TCHRD calls on the Chinese authorities to ensure that the efforts to control the pandemic must be guided by the principles of transparency, integrity, and accountability, in addition to providing timely and proper assistance and support to the affected individuals and families in overcoming one of the greatest public health challenges of our time.
On 21 April 2016, the second talk in the TCHRD’s United States Tibet Talk Series was at the International Campaign for Tibet’s offices in Washington D.C. The first talk in the series was hosted with the Nanda Center for International Law at the University of Denver on 17 February. The most recent conference, “Tibetan Political Prisoners: Rights and Responses” was a panel discussion with ICT’s Andrea Worden and Sophie Richardson from Human Rights Watch and moderated by TCHRD’s John Gaudette.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) calls on the Chinese authorities to disclose information about three Tibetan monks subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and unjust sentencing in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo. TCHRD believes that the monks are being persecuted for their religious and political beliefs and their detention violates established human rights norms and principles that China is obligated to respect, protect and fulfill.
A Tibetan monk named Jamyang Losel died of self-immolation protest yesterday in Chentsa (Ch: Jianzha) County, Malho (Ch: Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo. Jamyang, 22, died early morning on 19 May after he set himself alight near the Chentsa County government hospital. Local security officials confiscated his remains, followed by the deployment of…
Information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) indicates that local authorities have subjected several known Tibetans including family members, relatives and eyewitnesses to arbitrary detention and severe interrogation following the self-immolation protest staged by Tashi Rabten on 8 December in Machu (Ch: Maqu) County, Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) condemns the detention of Tibetan Buddhist believers and disruption of the 81st birthday celebration of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 6 July 2016 at Srongtsen Bhrikuti Tibetan School located at Boudhanath area in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The Kathmandu-based NGO Human Rights Organisation Nepal (HURON) informed TCHRD that the local police detained 30 people including 28 Tibetans on the morning of 6 July for participating in the religious event to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday. Nine Tibetans were arrested around 11 am at Srongtsen School and an additional 19 were arrested outside the school, and then taken to Mahindra Police Club. Around 5 pm, the 30 detainees were released and handed over to HURON.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) expresses shock and condemnation over the detention and hospitalisation of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Tibetan director, writer and producer Pema Tseden at Xining airport in Qinghai Province. Local Chinese authorities used excessive force and violence to detain and interrogate Pema Tseden using the infamous ‘Tiger Chair’ (老虎凳) method and without informing his family members.
According to media reports, Pema Tseden flew in from Beijing to Xining on the night of 25 June when he was detained at the baggage claim area of Xining airport. While on his way out of the airport, he had gone back to retrieve a luggage he had forgotten. In the process of retrieving the luggage, an altercation ensued between Pema Tseden and the airport security officers, which led to the arrival of additional security personnel who then handcuffed and detained Pema Tseden without any explanation. The Xining Airport Public Security Bureau (PSB) charged Pema Tseden of ‘disturbing public order’ and punished him to five days “administrative detention” before taking him to an administrative detention facility in Tsongkha (Ch: Ping’An) town in Tsoshar (Ch: Haidong) city. While in detention, he suffered dizziness, chest tightness, and numbness of limbs, and was later taken for emergency treatment in a hospital in Ping’An.
A Tibetan monk was released earlier this month after being detained two years ago for writing a book on self-immolation protests. Tritsen, 29, who wrote the book under his pen name, Tri Bhoe Trak, was released on 19 March, according to exile Tibetan sources.
There is no information available on his current condition or events leading to his sentencing. No details are available on how long he was kept in detention, when he was sentenced or whether he was allowed to hire a lawyer to defend himself. Although no confirmed information is available on the exact charges, some sources say he was sentenced for ‘causing social disputes’ and ‘inciting separatism’.
Chinese security forces have detained at least 10 Tibetan residents of Chumey Village in Nyakla Township in Nangchen (Ch: Nangqian) County, Yulshul (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, according to exile Tibetan sources. The arrests were made after Tibetans from the village staged a peaceful protest, calling for an equal distribution of welfare benefits provided by the government…
A prominent Tibetan reincarnate lama and philanthropist Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died at the age of 65 while serving life imprisonment at a prison near Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, People’s Republic of China.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was a highly-respected religious leader in Lithang County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham. He was renowned for his active involvement in the restoration of Tibetan culture and religion, social welfare activities and his outspoken criticisms against Chinese policies. On 5 December 2002, Rinpoche and his nephew Lobsang Dhondup were sentenced to death with two years’ reprieve and death sentence respectively for masterminding a series of bomb blast incidents at Tianfu Square in Chengdu. Lobsang Dhondup was executed but Rinpoche’s suspended death sentence was commuted to life due to international pressure.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had been held in detention for over thirteen years since his conviction in December 2002 for a crime he never committed.
According to reliable sources inside Tibet, on 2 July 2015 three officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Lithang County had come to meet Rinpoche’s sisters Donkar Lhamo and Sonam Dekyi asking them to leave with them for Chengdu to discuss the issue of Tenzin Delek.