Palden Gyatso in Amsterdam

Palden Gyatso in Amsterdam, originally uploaded by Cookiemouse.

Today is Human Rights Day and this evening Palden Gyatso spoke for human rights in Tibet on Dam Square in Amsterdam. He was in a Chinese prison for 33 years.
Palden is a wonderful survivor with a smile that is pure magic. Just standing next to him inspires you. "During the Chinese invasion of Tibet he was arrested for protesting and spent 33 years in Chinese prisons and labor camps, where he was extensively tortured. After his release in 1992 he fled to Dharamsala, (North India) in exile. He is still a practicing monk and political activist, traveling the world publicizing the cause of Tibet. He is the subject of the 2008 film Fire Under the Snow."
As Palden told the New York Times,
"We prisoners were yoked to plows like animals to till prison land. When we got exhausted we were kicked and whipped from behind. Since we were never given enough to eat we were forced to steal food meant for the pigs from the Chinese pigsties. We were also driven to chewing and eating all kinds of used leather items, bones of different kinds of dead animals, mice, worms, grasses.
Political prisoners -- in winter we were suspended in the air and cold water was thrown on us; during hot summer days cold water was replaced by a fire underneath the suspended prisoners. In this position we were lashed with leather belts, beaten with an electric cattle prod or iron bar. Self-tightening handcuffs and thumb screws resulted in several prisoners' hands getting cut off."
This was done by the country that hosted the Olympic Games. Torture Made in China.
Somehow this simple monk's smile gives me hope. The human spirit is strong, and people like Palden Gyatso teach us the art of survival against all the odds. Tashi Delegs, Palden!