E/CN.4/1995/91 page 130 transmitted directly to the Chinese authorities, as well as confirmation that others had been released (see appendix 1), and secondly to meet Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering. The authorities stated that all prisoners were sentenced in accordance with the law and that, consequently, they could be released only within the terms of the law. It was also made clear that the two Tibetans had been released because of good behaviour and in one case constituted release against security and in the other a reduction of sentence. As far as amnesties or pardons were concerned, these had been granted only once, in the 1950s. In their replies to the two allegations transmitted by the Special Rapporteur (25 November 1993 and November 1994), the authorities confirmed the release of some prisoners and agreed to a meeting between the Special Rapporteur and Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering. b. Meeting with Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering On 26 November 1994, the Special Rapporteur met Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering, a senior Tibetan monk released on 6 November 1994, and asked him a number of questions. Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering stated that he had been arrested for the first time in 1959 for campaigning for Tibetan independence and had been sentenced to life imprisonment, but his sentence had been reduced and he had been released in 1979. On 15 December 1987, he had been arrested for appealing to Italian tourists for the support of the international community for Tibetan independence. He said that his arrest had been on political grounds. Referring to the periods he had spent in detention, Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering said that in Jaji (Tchaji) Prison, he had been held with 193 other monks and believers and 74 nuns, in Gutsa Prison, he had been held with a number of lamas and in Lingzhi Prison with 4 lamas, one of whom had since been released. He stated that, as a monk, he had enjoyed special treatment during his first period of imprisonment. On the second occasion, the reverse had been true and, in particular, all portraits of the Dalai Lama discovered had been confiscated. Furthermore, he had been forbidden to practise his religion under threat of harsh treatment. During this time, he had initially been held with ordinary prisoners. Then, at the end of 1989, he had been separated from these detainees, 10 of whom had been selected for confinement with the political prisoners. During his imprisonment, the prisoners initially received 35 yuan per month for subsistence, then 52 yuan per month because of price rises. Referring to his release, Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering said that the official statement according to which he had been freed because of his good behaviour, observance of prison regulations and admission of his guilt was not true. As far as his present situation was concerned, he said that, given the policy of freedom of religious belief, religious activities were possible, but he had been banned from his posts, notably with the Office of Ethnic and Religious Affairs and the Buddhist Association, and he was prohibited from joining any monastery, as were monks who had demonstrated or put up posters for Tibetan independence. He mentioned the example of Tubdan Namdrel, a fellow prisoner, who had been sent away from Jokhang Monastery the day after his return, despite assurances given him in prison that he would be allowed to go back. This exclusion from places of worship is not apparently enforced by the monks’ religious superiors on the grounds that Mr. Yulo Dawa Tsering and the other