News

A month after his detention, a monk from Nyatso Zilkar Monastery has been sentenced to a year in prison for unknown charges, according to information received by TCHRD today.

As reported earlier by TCHRD, Tenzin Sherab, 28, was detained on 1 October at Zatoe (Ch: Zaduo) town in Tridu (Ch: Chenduo) County of Jyekundo (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

The Xining Intermediate People’s Court handed the sentence in the absence of the monk’s family members and relatives, according to the source.

A Tibetan monk and educator who founded a social organization to preserve and promote Tibetan language was recently arrested by the Chinese authorities in Machu (Ch: Maqu) County in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province.

Jinpa Gyatso, 38, a monk from Mayul Samten Choekorling Monastery in Machu, was arrested on 25 October at around 2 pm (local time) while he was on his way to meet an ailing senior lama from his monastery who was receiving treatment at a hospital in Tridu (Ch: Chengdu) city, Sichuan Province, as source told TCHRD.

“This heinous practice is not permitted under any circumstances. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked to justify an enforced disappearance.”

Jeremy Sarkin, UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (Nov. 2011)

Imagine a close loved one being taken into custody, held incommunicado for days, weeks, or even years, without any contact or communication with you or other family members. Imagine the mental anguish and torment of not knowing where they are, if they are being tortured or have been killed. In this respect, enforced disappearances have a “doubly paralyzing impact,” not only on the victims, but also on their loved ones who live in a constant state of anxiety and fear about the fate of the disappeared person. Today, TCHRD, on the eve of the 98th session of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, releases an introductory report and analysis on enforced disappearances in Tibet.

A Tibetan man died of self-immolation protest in Sangkhog Township in Labrang (Chinese: Xiahe) County of Kanlho (Chinese: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province.

Tsepak Kyap, 21, set himself on fire at around 7 pm (local time) on 26 October in the street of Sangkhog town calling for the ‘Tibet’s freedom,’ ‘return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ and ‘immediate release of all political prisoners including the 11th Panchen Lama,’ sources told TCHRD.

Another Tibetan layman who was a father of two died of self-immolation in Labrang (Chinese: Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Chinese: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province.

Dorjee Rinchen, 58, set himself on fire at around 3.30 pm (local time) on 23 October in Labrang town. The protest was staged on the main street of Labrang town. Sources told TCHRD that the protest took place in front of the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) office, but other sources have reported that it occurred “near the military camp” in the area. Dorjee Rinchen died soon after.

“These Chinese are not letting us live in peace. It’s better to die, better to die.”

These were the last words uttered by father of two, Lhamo Kyap, 27, during a phone conversation, moments before he burned himself to death, according to detailed information received by TCHRD. Kyap made his last phone call to a friend as he stood beside his motorcycle near Bora Monastery waiting to set himself on fire.

Lhamo Kyap set himself on fire on 20 October near Bora Monastery in Sangchu (Chinese: Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Chinese: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, traditionally in the province of Amdo, Eastern Tibet.

TCHRD can confirm that there was another self-immolation yesterday in Tibet. Dhondup, a nomad and farmer, aged around 65, set himself on fire yesterday morning about 9.30 am (Tibetan time) at the right side of a monastery called Serkhang, [གསེར་ཁང་ “golden house” or “golden temple”] in Labrang [Ch: Xiahe Tib: Sangchu County], in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Prefecture, Gansu province.

The self-immolation took place on the circumambulation route and near the entrance of Labrang Monastery. Eyewitnesses who saw the protest said the flames coming from his body produced a huge blaze.

“Since China is uninterested in the well-being of the Tibetan people, we are sharpening our nonviolent movement. We are declaring the reality of Tibet by burning our own bodies to call for freedom of Tibet … We will win the battle through truth, by shooting the arrows of our lives, by using the bow of our mind.’
— Gudrup

Though the hungry wolves in witching pandas’ skin
Devour our people and leave our land a wasteland
Though we fall into the esurient embrace of a predatory enemy
There will be no white flags upon our doors.
— “No White Flags”, Shakapba

The morning of 22 October 2012, TCHRD received information from a reliable source that at 9.45am (Tibet time) a Tibetan man has self-immolated near the Labrang monastery in Sangchu county, Amdo, Eastern Tibet.…

A Tibetan political prisoner who has spent 24 years in prison, is expected to be released next year if the prison authorities conclude that he has exhibited “good behavior” during his imprisonment, according to information received by TCHRD.
Lobsang Tenzin, the longest-serving known political prisoner in Tibet, is serving life imprisonment in Chushur (Chinese: Qushui) Prison, located in the northern part of Lhasa.
TCHRD has reported earlier that Lobsang Tenzin will be released this year. But sources now inform TCHRD that he will be released next year if his conduct in prison is deemed “good” by the authorities.

A Tibetan porter’s personal account of the anguish, heartbreak and struggle he and other Tibetans faced on trying to re-enter Tibet. Their crime: attempting to attend the Kalachakra teachings in India.

Tibetan porter, Trinley Norbu gives this first-hand, moving account of the struggle and anguish he and three other ordinary Tibetans faced on re-entering Tibet after their attempt to attend the Kalachakra teachings in India was blocked by the Nepali authorities. The TCHRD got exclusive access to this human story of how he and four other men were detained several times in Tibet before they were driven back to Nepal. It’s a story of how they were denied entry to their homeland and access to their families simply for wanting to attend Buddhist teachings; and of how other ordinary, working Tibetans faced imprisonment, beatings, deception and paranoid questionings regarding His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the exiled political head Lobsang Sangay. Norbu’s testimony also tragically reveals the complicity of the Chinese and Nepalese authorities (taking photos of themselves together); and how the Tibetans became caught in ‘a no-man’s land’ being sent back and forth like pawns between the Nepalese and Chinese police corruption. Their torment finally came to an end when UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, came to their aid in a Nepalese prison. Here is Trinley Norbu’s account in full: