A Tibetan man named Kunchok Dhondup, 25, was released last Monday after spending nine years and a half in prison. On 2 October, Kunchok Dhondup received hero’s welcome from family, relatives and other Tibetans in his hometown in Machu (Ch: Maqu) County, Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, in Tibetan province of Amdo. Pictures and videos obtained by TCHRD show…
On 19 September, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy submitted a petition concerning the proposal to reform Tibetan electoral system to each chithue (Members of Tibetan parliament-in-exile) ahead of the 4th Session of the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-exile. The two-page petition includes the opinions and suggestions collected from the Tibetan public during the democracy awareness tour organised jointly by TCHRD with Tibetan Women’s Association in July 2017. Opinions were collected…
A former Tibetan political prisoner named Sonam Gyalpo was released last month after serving a 12-year prison term at Chushul (Ch: Qushui) Prison, located west of Lhasa City. Sonam Gyalpo, now about 65 years old, was released on 27 August and is believed to have returned to his hometown in Lhoka (Ch: Shannan) Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). No…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) in collaboration with Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) today launched a public awareness campaign to improve and strengthen Tibetan democracy. Through a series of activities focused on awareness raising and free and open public discussion, the campaign targets the exile Tibetan community including individuals, grassroots and civil society groups, as well as…
A senior Tibetan monk was released last Monday after he completed a ten-year prison term for leading a peaceful protest against the arbitrary detention of his uncle by Chinese security forces in Lithang (Ch: Litang) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham. Adruk Lopoe, 55, was released at around 11 pm…
Chinese authorities have announced the appointment of Chinese Communist Party members to key positions at Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Institute to exercise direct control over the management and day to day operations of the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist institute in Larung valley in Tibet’s Serthar (Ch: Seda) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The move follows…
A Tibetan monk was released from prison last month after serving two years sentence for storing pictures of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for sharing the same on social media. Gomar Choephel, 48, was released in the second week of July from Haomen Prison located in Haomen Township in Semnyi (Ch: Menyuan) Hui Autonomous County,…
A suicide note left by a Tibetan nun last year following the demolition of her shelter by Chinese authorities at Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Institute has finally become public. The nun named Tsering Dolma hanged herself on 19 July 2016 at her quarter located in the Pema Khando Nuns’ Residence, the nuns’ district in Larung Gar. As reported earlier by…
Larung Gar, the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist institute, resembles a sliced melon, a year after Chinese authorities dismantled thousands of monastic residences and evicted Buddhist practitioners in Larung valley in Tibet’s Serthar (Ch: Seda) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The famed institute which used to house thousands of Buddhist practitioners has been divided into several…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) welcomes the release of popular Tibetan singer and composer Mr Kelsang Yarphel from prison after the completion of his four-year term. Mr Yarphel, 41, was released yesterday from Mianyang Prison near Chengdu city, capital of Sichuan Province. Despite heavy restrictions, TCHRD was able to obtain photos and videos that confirm the…
Earlier this month, Chinese authorities sent two monks, Gendun Dakpa and Lobsang Sherab, to prison for allegedly ‘sharing information with outsiders’ and ‘inciting separatism’ in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in Tibet’s Amdo Province. The monks were sentenced after almost a year of incommunicado detention since August last year. On 17 June, the Trochu County…