serthar – TCHRD

20/02/2017 News

Tibetan who witnessed China’s bloody crackdown released from prison after about 5 years

Former political prisoner Samdup greets Sherphel (in hat) at latter’s home, with a portrait of Dalai Lama seen in the background.

Chinese authorities released a Tibetan man named Sherphel from prison after almost five years in Serthar (Ch: Seda) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

Sherphel was released last year on 25 November after serving four years and ten months in prison for taking part in a protest against Chinese rule in Serthar County in 2012. The news of Sherphel’s release took time in reaching the outside world due to security clampdown including restrictions on sharing information in Tibet. Upon his arrival home in Onsa Village in Shomar Township, he was greeted by his family members and friend Samdup who was also released the same year in August.

20/02/2017 News

Tibetan youth detained for staging peaceful protest during Chinese ban on Dalai Lama’s teachings

Chinese authorities arbitrarily detained a solo Tibetan protester who called for Tibet’s freedom and long life of Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama early last month in Serthar (Ch: Seda) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

15/08/2016 News

Tibetan Nun Commits Suicide Following Demolition of Buddhist Institute

A Tibetan nun reportedly hanged herself to protest the partial demolition of the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, a world-famous religious town located in Serthar (Ch: Seda) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

15/06/2016 News

China issues demolition order on world’s largest religious town in Tibet

Chinese authorities have announced the destruction of thousands of monastic dwellings and expulsion of monks, nuns and lay practitioners at Serthar Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, the famed Tibetan Buddhist religious encampment located in Serthar (Ch: Seda) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in eastern Tibet.

An eight-point document issued by the Chinese authorities spells out the step-by-step guide to demolishing housing facilities of thousands of monks, nuns and lay practitioners and their expulsion, so as to reduce the number of residents to government-set ceiling of 5000. Citing the decisions taken at the Sixth Tibet Work Forum Conference and the Second National Work Conference on Religion, the document stated that the demolition order was aimed at proper regulation and management of Larung Gar Buddhist institute. Mainly prefecture-level departments under the direction of mostly Han Chinese officials would carry out the demolition order.

24/03/2010 News

Chinese court sentences Serthar monk to lengthy prison term

Ngagchung of Larung Gar Buddhist Institute of Sertha

A Chinese Intermediate People’s court in Sichuan Province has sentenced a Tibetan monk, who remained incommunicado since his arrest in July 2008, to seven years in prison and deprivation of political rights for a year, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

The Kardze Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan Province had sentenced Ngagchung (only one name), 39-year-old monk of Larung Gar Buddhist Institute of Serthar, Sertha County, Kardze “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” (‘TAP’) to seven years in prison and deprivation of political rights for a year in January this year. There is no information on the exact date of the court trial, under what charges he was convicted or whether he was given any legal rights guarantee under the Chinese constitution and international laws.

19/04/2002 News

Smuggled Film Shows Destruction of Serthar Institute

The Tibetan Centre of Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) today screened for the first time a 10-minute documentary showing the massive destruction of Serthar Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Sichuan Province in Tibet. The documentary was made from film footage smuggled out from Tibet by ex-residents of the Institute.

Serthar Institute, also known as Larung Gar, is located in Karze “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”, Sichuan Province. Until last year it was Tibet’s largest Buddhist Institute. Serthar’s non-sectarian academic teachings by Khenpo (abbot) Jigme Phuntsok attracted Buddhist scholars from all around the world, including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. It was also home to a large number of Tibetan monks, nuns and lay-people. Total population before the current crackdown was well over 8,000.