I finally managed to get an interview with Rinzen after few days of visiting GuChuSum. She had to skip her english classes for one afternoon in order to have some time to meet me and the translator. First time I saw her I realized Rinzen is a very friendly woman, but the little limp and sadness reflected in her face tells me she had spent very hard time in China jails.

She was born in a small village near Lhasa, where she joined the local Nunnery at early age. In 1990 she and another nuns went on a peaceful demonstration in Lhasa where they were immediately arrested and sentenced for 7 years of imprisonment.

Once in prison she met Lhundup who became her friend and together with other nuns participated in the recording of the tapes with patriotic songs, an action which for here signified five more years of sentence, extending the total time up to twelve years.

-'When I joined the nunnery in 1988 we were fifty nuns in total. The nunnery was under rehabilitation after being partially destroyed in 1959 during the Cultural Revolution.'

In 1987 there were lots of demonstrations along Tibet. These events gave them the idea of making another demonstrations later on, so in 1989, 20 nuns of her nunnery went for a demonstration in Lhasa. After that Chinese authorities were sent to the nunnery and asked the nuns to accept Chinese rules or face consequences.

'They asked us to accept three conditions: First, to accept that Tibet belongs to China. Second, we had to oppose the Dalai Lama. And third, we had to love Chinese government.'

The 20 nuns who participated in that demonstration were arrested for 3 months and badly tortured during that period of time. When returned to the nunnery, she was shocked to see the state of their tortured friends. The Chinese prison authorities had introduced sticks on their private parts damaging even internal organs. One of the nuns – her name Rinzen Honden - died very shortly after the tortures.

The rest of the nuns didn't accept the three conditions that Chinese authorities asked them to obey.

'The first one it was simply no true, historically Tibet has never been part of China. The second one they also couldn't accept, the Dalai Lama is the head of more than six million Tibetans, so being a Tibetan I must follow the Dalai Lama; plus we being religious people makes that feeling even stronger. And the last condition, it was also very difficult to accept, how to love to those who doesn't allow you to fight for freedom and the Truth?'

The Chinese authorities warned them that if they didn't accept the conditions they couldn't stay in the nunnery.
Some time later, in 1990, Rinzen decided to join later on another demonstration against the Chinese.

When she was sent to prison, her mother was very old, but still she went to visit her daughter every month. In 1998, because of the demonstrations inside the prison, the visits were cancelled for six months. During this time her mother died thinking that her daughter died inside the prison.

During her first years in Gutcha prison, one day prison authorities came to her cell and order to get ready for a medical examination. There were doctors inside the prison and they did a 'health check' to all the political prisoners. This examination included extraction of blood, and since this test all her health problems started. As many other ex political prisoners, she feels very weak and without any energy, something that doctors here in Dharamsala have not found the cause yet.

'My brother and sister came to pick me up at the prison when I was released in 2002. They started crying as soon as they saw me. During the five minutes visits they could only see my face through a small square glass window, but now they could see me entirely and realized how weak I was. Also during these visits they used to bring me some food but I had no time to eat in only five minutes. My brother and sister were so worried about my health condition that they took me immediately to the hospital where I started a recovery treatment which lasted for thirteen months.
Just before being released I was told by the prison authorities that I was not allowed to tell anyone about what happened inside the prison. And also I couldn't participate in any political activity nor get inside the city of Lhasa without specific permission.

There were constant check-ups at home and police surveillance near our house. And during one of these check-ups I was in Lhasa hospital for treatment after asking permission, but the Police told my family to order me to came back immediately.'

She also tried to return to the nunnery, and managed to live there for a few days. But soon the Police came and told her to leave the nunnery; due to her condition of ex political prisoner she was not allowed to stay there. Otherwise the nunnery would be closed.

Two years later after being released, in 2004, she went secretly to Lhasa in search for a job opportunity. In her village getting a job was completely impossible because nobody wanted to give job to an ex political prisoner. In Lhasa it would be easier as she could fake her identity. Finally she found a job lighting butter lamps in a monastery. One day she was discovered while working by three police men and order her to go back to her village mediately.

When she met other ex political prisoners she realized that all of them were facing the same difficulties when seeking job. It was very difficult to survive without a job and depending of family charity. Life after prison looked like living in another kind of prison.

She made a final attempt to work by creating a small business with other two ex political prisoners. It was a small restaurant and worked good for three months until it was closed down by the Chinese police because they didn't hoist the Chinese national flag outside the restaurant.
Two years later, in 2006, she and her friend Lhundup decided to escape to India where the Tibetan government in exile would help them.

When asking how is her life in Dharamsala she says:

'First months I missed Tibet a lot. And it was difficult to get used to the climate. But after being received by the Dalai Lama I felt much happier and with renewed energies. This is why I'm trying to learn English in order to be able to tell people about my story and the situation in Tibet.

She still goes frequently to hospital for getting treatment - she has even went through one operation - but there is not improvement.

'Sometimes I used to phone my family but I stopped calling them afraid of the consequences for my brother and sister.'

I asked her opinion on the Olympic Games.

'I don't agree with the Olympic Games being hosted in China. First there should be democracy in China before the International Committee allows them to host such event.
When I demonstrate in Lhasa against China I was fighting for complete independence from China, but now she agrees with Dalai Lama fight for Tibet being an autonomy region inside China. '

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Further reading:
Symptoms and long term effects of Torture
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)