A 17-year-old pro-democracy demonstrator

Around midnight on 1 January 1991 we were awoken by a group of about 30 Bhutanese security personnel … My father, brother and I were arrested and taken to Sarbhang police station… In Sarbhang we were housed in the school. Food was always insufficient and of very poor quality. We were regularly tortured.

In March 1992, along with some other inmates, I was transferred to Chamgang prison near Thimphu. Here too we were regularly tortured. They would hang us by our wrists for prolonged periods from the ceiling or upside down… Till the Red Cross team visited the prison in 1993, we were continuously kept in shackles. Beating was also very severe, with 200-300 lashes per day being common.

From the time of our arrest, none of us was allowed to meet our relatives. We later found out they were never informed of our place of detention.