University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present University Relations 10-15-1998 Tibetan monk brings instruments of torture, message of peace University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations, "Tibetan monk brings instruments of torture, message of peace" (1998). University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present. 15698. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases/15698 This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Relations at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of M on tan a UNIVERSITY RELATIONS • MISSOULA, MT 59812 • 406-243-2522 • FAX: 406-243-4520 Oct. 15, 1998 Contact: Toni Daniels, (406) 327-0672. TIBETAN MONK BRINGS INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE, MESSAGE OF PEACE MISSOULA— After Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso was thrown in jail for his religious and cultural beliefs 39 years ago, he became a thorn in the sides of the Chinese authorities and an inspiration to his fellow inmates. As a result of his resistance, he was interrogated, tortured and terrorized during three decades of imprisonment. “A prison official poked me with an electric cattle prod and poured boiling water over me because he said he did not like my attitude, Gyatso recounts in "The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk” (Grove Press, 1997). Gyatso, who was released in August 1992 from Drapchi prison in Lhasa, will share his experiences with a Missoula audience on Monday, Oct. 19. The free public lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in Urey Lecture Hall. Gyatso was born and raised in a small Tibetan village. He became an ordained Buddhist monk at one of Tibet’s most famous monasteries, Drepung, when he was 18 years old. In 1959, at the height of the Chinese “Cultural Revolution,” he was jailed - along with thousands of other religious leaders - in an attempt to crush Tibetan culture and enforce “thought reform” among the Tibetan people. -more- Tibetan, rl—2 Now, after serving more years behind bars than any other surviving Tibetan who has reached the West, Gyatso has devoted his life to exposing the atrocities committed by the Chinese government against the Tibetan people. He has traveled extensively throughout the world, emphasizing the plight of Tibetan political prisoners. At his Missoula lecture, Gyatso will display instruments of torture like the ones used on him, including thumb cuffs, serrated knives and shock guns. He has testified about the human rights abuses he suffered in Tibet before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and the U.S. Congress. In March 1996, to commemorate Tibet’s National Uprising Day, he embarked on a 300-mile walk from the Chinese consulate in Washington, D.C., to the United Nations in New York City. Gyatso’s speaking tour is organized by San Francisco human rights group Global Exchange and co-sponsored by Students for a Free Tibet, the Milapera Foundation and the International Campaign for Tibet. m PS Local Tibetan.