A Tibetan youth set his body on fire to protest the lack of freedom in Tibet and call for the return of Tibetan spiritual leader Holiness the Dalai Lama. Pema Gyaltsen, 24, staged the self-immolation protest at around 4 pm local time on 18 March near Tsokha Monastery in Nyagrong (Ch: Xinlong) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

  The party-state of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) continued its egregious human rights violations and abuses in Tibet by criminalizing basic human rights and freedoms, and engaging in arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, collective punishment and environmental destruction to name a few, according to the 2016 Annual Report on human rights situation in Tibet released by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Repressive laws and regulations were introduced and intensified to enable widespread and systematic human rights violations. Despite the extremely deplorable situation in Tibet, the PRC made no effort to change its policy of …

Chinese authorities released a Tibetan man named Sherphel from prison after almost five years in Serthar (Ch: Seda) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Sherphel was released last year on 25 November after serving four years and ten months in prison for taking part in a protest against Chinese rule in Serthar County in 2012. The news of Sherphel’s release took time in reaching the outside world due to security clampdown including restrictions on sharing information in Tibet. Upon his arrival home in Onsa Village in Shomar Township, he was greeted by his family members and friend Samdup who …