31/08/2023 Involuntary Disappearance / News

Tag: torture

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31/08/2023 Involuntary Disappearance / News
Unveiling enforced disappearances through the Tibetan experience – a panel discussion on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance

On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy organised a panel discussion featuring three former political prisoners and a human rights researcher moderated by the Centre’s Tibetan researcher, Nyiwoe. The session started with an explanatory video delving into the experiences of Tibetans subjected to enforced disappearance. Subsequently, TCHRD’s executive director, Ms. Tenzin Dawa, underscored instances of enforced disappearance, citing significant cases like that of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, abducted after being recognised as the 11th Panchen Lama by the 14th Dalai Lama, and referencing UN experts’ concerns. The discussion commenced with former political prisoners succinctly sharing their grim experiences of torture and enforced disappearances. Mr. Gendun Rinchen recounted his arrest for disseminating human rights information as a tour guide, while Mr. Ngawang Woebar was arrested for protesting in Lhasa. Former prisoner Geshe Tsering Dorje described torture methods and the dire treatment of Tibetan prisoners, while Mr Wangden Kyab emphasised China’s ongoing violations of its constitution and international obligations.

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24/08/2023 abitrary-detention / Degrading treatment or punishment / Freedom of Opinion and Expression / News / political-prisoner / torture
China must stop persecuting Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) strongly condemns the continued persecution of the well-known Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk, who had been released from prison in 2021 after serving five years’ prison term on the trumped-up charges of “inciting separatism”.

Since his release from unjust imprisonment, Tashi Wangchuk has faced persistent restrictions  and limitations on his movement and activities even as he continued to advocate for the promotion and protection of the Tibetan language. 

The latest persecution faced by the Tibetan language rights advocate demonstrates that Chinese authorities will go to any lengths including engaging in mobster-style tactics to silence human rights defenders and activists.

On the evening of 19 August, while travelling from Sershul (Ch: Shiqu) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, to Darlag (Ch: Dari) County in Golog (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, he was followed by a vehicle. Subsequently, local police issued an order preventing local hotels from accommodating him.

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26/06/2023 News / TCHRD Statements / torture
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Every year on 26 June, the United Nations observes the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, explicitly focusing on torture’s lasting generational impact and consequences. Recognising torture as the deliberate infliction of severe physical and mental suffering without justification, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as an urgent call to eliminate this abhorrent practice, serving as a platform to promote the eradication of torture and to urge governments worldwide, including China, to fulfil their obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture. Recent cases, such as the severe torture endured by a Tibetan monk and the testimonies of Dorje Tashi, shed light on the systematic use of torture by Chinese authorities to suppress freedom of expression and assembly. These distressing incidents underscore the pressing need for the international community to take a firm stand and demand an immediate end to all acts of torture against Tibetans in Tibet.

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23/04/2020 Campaign
Panel Discussion: ‘Tibetan Political Prisoners: Rights and Responses’
John Gaudette (middle) speaks alongside UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief Mr Heiner Bielefeldt

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.

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18/12/2017 News
Tibetan man bedridden for years due to torture injuries while Chinese authorities refuse school admission to his daughter
Shonu Palden on hospital bed in a photo taken in October 2017

Chinese authorities released a Tibetan man from prison before the completion of his term to avoid responsibility for his imminent death due to torture injuries. Meanwhile his daughter has been refused school admission because her father had engaged in political activities in the past.

Shonu Palden, 40, was released on 24 July 2013 before the completion of his prison term. He was released early, having served only a little over a year of his two years and nine months sentence, because continued incarceration would have led to his death in prison. Since his early release, he has undergone two massive surgeries in a local hospital to treat various health complications including a serious heart condition he developed in detention. He suffers from blocked arteries, weak eyesight, and breathing and hearing problems.

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26/06/2017 News
Release Tibetan monks from arbitrary detention: Sentencing is politically motivated

Earlier this month, Chinese authorities sent two monks, Gendun Dakpa and Lobsang Sherab, to prison for allegedly ‘sharing information with outsiders’ and ‘inciting separatism’ in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in Tibet’s Amdo Province. The monks were sentenced after almost a year of incommunicado detention since August last year. On 17 June, the Trochu County…

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20/05/2017 Bi - Weekly Updates / News
China suspected of using torture on self-immolator’s sister as Tibetan monk dies of self-immolation

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…

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26/06/2016 News
No justification for such heinous crime as torture

 

Photo: OMCT Campaign
Photo: OMCT Campaign

In March this year, a 30-yr-old Tibetan man called Tashi took his own life soon after his detention because he was unable to bear the torture inflicted on him in Chinese police custody. The same month, another Tibetan man named Ngodup Phuntsok aka Ngoe-ga, 61, was released from prison after eight years with crippled back and legs, unable to walk. Weeks before Ngoe-ga’s release, news surfaced that Chinese prison authorities had suddenly hospitalised the courageous monk Jigme Gyatso aka Jigme Guri just six months prior to his release. Jigme Gyatso was serving a five-year sentence for exposing human rights violations particularly Chinese torture methods in Tibet. There are fears that Jigme Gyatso might be subjected to medical torture or unnecessary treatment, and similar concerns have been expressed in regards to Dolma Tso, a 30-yr-old Tibetan woman who could be subjected to forced medical procedures. In late March this year, Tibetan language and culture advocate Tashi Wangchuk, 30, has not been heard or seen after being held in prolonged secret detention and charged of inciting separatism . Just last month, a Tibetan writer named Lobsang Jamyang (Pen-name: Lomik) was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for “leaking state secrets” and “engaging in separatist activities”; he had been held in secret detention since April 2015.

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