"The right way is the one pointed out by the Dalai Lama: peace, non-violence, respect. For all Tibetans and all Chinese". Gyaltsen Drolkar has been for 12 years in the prison of Drapchi; she underwent all sorts of abuse and violence, but she tells her story to SIR without a note of rage or revenge. "In 1990, I was rallying in Lhasa", the capital of Tibet, "for religious freedom and human rights". The Buddhist nun, 19 years old at the time, invoked "respect for my people and my land. But police arrested us. After a summary trial, we were sentenced to 4 years. In prison, we were questioned, tortured. They belted or kicked us every day. They hung us on trees and hit us again". Drolkar adds: "In prison, we sung songs of peace. One day, they brought us to trial again, within the prison, and sentenced us to another 8 years. I didn’t think I would get out of there alive", but this "was made possible by the latest international pressures". Now, the young Tibetan lives in Belgium. A few days ago, she was invited to Parliament in Strasbourg to give her testimony. "I am afraid what I suffered might happen to the people who have been arrested in Tibet over the last few months". (continued)
