September 2013

30/09/2013 News

Prominent Tibetan writer released after completion of 3-yr prison term

Jolep Dawa acknowledges friends and well-wishers on his release from Mianyang Prison

A prominent Tibetan writer, editor and teacher was released earlier today after the completion of his three-year prison term from Mianyang Prison in Sichuan Province.

According to information received by TCHRD, Jolep Dawa, the founder and editor of a Tibetan language journal called Durab Ki Nga (This Century’s Self) was released at around 9 am on 30 September 2013, after being imprisoned in Mianyang for three years on trumped up charges of “separatism”. At the time of his sentencing, Jolep Dawa was 39 and a father of two.

Jolep Dawa was arrested by state security officers on 1 October 2010 in Chengdu and was detained for a year at Jinchuan County Detention Centre before his sentencing. After his arrest, Chinese police raided the bookstore cum DVD rental store (run by Dawa’s wife Zamlha) and confiscated his personal computer and diary along with some of his writings.

30/09/2013 News

Tibetan master tailor dies in self-immolation, body seized by police

Shichung, a master tailor and father of three became the 121st Tibetan to die of self-immolation protest in Tibet.

A Tibetan man known for his master tailoring skills has died of self-immolation protest in front of his home in Thawa Village in Gomang Township in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The total number of self-immolation protests inside Tibet has now reached 121.

According to information received by TCHRD, Shichung, 41, set himself on fire at around 4 pm (local time) on 28 September 2013 to protest against China’s repressive policies in Tibet. At the time, local Tibetans were participating in a prayer ceremony conducted every year in the village.

Shichung conducted his self-immolation protest in front of the gate of his house, which lies close to the highway that connects Ngaba to Golog (Ch: Guoluo) in neighboring Qinghai Province. Eyewitnesses said that on the day of the prayer ceremony, sometime in the afternoon, Shichung left the prayer ceremony and headed toward his home. There, at his house, he lighted a butter lamp in front of a portrait of the Dalai Lama. Moments later, he was seen engulfed in flames outside his house. He walked forward around forty steps and died.

25/09/2013 News

Tibetan poet found detained after months of disappearance

Cover of Tsol (Eng: Search), a poetry collection authored by Lobsang Namgyal who had been detained since May 2012. — Cover of Tsol, a poetry collection authored by Lobsang Namgyal who had been detained since May 2012.

A Tibetan man who authored a book of poetry was found detained nine months after his disappearance from his work place in Chengdu city in Sichuan Province.

According to information received by TCHRD, Lobsang Namgyal, 26, was secretly detained sometime around 15 May 2012 from Buddha Cultural Centre, where he was working as a part-time employee in Chengdu. For months, his family members and relatives made many attempts to find him but to no avail. Local sources cite unsubstantiated information that he was picked up by Public Security Bureau officers from the centre.

Under the pseudonym Sangmig (Eng: Secret Eye), Lobsang Namgyal had authored a collection of poetry titled Tsol (Eng: Search) in which he wrote about his life’s goals and about the state of fellow Tibetans. In February 2013, sources learned that he was being held at a detention centre in Chengdu.

16/09/2013 News

Wonpo Monastery: China sentences three monks up to 4 years in prison

Three Tibetan monks detained last year from Wonpo Monastery have been sentenced to prison, with two monks receiving four years each and another receiving one year in prison. Wonpo Monastery is located in Wonpo Village in Dzamey Township of Dzachuka area in Sershul (Ch: Shiqu) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

According to information received by TCHRD, three monks from Wonpo Monastery: Choedar, Sonam Gonpo and Sonam Choedar were sentenced to prison this month. They were detained incommunicado since their arrests in late 2012.

On 9 September 2013, Choedar, 47, was sentenced to one year in prison, less than a year after his detention in mid-October 2012. Choedar was detained along with two other monks: Kyapey, 27, and Lobsang Mithrug, 25, both of whom have been released, but they have been deprived of political rights for three years. Their release was granted after family and relatives of both monks provided guarantee letters pledging not to indulge in ‘political activities’.

10/09/2013 News

Ancient Tibetan monastery under siege over reincarnation issue; mother of two attempts suicide protest

Lama Dawa Rinpoche (full name: Dawa Rinpoche Khenrap Wangchuk Samten Tenpai Gyaltsen Pel Sangpo) was detained and sentenced to 7 years in prison.

A Tibetan monastery with over 300 years of history has been shut down indefinitely after Chinese authorities attempted to impose its own choice of reincarnation on the monastery in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

Shak Rongpo Gaden Dhargyeling Monastery, located in Shakchu (Ch: Xiaqu) Township in Nagchu County, has been under intense pressure and restriction since 2010 when local authorities arrested and sentenced a senior spiritual teacher, Lama Dawa Rinpoche, to seven years in prison on charges that he contacted His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the search for the ninth reincarnation of Rongpo Choeje, the head lama of the monastery. The previous eighth incarnation of Rongpo Choeje passed away on 14 August 1999. The first Rongpo Choeje founded the monastery under the guidance of the fifth Dalai Lama some 300 years ago.

According to information received by TCHRD, out of 113 big and small monasteries in Nagchu Prefecture, Shak Rongpo Monastery has been blacklisted among the top group of reactionary monasteries, undeserving of any measure of official leniency.

01/09/2013 News / Thematic Reports

TCHRD’s new report on ‘Ending Impunity: Crimes Against Humanity in Tibet’

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy commemorates the 53rd anniversary of Tibetan Democracy Day, by releasing a report titled Ending Impunity: Crimes Against Humanity in Tibet. On 2 September, Tibetans all over the world celebrate the Tibetan Democracy Day. This latest report from TCHRD focuses on international criminal justice and argues that the conduct of high-level Chinese government officials in Tibet constitutes ‘crimes against humanity’.

This report demonstrates that even though the International Criminal Court (ICC) lacks jurisdiction to investigate the situation in Tibet, the Party officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have committed crimes against humanity in Tibet. The ICC’s lack of jurisdiction does not change the nature of crimes committed in Tibet. The inability of the ICC to investigate the situation in Tibet does not mean there is no role for international criminal justice in Tibet. Recognising that international crimes defined by the Rome Statute have been committed in Tibet gives international actors powerful legal and rhetorical tools outside of the ICC.