Tibetan prison honored as model

Regional judiciary authorities in Tibet, southwest China, Thursday, August 5, honored the Prison of the Tibet Autonomous Region with the title of model prison, the first such title given to a prison in Tibet.

A prisoner in Tibet reads books about Tibetan medicine in the library on August 4. He got the highest mark in the Tibetan grammar examination for the self-education program in 2003.

The title went to the regional prison located in a suburban area of Lhasa, capital of Tibet, for its good management and favorable reform environment for prisoners, said Lobsang, an official with the regional judiciary department.

The prison built in 1960 to accommodate female prisoners and those sentenced to the death penalty with two-year reprieve and life imprisonment has about 900 inmates.

It passed an evaluation by the regional judiciary authorities earlier this year. The evaluation covered not only living conditions and medical care in the prison, but also its management including work style of wardens and prison information access to inmates and their families, said Lu Bo, chief warden of the prison.

The requirements for a model prison were made by the Ministry of Justice in 2001.

Currently, there are 148 model prisons honored by the Ministry of Justice or judiciary authorities at the provincial level in China.

Since 1997, the government has invested over 60 million yuan (about 7.2 million US dollars) for the improvement of the prison's living conditions and management.

Nyima Cering, who came to visit his son, said he felt his sense of humiliation disappeared when he was greeted by the smiling faces of wardens.

In addition to a regular pamphlet on the management affairs and prison information, Nyima Cering said, he can also go to the chief warden on a monthly special reception day to get information about the prison management and his son.

Benba Zhaxi, 23-year-old, first felt his life imprisonment hanging heavy, but he later found the vocational training programs in the prison could help him while away the time.

"Now I think it is more like a school than a prison," said Benba Zhaxi, who was imprisoned in 1998 for homicide. The young man's term has now been commuted for his good performance in the jail and he is expected to be free within 11 years.

He said he no longer feels dismayed as before. The young man is now learning Tibetan medicine in the prison.

Benba Zhaxi said he enjoys the reading room most, where over 6,300 books are available to prison inmates.

"I hope I can become a Tibetan medicine practitioner after leaving prison," he said.

According to Zhao Jinren, an official in charge of the prison's education and training, over 580 prisoners attend vocational training and other courses in the prison.

Benba Zhaxi and some other 20 inmates also take a self-education program for higher learning.

The young man who only received nine years' education before imprisonment took the second place in an exam for the self-education program in Tibet last year.

Dawa, another prisoner, got the highest mark in the Tibetan grammar examination for the self-education program last year. A doctor in a county Tibetan medicine hospital before imprisonment, Dawa has passed four of 13 examinations required for a certificate for the Tibetan language.

The man who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 for intentional injury and was later commuted for four times is expected to be set free in six and a half years.

"Except the clothes on me, there is nothing that can remind me of my past evil," said Dawa. "This makes me feel peaceful."

"Everyone hopes to be able to enjoy a good living environment, and we believe prisoners are no exception. We try to create such an environment because that's good for their reform," said chief warden Lu Bo.