In June 2003 there was news of five Tibetans arrested from the Tibet University in Lhasa. Dawa Tashi, one of the students arrested at the time reached Dharamsala and testified to TCHRD his personal accounts of the events that took place during the time.
According to Dawa Tashi, on 9 June 2003, civil clothed Lhasa Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials came to the university campus and ransacked the students living quarters and found a letter addressed to the United Nations and other political literary writings. Five students including himself were immediately arrested and subsequently detained in Tibet Autonomous Region (“TAR”) PSB Detention Centre.
The five had clandestinely written political essays and formed a secret organisation called “Democratic Youth Group of the Snowland”.