According to a reliable source from Tibet, Ngawang Sangdrol's sentence was increased by four years due to her participation in the May 1 and 4, 1998 prisoner protests at Drapchi Prison. Earlier reports indicate that since the protests in May last year Ngawang Sangdrol and another nun, Ngawang Choezom from Chubsang Nunnery were subjected to harsh treatment and were placed in solitary confinement. Sangdrol was suspected as a "ring leader" by Chinese authorities and singled out for ill treatment. Following the Drapchi Prison incidence, 11 prisoners were reported to have died.

Ngawang Sangdrol's prison sentence had previously been prolonged by the Intermediate Municipal Court of Lhasa in October 1993 and July 1996. Born in 1977, Ngawang Sangdrol, now 22 year-old was from Garu Nunnery. She was first arrested when she was only ten years old in 1987 for participating in a demonstration and was detained for 15 days. On August 28, 1990, at the age of 13, she again joined a demonstration led by nuns from Norbulingkha in Lhasa. She was considered too young to be tried that time and was detained for nine months without charge.

On June 17, 1992, at the age of 15, she had originally been sentenced to three years for attempting to stage a demonstration in Lhasa along with other nuns from Garu Nunnery. She was then charged of "subversive and separatist" activities.

Whilst in Drapchi Prison, Sangdrol's sentence was extended by six years on October 8, 1993 on charges of "spreading counter-revolutionary propaganda." Along with thirteen other nuns, she was accused of recording independence songs and poems on a tape recorder and smuggling it outside the prison. In July 1996, her sentence was further extended by eight years for shouting "Free Tibet" while she and other nuns were made to stand in the rain as punishment for failing to clean their prison cells. The latest extension of her prison sentence brought her current sentence to 21 years.

"Article 69 of the Chinese Penal Code clearly stipulates that the maximum sentence of fixed-term imprisonment cannot exceed 20 years. By extending Sangdrol's prison sentence to 21 years, China has doubtlessly violated its own law," commented Lobsang Nyandak, executive director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

Nyandak urged the Chinese authorities to immediately rectify their illegal action by releasing Ngawang Sangdrol. He further stated that Sangdrol's continued imprisonment will constantly remind the world of Chinese government's failure to uphold its own law.

Nyandak also said that the Chinese authorities have violated the Article 17 of the Chinese Penal Code, which states that minors below the age of 16 will not be held responsible for their infraction. Sangdrol was only 15 years old when she was arrested and sentenced to 3 years on June 17, 1992 on charges of "counter-revolutionary" activities. Her younger brother, Jamphel Tenzin who resides in India, testifies her year of birth as 1977.

Sangdrol's entire family has endured Chinese atrocities. Her father, Namgyal Tashi and brother Tenzin Sherab, were arrested on June 12, 1991 by the Lhasa city PSB after ransacking their house and confiscating pictures of the Dalai Lama and political leaflets. Her father was sentenced to eight years in Drapchi Prison on charges of "counter-revolutionary" activities. His prison term expires this year and is expected to be released if his sentence is not prolonged. Sangdrol's mother, Jampa Choezom, died just three days after her father and son was imprisoned. Her brother was detained for 12 months and after his release he was forbidden to rejoin his monastery.

Ngawang Sangdrol (lay name: Rigchog) continues to be subjected to harsh treatment. She was placed in solitary confinement on two occasions in March 1996 (6 months and 10 days) and after the prisoner protests in Drapchi Prison in May 1998. Sangdrol's prison mate, Lobsang Dolma, who spent 5 years in Drapchi Prison with her, reported that she has for long a kidney problem but was allowed for treatment only in prison clinic. She is made to weave wool and is never allowed outside prison to work.

Ngawang Sangdrol is now due to be released in the year 2013 at the age of 36. By that time she will have spent 21 years of her prime life in prison.

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Last updated: 2-August-99