Geneva — Namkyi, a former political prisoner, shared her terrible experience of persecution by the Chinese authorities in 2015 at the 17th Geneva 2025 Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on Tuesday. She said, “This is not just the story of my life, but that of thousands of Tibetans. Millions of Tibetans inside Tibet still experience such suffering today.”
The 17th Geneva Summit 2025 on Human Rights and Democracy officially began on February 18, 2025 at the Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG) in Geneva, Switzerland. This prestigious international platform addressing human rights violations worldwide. It began with a welcome address by Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of United Nations Watch. The opening speech was delivered by Garry Kasparov, Vice President of the World Liberty Congress, pro-democracy leader, author and former world chess champion.
The summit features speakers from Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Belarus, Hong Kong, the Uyghur region, Vietnam and Iran, who will speak about human rights violations in their countries. Ms Namkyi, a former political prisoner from Tibet, spoke about her protest against the Chinese government, the violent arrest by the CCP authorities, the torture and the three-year imprisonment of her and her sisters in a Chinese prison.
Before giving her speech, a short video clip of her and her sister's 2015 protest against Chinese government was screened in the hall, in which Namkyi and her sister Tenzin Dolma walk through Martyrs' Square in Ngaba County holding two large portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, calling for “a free Tibet, long life for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche, and may they return to Tibet”.
Then Namkyi addressed the gathering and said," My name is Namkyi, and I was born to a typical nomadic family of Pema Lhathang in Charo village, Ngaba County, Tibet. In September 2015, my sister Tenzin Dolma, who is my blood relative, and we have had secret discussions on several occasions while herding cattle. On October 21, 2015, at 3pm local time, we both wore Tibetan attire(Chupa), held two large portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in our hands and marched through the crowds on "martyr roads" of Ngaba County, Eastern Tibet, calling for "free Tibet, long life to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche, and let them to return to Tibet". At the time, I was 15 years old and Tenzin Dolma 16 years old."
"No more than 10 minutes into our march, we heard a loud noise, and suddenly, four or five police officers came out from behind us and snatched the portraits from our hands. We did not let it go from our hands and spent half an hour as we pulled back and forth with the police. Finally, the Police dragged us down the road and told us to be silent and not to shout out. But we shouted our slogans continuously. They handcuffed our hands behind our backs, put us into the police van, and took us away to the detention center of Ngaba County. Then, they took us to another detention center in Barkam city," She continued.
"We were interrogated in a small interrogation room where the heater was switched on with excessive heat for six days and nights. Different interrogators asked various questions such as who incited us to instigate the protest, who started the discussion, where we got the portraits of the Dalai Lama and had any acquaintances from outside. They told us that we should be grateful to the nation (China), instead of protesting against China, then I told them that why I should be grateful to the nation, because I raised up by my parents and not by the nation, so they got angry and beat me by kicking me and slapping my face," She added.
"They asked and told me that, why we were protesting at such a young age, even if we are suffering here, the Dalai Lama knows nothing about it. I told them that I had protested on my own initiative and that no one had told me to do so, that we, all Tibetans, want His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche to return home (Tibet), we all need freedom. The interrogators slapped and kicked us repeatedly, saying that we were dissidents, and we should know what a terrible crime it is. Oftentimes, we thought it would be better to die soon while we were denied food and sleep. On other days, the interrogators acted smoothly and told us that if we told the truth, the punishment would be reduced and released soon. Despite mental and physical torture, we only responded that we both freely decided to instigate the protest, and no one incited us, and also our family members knew nothing about it. We served for seven months in the detention center of TashiGyalkaling County," Namkyi said.
"On November 23, 2016, after our detention period had lasted for one year and one month, the court of Trochu County called my sister and me to the courtroom and were put on trial. That day, we both saw each other for the first time since our arrest. There was no single family member to be seen in the courtroom, but two government-appointed lawyers were there: a Chinese woman and a Tibetan woman. We were sentenced to three years each on trumped-up charges of undertaking "separatist acts against the nation" and supporting "the Dalai clique." At that time I was 16 years old, Tenzin Dolma was 17 years old and minors, but they sentenced us falsely making us as 18 years old," She explained.
"Following the sentence, we were taken to an ethnic minority prison of Sichuan and then after almost three hours, we were taken to the largest women’s prison in Chengdu city. We faced problems due to malnutrition, cold in thin blankets during winter, and discrimination against nationalities," the former political prisoner added.
“This is not just my life story, but the story of thousands of Tibetans. Millions of Tibetans inside Tibet are living under such suffering even today. Therefore, please continue to support Tibet and the aspirations of the Tibetan people to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet," Namkyi concluded.
