The Drapchi 14 are a group of Tibetan nuns that are being held against their will at the notorious Drapchi Prison in Lhasa, Tibet. Their common cause of detention is their unflinching willingness to stand up and demonstrate publicly for what they believe in, namely Tibetan Independence. While the nuns comprising the Drapchi 14 are from many different monasteries located across Tibet, their reasons for imprisonment are strikingly similar and offer evidence of the deplorable state of human rights rampant in all parts of China and Tibet.

In an effort to extinguish Tibetan culture, Chinese authorities have routinely attempted to disrupt and dismantle any and all things pro-Tibet. Since Tibet's unlawful occupation by China in 1949, Tibetan culture, including political, religious and social institutions, has been systematically attacked, razed and sinocized. This systematic dismantling of all things Tibetan has had crippling effects on a rich and interesting culture that should instead be flourishing amidst the cries of support for diversity in our world.

"In Tibet, a crackdown on Tibetan nationalists and religious groups continues, and many Tibetans are being detained every year. A 'patriotic education' campaign was launched in May 1996 in some Tibetan monasteries, and, since 1997 was extended to hundreds of other monasteries and nunneries in the region. Monks and nuns were required to study communist party documents and to renounce the Dalai Lama. Some were expelled from the monasteries and nunneries, and others were detained for expressing support for the Dalai Lama or support for a Free Tibet."

Collective efforts to curb this cultural onslaught have been organized throughout the years since 1949. Pro-Tibet demonstrations have taken place in Tibet and subsequently landed thousands of Tibetans in prison. Once in prison, many are tortured and often die due to their surroundings and unwillingness to remit their beliefs in a Free Tibet. The nuns comprising the Drapchi 14 are only 14 people among thousands of unaccounted others enduring China's harsh, anti-democratic climate.

PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

The Drapchi 14 are a group of political prisoners in Drapchi Prison where 11 of the 14 original nuns are still being held against their will. Presently, two of the nuns have been released since their incarceration and are touring the world, sharing their stories. The fourteenth nun, Ngawang Lochoe, died during incarceration.

Arrested between 1989 and 1992 for participating in pro-Tibet demonstrations, the Drapchi 14 continue to serve as a sobering reminder of the thousands of Tibetans who still remain incarcerated and are subject to various human rights crimes. Such crimes include torture, rape and sexual assault with electric batons that has often led to untreated physical and psychological trauma.

In 1993, "while serving their sentences, the 14 nuns secretly recorded pro-independence songs and messages to their families on a tape recorder that was smuggled into Drapchi Prison. When the tape was distributed throughout Tibet, the nuns were charged with 'spreading counter-revolutionary propaganda' and each was given an additional sentence."

None of the nuns have been reported to have used or advocated the use of violence, and Amnesty International believes them to "prisoners of conscience."