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![]() ![]() Nine US Senators Urge China to grant travel visa to Sonam Dekyi News Update One: Campaign for Ngawang Choephel Prepared by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy October 15, 1998 Dharamsala, India: Nine United States Senators have petitioned Chinese authorities to grant a visa to Sonam Dekyi to visit her son Ngawang Choephel who is currently imprisoned for 18 years in Tibet. The letter was sent to Ambassador Li, China's representative in Washington DC on October 6, 1998. Sonam Dekyi, the 61 year-old single parent of Ngawang Choephel, is presently touring the United States, campaigning for the release of her only son. She is also seeking help from the international community to enable her to visit her son in prison before she dies. Ms. Tsering Norzom from the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy is accompanying Sonam Dekyi. "We believe granting Ms. Dekyi permission to travel to Tibet to visit her son would further illustrate the Chinese Government's commitment to upholding and strengthening the rule of law. Article 48 of Chinese Prison Law provides for visits from relatives", states the letter. The letter was signed by Senator Patrick Leahy, James M. Jeffords, Robert J. Kerrey, Craig Thomas, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Jesse Helms, Richard Durbin, Robert G. Torricelli and Senator Paul Wellstone. Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator James M. Jeffords are from Vermont where Ngawang Choephel studied ethnomusicology in Middleburry College few months before he was arrested. On June 10, 1997 the US House of Representatives also passed a resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Ngawang Choephel. Sonam Dekyi has been campaigning for her son's release since he was first reported missing in Tibet in September 1995. She has made several unsuccessful attempts to obtain a visa from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi for the last two years. Over 15,000 signatures across the globe, collected by TCHRD, were submitted to the Chinese Embassy but Chinese authorities have yet to respond to the appeals. The tour to the United States is an attempt to urge the Chinese authorities to allow her to see her son. "The campaign is garnering considerable support both from the leaders and public in the United States. I am hopeful that the Chinese leaderships will pay attention to the strong public sympathy for the ailing mother of Ngawang Choephel", commented Ms. Tsering Norzom when asked of the public support in the US. During their stay in Washington DC both Sonam Dekyi and Tsering Norzom have met with officials from US Department of State, House of Representatives and Non-Governmental Organisations to raise the issue of Ngawang Choephel. Sonam Dekyi was a special guest during the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights at Capitol Hill that was jointly organised by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the United Nations. Sonam Dekyi is presently in New York and will visit Middlebury College in Vermont where her son Ngawang Choephel studied ethnomusicology and has many friends and supporters. She will also travel to four European countries in late October. The campaign tour, lasting for nearly three months, has been organised by the International Campaign for Tibet, Free Tibet Campaign and the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
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