Tag: Self Immolation

Chakdor holding a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi apparently presented as a gift by friends and well-wishers
Chakdor holding a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi apparently presented as a gift by friends and well-wishers

Two Tibetan singers imprisoned for four years for releasing a music album were released on 3 October from Mianyang Prison and received a warm welcome from friends and well-wishers including former political prisoners in Meuruma Town in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

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Choezin is seen here being welcomed by local Tibetans a day after his release. [RFA]
Choezin is seen here being welcomed by local Tibetans a day after his release. [RFA]
Chinese authorities have released a Tibetan man after he completed a three-year sentence for allegedly having links with the self-immolation protest of his sister in Dzamthang (Ch: Rangtang) County, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

Exile Tibetan sources have reported that the man named Choezin, whose age is not known, was released on 27 September from Mianyang Prison near the provincial capital of Chengdu. His family members, who had arrived at the prison facility to receive him, were not allowed to take him home. Instead the police officers accompanied him home. Aside from looking weak and scrawny, not much is known about his health condition. A day after his return, he visited the local Jonang Monastery to offer his prayers.

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Sangyal Tso died of self-immolation on 27 May 2015.
Sangyal Tso died of self-immolation on 27 May 2015.

Chinese authorities have sentenced two Tibetan monks for sharing online information and images about the self-immolation protest of a Tibetan mother in Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

Jinpa Gyatso, about 39, and Kelsang Monlam, 37, were each sentenced to one year and a half on 12 September by the Sangchu County People’s Court. Both monks belonged to the college of Buddhist Dialectics at Labrang Tashikyil Monastery in Sangchu County. They were arbitrarily detained separately on 4 June 2015 and held in prolonged incommunicado detention.

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The cover of the bilingual propaganda booklet listing separatist crimes
The cover of the bilingual propaganda booklet listing separatist crimes

Chinese authorities have recently distributed copies of a political propaganda booklet that masquerades as legal education material in Tibetan monastic institutions located across Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

The 80-page bilingual booklet in Tibetan and Chinese is presented as a ‘legal text’ used to spread awareness among the Tibetan monastic population about specific criminal acts that are deemed separatist by the Chinese government. The subtext inherent to the booklet is one of intimidation and a veiled warning that these so-called crimes will be dealt with severely and punished.

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Jampa Gelek (Photo: RFA)
Jampa Gelek (Photo: RFA)

Chinese authorities have arbitrarily detained a 23-yr old Tibetan monk because he was suspected of planning to stage a self-immolation protest against the repressive policies in Tibet.

Jampa Gelek, a monk from Tawu Nyitso Monastery, was detained by local Chinese police around 8:24 pm local time on 16 May 2016 while he was taking a walk in the park surrounding Namgyal Stupa in Tawu (Ch: Daofu) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham. At around 10 pm, a group of Chinese police ransacked his monastic residence and the same night he was taken to a detention centre in the prefectural capital of Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding).

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Sonam Tso (Credit: Radio Free Asia)
Sonam Tso (Credit: Radio Free Asia)

Chinese authorities have destroyed photographic and video evidence of a self-immolation protest staged by a 50-year-old Tibetan woman in Dzoege (Chinese: Ru’ergai) County located in present-day Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

Sonam Tso, a mother of five children set herself on fire in March this year at the circumambulation path around Sera Monastery in Akyi Township in Dzoege County to protest the repressive policies implemented by Chinese government in Tibet.

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Tristen after release from detention
Tristen after release from detention

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’.

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Mother of two, Sangyal Tso, died of self-immolation protest.
Mother of two, Sangyal Tso, died of self-immolation protest.

Chinese authorities have deepened the crackdown on local Tibetans following the self-immolation of Sangyal Tso, a Tibetan mother of two, who died of self-immolation protest late last month in Dokhog (Ch: Daogao) Township in Chone (Ch: Zhuoni) County, Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

According to reliable information received by TCHRD, two monks were detained in the first week of June from Choephel Shing Tashi Choekorling Monastery based in Dokhog Township. Samten Gyatso, a student at the monastery’s traditional medical college was detained on 4 June and taken to an undisclosed location. Lobsang Tenzin was a student of Buddhist dialectics college at the monastery until his sudden and arbitrary detention on 5 June.

Both monks are in their 20s and hail from the same village as Sangyal Tso, who was born and raised in Meru Sipa Village in Nyinpa (Ch: Niba) Township, Chone County. There is no information on the current condition and well-being of the monks.

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Tibetan writer and activist Lhaden. (File/TCHRD)
Tibetan writer and activist Lhaden. (File/TCHRD)

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is pleased to present an exclusive preview of Dhi Lhaden’s new book titled ‘The Art of Passive Resistance’, now translated into English.

Dhi Lhaden is a Tibetan monk, intellectual and writer born in 1980 at Dida Village in Pema (Ch: Baima) County, Golog (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Qinghai Province), in the Tibetan province of Amdo. Originally named as Lhaden (popularly called Dhi Lhaden), he is also known by his ordained name, Thubten Lobsang Lhundup. At 11, he was admitted to his local monastery and four years later joined Serthar Buddhist Institute in Serta County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Sichuan Province). At 28, he went to Lhasa for further studies at Drepung and Sera Monastery but had to cut his studies short.

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