Two Tibetan political prisoners were released earlier this month after the completion of their prison terms. Detailed information on their health condition could not be obtained immediately due to restrictions on communication in Tibet.
A Tibetan monk jailed for spearheading a mass protest against Chinese rule during the 2008 uprising in Tibet was released after 10 years. Choktrin Gyatso, 44, was released at around 5 p.m local time on 15 April from a prison in Siling (Ch: Xining) city, capital of Qinghai Province. When he reached home from Xining, it was midnight. This was…
A Tibetan monk was released after nine years from Mianyang prison late last week in Sichuan Province. Tsultrim Gyatso, 52, former chant master at Achok Tsenyi Monastery was arrested after leading a protest during the 2008 uprising in Tibet. He was welcomed to his native home at midnight on the day of his release. Tsultrim Gyatso is pictured holding a…
A 25 yr-old Tibetan nun disappeared after her arbitrary detention by Chinese security forces during the 2008 uprising in Tibet.
Yeshi Lhakdron, a nun from Dragkar Nunnery went missing after her detention along with two other nuns eight years ago in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) County in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in Tibetan province of Kham. The two other nuns are identified as Sangay Lhamo and Tsewang Khando from the same nunnery. Both nuns were sentenced to two years each and were released after completing their prison terms.
Two Tibetan men, Woeden and Lobsang Gyatso, were released after serving prison for their participation in 2008 uprising in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, according to information received by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
In March 2008, a series of protests rocked many parts of the Tibetan plateau with a large chunk of protests concentrated in Ngaba area. Among them was A’khyam Township located in the lower part of Ngaba County (Tib: Ngamey), where local Tibetans staged a major protest on 22 March 2008.
Woeden and Lobsang Gyatso, both of whom belonged to A’khyam Township, took part in the protest and were detained the same day by local police. Both men were sentenced on 24 June 2008 by the Intermediate People’s Court in Barkham, capital of Ngaba Prefecture, and imprisoned at Mianyang Prison, located in Wujia Township in Mianyang Prefecture near Chengdu.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) presents an analysis of a secret Chinese document on Tibetans killed by Chinese security forces during the March 2008 protests in Lhasa. The document, obtained recently by TCHRD, was written in Chinese by the Lhasa Public Security Bureau (PSB) based on the autopsy reports prepared on 21 March 2008 by the medical department of Lhasa PSB.
TCHRD has obtained exclusive information that provides irrefutable evidence that Chinese security forces used disproportionate force including live ammunition and machine guns to kill Tibetans during the March 2008 protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The document obtained by TCHRD contains the list of the names of Tibetans killed by Chinese security forces and whose dead bodies were kept at Lhasa’s Xishan mortuary. The official document also consists of autopsy reports of four Tibetans. Li Wan Zhan (李文展) and Wang Zhi Xue (王志学), both heads of criminal and medical examination department of the Lhasa Public Security Bureau performed the autopsy.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has received a list of 45 Tibetans from Sichuan Province who were arrested between 2008 and 2009. All of the prisoners on the list were held in Deyang(德阳) Prison, located in Huang Xu Town in Deyang City, Sichuan Province. The list is the latest evidence from Tibet of the harsh measures the Chinese imposed in Tibet during and after the 2008 Tibetan Uprising.
Ten out of 45 are still serving their sentence with two Tibetans serving life sentence. Pema Yeshi, a layman from Nyagri County in Kardze Prefecture initially got death sentence with two years’ reprieve, which was later commuted to life. The list shows 18 former and current prisoners who were not listed in TCHRD Political Prisoners Database.
A Tibetan monk was released recently after completing a six-year sentence for sharing information about human rights abuses perpetrated by Chinese security forces during the height of 2008 Tibetan uprising in Serthar (Ch: Seda) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, according to information received by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
Ngagchung, who was a monk at Larung Gar Buddhist Institute prior to his imprisonment, was released on 8 July 2014 after the completion of his 6-year sentence. He is said to be in poor health and suffers from damaged vision.
No other details are available on the current status and condition of Ngagchung as local authorities in Serthar County have blocked all communication lines including phone and Internet.
“The greatest mental suffering of Tibetans is not that there is no place to complain about their sufferings but that they are not allowed to complain.”
~ Nyen
Two Tibetan writers, Jangtse Donkho (pen name: Nyen/“The Wrathful”) and Buddha were released earlier today on 20 June 2014 after serving four years in Mianyang Prison in Sichuan Province.
Jangtse Donkho was arrested on 21 June 2011 from his home in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County and accused of writing a “reactionary” essay entitled ‘What Human Rights Do We Have Over Our Bodies?’ which commented on the Chinese government’s bloody suppression of the 2008 Uprising. The essay was published in the Shar Dungri (Eastern Snow Mountain) literary journal, which was later banned. Jangtse Donkho was 33 at the time of his arrest. Before his arrest, he was working as a researcher at Kyungchu (Ch: Qiongxi) town, Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Donkho wrote the book Rolang (Eng: ‘Zombie’) and along with Buddha, edited a few more journals including Du Rab Kyi Nga (Eng: ‘Consciousness of the Century’).
Buddha is a writer, poet, and medical doctor whose work is regarded as influential in Tibetan society. He was detained on 26 June 2011 at the hospital where he worked in Ngaba County town. He was 34 at the time.
Chinese authorities had sentenced three Tibetans including a father of two to varied prison terms five years ago in Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, according sources inside Tibet.
The sentences were passed in 2009 in the aftermath of the 2008 uprising in Tibet, but due to the security clampdown and tightened control over information, their fate has remained unknown till today.
Rigzin Tsering, 40, had been sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Nyingchak Gyal, 44, and Tashi Tsering, 33, had been sentenced to five and seven years in prison respectively.
Rigzin Tsering, who hails from Rongtsa Village in Sangchu County, was arrested in April 2008 by the Chinese security forces. He was immediately taken to Sangchu County town, where he disappeared for almost a year.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison on 24 April 2009. He is being locked up in a prison in Tian Shui (天水市) city in Gansu Province.
A Tibetan man, 34, was arrested in Machu (Ch: Maqu) County of Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province.
Shonu Palden, a nomad by occupation, was arrested on 18 June 2012 from a local restaurant in Belpen Township by Chinese security personnel who came in four vehicles in Machu County.
On 20 June, a group of 10 local Tibetans approached the county authorities to inquire about the abrupt arrest. Only five Tibetans from the group were allowed to go inside the office to make inquiries. They were told Shonu Palden on suspicion that he spearheaded protests in Machu County in 2008. The officials then asked the group to leave and that Shonu Palden would remain in detention for a month for interrogation, after which decisions would be made.