Jinpa Lhamo
POLITICAL PRISONER- Does it have an image?
- No
- Gender
- Female
- Age at Detention
- 15
- Origin County Level
- Golog prefecture
- Origin Province
- Qinghai Province,
- Origin Prefecture
- Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
- Occupation at Detention
- Religious
- Vulnerable Group at Detention
- Juvenile
- Religious
- Date of arrest
- December, 1987
- Detention Centre/Prison
- Seitru PSB Detention Centre
- Description of event
In December 1987, at approximately fifteen years of age, Jimpa Lhamo, a Tibetan nun, was arrested in Lhasa for participating in a peaceful political demonstration. She had recently returned from a year of meditation near Samye Monastery and joined a protest near the Jokhang Temple, where demonstrators distributed pamphlets calling for Tibetan freedom and chanted slogans such as “Free Tibet” and “Long Live His Holiness.” Witnessing Chinese police violently beating and arresting two elderly protesters, she and a companion joined the demonstration. After becoming separated from the group, she threw a stone at a police officer in an act of self-defence. She was immediately arrested, beaten, and repeatedly shocked with electric batons until she lost consciousness.
- Violations Faced in Detention
- No Fair Trial: No family meet ups
- No Fair Trial: No legal representation
- Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment: Solitary Confinement
- Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment: Use of Tiger Chairs
- Details of Violations Faced in Detention
Following her arrest, Jimpa Lhamo was taken to Seitru Prison, where she endured a month of daily torture and relentless interrogation. Upon arrival, she was injected with an unknown substance, blindfolded, and questioned about her nunnery, alleged political links, and motives for opposing Chinese rule. Although she was not affiliated with any organized group, authorities accused her of political resistance. When she refused to cooperate or provide names, she was subjected to severe beatings, whipped with leather belts, stripped of her nun’s robes, and brutally abused. After several days, blood was forcibly drawn from her body, and she was suspended by her arms with her feet off the ground. She was confined in a pitch-dark isolation cell, where fire was lit beneath her, filling the space with smoke and causing her to suffocate. She was burned with red-hot sticks, leaving permanent scars on her stomach and hand, and was repeatedly threatened with death. She also sustained a serious neck injury after being struck with a wooden object, resulting in long-term pain.
- Types of Human Rights Violations
- Legal and Procedural Rights Violations: Right to Fair Trial
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Association
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Expression and Opinion
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Liberty and security of person
- Length of Sentence
- 6 months and 14 days
- Prison Location
- Consequences of Detention After Release
During her detention, senior Chinese and Tibetan officials visited the prison. Two Tibetan men posing as sympathizers offered food and claimed they could help her escape, but were in fact government agents gathering intelligence. Their conversations were secretly recorded, and once the recordings were played back, Jimpa Lhamo and others were subjected to further severe beatings. However, a senior Tibetan official, deeply affected by their suffering, later arranged their covert escape. He provided them with tsampa and dried yak meat and instructed them to flee under cover of night, arranging transport toward Shigatse. During their escape, they narrowly avoided capture by army officers, were forced to abandon the vehicle, and fled on foot, hiding among rocks to evade pursuit. summarize it short and to the point
- Type of Sources
- Primary: TCHRD field sources
- Torture
- Torture
- Published
- Published