Mitch Fox/The Hoya Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan monk imprisoned by Chinese officials for 33 years, speaks with students Wednesday in ICC.

Tibetan-ordained monk and political prisoner Palden Gyatso joined a small group of students on Tuesday in ICC to discuss his three-decade ordeal of labor and torture in Chinese prisons.

Gyatso’s introduction illustrated the key moments of his life. Born in 1933, Gyatso became a Buddhist monk at the age of 18 and was arrested in 1958 after participating in the first Tibetan uprising. As China invaded Tibet, Gyatso was imprisoned and remained in jail.

Because Gyatso does not speak English, a translator helped convey his words.

He began the story of his life by stating that Tibet did exist as an independent country for thousands of years. He said Tibet lost its independent status once China invaded after becoming a communist country. After living as a monk for 10 years, Chinese authorities captured Gyatso. International organizations had been fighting for his release until 10 years ago, when Amnesty International of Italy was finally successful in releasing a group of 100,000 Tibetan prisoners, including Gyatso.

As Chinese soldiers arrested more Tibetans, they soon ran out of prison cells and began converting other spaces. Gyatso’s prison was the monastery where he had lived as a monk. There were no bathrooms, so the kitchen was also used as a bathroom. The prisoners also received their small daily ration of lentil soup from the same kitchen. Prisoners had just enough to be kept alive and often resorted to eating leaves and grass for survival when they were allowed outside. Many, however, did not survive. Seventy percent of the men and women in the prison died of starvation. According to Gyatso, these conditions have dramatically improved in recent years. Because of international pressure, relatives and friends of prisoners can now visit and bring food, water and other items necessary for survival.

In spite of this improvement, Gyatso said prisoners must still work an average of nine hours of physical labor each day. Gyatso recalled when while in chains, he and his fellow prisoners were forced to make a carpet that was to be exported. Gyatso’s translator explained to the audience that this practice allows Chinese goods to be exported cheaply to other countries.

Gyatso then went on to discuss the ways the Chinese treated him. When the Tibetan prisoners were interrogated, they would be asked to kneel before officers, often on broken glass. The officers would then command the prisoners to say that Tibet was now part of China. When prisoners like Gyatso refused, they would be tortured with hot pokers or hanged. Gyatso held out his arms and commented that even today, after years of medical treatments, his body is stiff and he still feels the pain from his time in prison.

As technology advanced, torture methods became more brutal. From 1981 on, the Chinese officers began using electrical shock prods to torture the prisoners. These weapons were either Chinese-made or imported from friendly countries.

“They would tie us down and stick the prod to our chest or in our mouths,” Gyatso said. “This would usually break teeth and for women, the officers would put the prod in private parts.”

Before an execution, the prisoners were ordered to laugh, dance and sing. Once a prisoner was executed, the family of the prisoner was expected to pay for all of the expenses incurred by the execution.

Gyatso said a recently released cellmate had assured him that this same kind of treatment is still going on in Tibetan prisons.

Gyatso made his fifth visit to the United States recently in order to celebrate the opening of the Historical Torture Museum in San Francisco, which displays artifacts and stories related to incidents of torture around the world, including items from Tibet. At the ceremony, California Governor Gray Davis presented Gyatso with a certificate of commendation.

Prior to his escape from the prison in Tibet, Gyatso was able to smuggle out several torture devices, including handcuffs and electrical shock prods, as proof of the horror that went on during his many years in prison. Feeding from 33 years of experience, Gyatso published a book in 1995 entitled Fire Under the Snow. This book has now been translated into over 30 languages and is sold throughout the world.

Gyatso concluded by saying that he was imprisoned because he wanted independence for his country, survived hoping for the independence of his country and will die still waiting for this independence. Gyatso said he hopes that his story will further the cause to save Tibet and that through speaking about his life, the various nations of the world will not ignore the atrocities that continue today in Tibetan prisons.