, but I’m still optimistic because there are people who believe in the human spirit, the spirit of freedom, and there are organizations like Amnesty International and Students for a Free Tibet,” he said.

Trembling, Gyatso described the torture exacted upon him and his fellow prisoners by the Chinese guards. “When prisoners were interrogated, the guards forced them to kneel on crushed glass and sharp rocks. Then they tied our hands behind our backs and asked us questions. They tied rope around our necks and arms, hung us from the ceiling, and beat us,” he said.

On Oct. 13, 1990, a guard placed an electric cattle prod in Gyatso’s mouth and shocked him until he lost consciousness. Gyatso lost all his teeth soon after the incident, and he still cannot taste his food. Despite this treatment, however, Gyatso still refused to renounce his loyalty to Tibet or to Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

“I always told the guards, ‘There are no Chinese in our government. We take care of ourselves,’” he said.

With tears in his eyes Gyatso told the hushed audience that he once ate his own leather shoes while in prison; without them, Gyatso said, he doubts that he would be alive today.

“There was death everywhere because of starvation.”

He recalled one of his friends approaching him and begging for water. Because the prisoners were rationed only one ladleful of soup each day, Gyatso said, he had nothing to give this man. “I can still see his face—he was thin and dying. I rubbed my tongue on my teeth and brought saliva in my mouth, then I placed the saliva in his mouth. He thanked me and said, ‘If you ever become free, work hard so our country becomes free.’ He died shortly after that.”

Andrea DeKoter, chairman of Amnesty International at Calvin, said she hoped Gyatso’s account would raise awareness not only of the situation in Tibet but of human rights violations in other countries as well. “We need to be aware that the human rights violations described by Palden do still occur in the world, that racism, genocide, and ethnic cleansing have not been eradicated,” she said.

Gyatso’s nationwide speaking tour is being organized by Global Exchange and is co-sponsored by Students for a Free Tibet, the Milarepa Foundation, and the International Campaign for Tibet. Additional support for Palden Gyatso’s visit came from the rock band REM, TIBET WESTMichigan, Schuler Books & Music, and Amnesty International of Calvin College.