The heightened restrictions on social media platforms such as WeChat have caused a chilling effect on online activities of local Tibetans as they fear communicating their concerns about the ongoing crackdown with Tibetans living outside Tibet.
TCHRD has been informed that a 30-ft Maitreya Buddha statue in the courtyard of Drango Namgyal Ling Monastery has been destroyed and at least a dozen local Tibetans detained for sharing news of the destruction of a 99-ft Buddha statue that was reported last month in Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.
Shonu, a monk and staff member of Drango Monastery, whose whereabouts were unknown since his arrest in February 2012, is in Mianyang Prison (Sichuan Province), a source with contacts in Tibet informed TCHRD.
According to the source, Shonu, 42, was sentenced in June 2012 to 18 months in prison for charges unknown at this time.
In February 2012, security officers detained Shonu and four other staff members of Drango Monastery at an Internet café in Tridu (Chinese: Chengdu) city, capital of Sichuan Province. The whereabouts of the four monk officials: Tulku Lobsang Tenzin, a reincarnated lama; Geshe Tsewang Namgyal, a teacher and staff member; Thinlay, manager; and Tashi Topgyal aka Dralha, accountant; remain unknown to this day.
A learned Tibetan monk who is also a high-ranking official at Drango Monastery has been arrested by police officers from the Sichuan Province Public Security Bureau.
Geshe Tenzin Pelsang of Drango Monastery was arrested on 2 April 2012 from his monastery in Drango (Chinese: Luhou) County, Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Geshe Pelsang was arrested on suspicion that he acted as ringleader of the protests that rocked Drango on 23 January 2012.
It is not known where he is detained and in what condition.
More information has surfaced regarding the identities of 12 known Tibetans who disappeared after their arrests by Chinese security officers in the nomadic region of Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
The 9 February 2012 crackdown in Drango County ended in the death of two Tibetan brothers who were shot dead in their own house by security officers and the arrest and disappearance of seven known Tibetans including a monk and lay Tibetans. The arrests occurred in the wee hours of 9 February, at around 1 am (Tibet Time), according to sources.
Ten known Tibetans have ‘disappeared’ after their arrests by the Chinese security officers in the aftermath of the bloody January 2012 crackdown on Tibetan protests at Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
These arrests were made days after security officers fired on hundreds of unarmed Tibetan protesters outside the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) office on 23 January 2012 in Drango County. Two known Tibetans, Norpa Yonten (aged 48) and an unidentified son of Loyak Tsang household from Likhogma village, died on the spot while 36 known Tibetans sustained serious injuries in the police shooting. Some of the injured were shot in the arms, legs, and some still had bullets lodged in their stomach. TCHRD is still trying to obtain information on the current condition of those injured in the firing.
A Chinese government-owned newspaper has reported that the security forces shot dead two Tibetan brothers on 9 February 2012 in Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
The brothers’ death by gunshots was extensively reported earlier by exile Tibetan sources. However, the 11 February 2012 report in the Ganzi Daily News is the first confirmation of the case.
The report said Tibetan monk Yeshe Rigsal, aged 40 and his wounded brother Yeshe Samdrub, aged 38 were shot dead by the security forces.
It is now confirmed that Norpa Yonten (aged 49) was indeed shot dead by the security forces during 23 January 2012 Drango County protest.
There is, however, unconfirmed information that more than one Tibetan had died of gunshot wounds.
TCHRD has received further details on the identity of the 36 Tibetans arrested in the protest. Among those arrested, 18 belong to Norpa village in Drango County:
Norpa Sonam, Norpa Soegay, Norpa Lobsang Gonpo, Norpa Dudhul, Norpa Jamyang Sherab, Norpa Wangchen, Norpa Tsering Gyaltsen, Norpa Sangyal Gyatso, Norpa Namgyal Dhondup, Norpa Rinchen Thinlay, Norpa Yeshi Rigsel (aged 40), Norpa Tenpa (aged 26), Norpa Lodoe, Norpa Choeshe (aged 27), Norpa Yeshi Tsering AKA Yetse (aged 54), Norpa Jampa Dhondup (aged 36), Norpa Jamnam (aged 27), and Norpa Youtrug (aged 50).
One Tibetan layman, identified as Yonten, has died of gunshot after security officials clamped down on a protest in Drango County (Ch: Luhuo County) in Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to information received by TCHRD today.
The body of Yonten, a resident of Drango County, is being kept at Drango Monastery.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) welcomes the letter sent to China by four UN human rights experts urging Chinese authorities to clarify how the recent developments in Tibet regarding oppressive laws, policies and practices on education, language and religion are compatible with China’s obligations under the international human rights laws and standards.
The news about Goyon’s release comes close on the heels of another major development: sentencing of six former Tibetan political prisoners, writers and public intellectuals on the trumped-up charges of “inciting separatism” and “endangering state security” in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.