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28/05/2015 News

Tibetan mother dies of self-immolation protest in front of Chinese government office

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

A Tibetan woman set herself on fire and died immediately after in Dokhog (Ch: Daogao) Township in Chone (Ch: Zhuoni) County, Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

Sangyal Tso, 36, a mother of two, staged the self-immolation protest at around 4 am (local time) on 27 May, in front of a Chinese government office, which is located near Choephel Shing Tashi Choekorling Monastery in Dokhog Township.

Since the incident occurred early morning, no confirmed information is available on the exact slogans Sangyal Tso shouted during her self-immolation protest. She died instantly after the protest and the police took her body to Tsoe (Ch: Hezuo) city, capital of Kanlho Prefecture.

Police also arrived at the home of Sangyal Tso’s parents who were interrogated and restrictions were placed on their movement. Sources say moments before her self-immolation, Sangyal Tso had communicated on WeChat voice messaging service at about 3.30 am, following which her parents contacted friends and relatives to find out about their daughter’s whereabouts but in vain.

22/05/2015 News

Tibetan man dies of self-immolation protest amid heightened repression

SWAT team with full riot gear performs drills to intimidate local Tibetans

A Tibetan man from Khangsar township in Tawu (Ch: (Daofu) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, passed away after his peaceful solo self-immolation protest to challenge the continuous and yet intensified repression in the region and Tibet at large.

As per the information received by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), at around 8:00 pm on 20 May 2015, Tenzin Gyatso, 34, died after setting himself ablaze near a bridge close to a Chinese government office. Soon after his self-immolation, armed police arrived at the scene and started to beat the Tibetans who had gathered near the site and were shouting slogans, and also arrested a few of them.

21/05/2015 News

Tibetan singer sentenced to prison after prolonged secret detention

Gonpo Tenzin before detention (left) and wearing a surgical mask in a hospital.

A well-known Tibetan singer was recently sentenced to prison after almost a year and a half of secret detention in Diru (Ch: Biru) County in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, in the Tibetan province of Kham.

Gonpo Tenzin, about 27, was sentenced on 15 April 2015 to three years and six months in prison, in addition to deprivation of political rights for four years, according to information received by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

21/05/2015 News

Tibetan monk arbitrarily detained after months of police surveillance

A Tibetan monk was arrested and forcibly taken away by local police in Tawu (Ch: Daofu) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.

Tsewang Chophel, 26, who is a monk at Nyitso Monastery, was detained on 18 May 2015. According to a source, “At around 10.30 am, while Tsewang Chophel was approaching on his bike, he was suddenly arrested by the Chinese police near the Chikshe village.”

As of now, no one knows the reason behind his arrest and his physical condition.

According to local Tibetans in Tawu, however, Tsewang Chophel had been under police surveillance ever since Tibetans in Tawu protested against the Chinese authorities following the self-immolation of monk Kelsang Yeshi on 23 December 2014.

21/05/2015 News

Tibetan political prisoner in critical condition after release from prison

Palden Trinley was released after seven years in prison. — Palden Thinley was released after seven years in prison.

A Tibetan monk who was recently released after completing a seven-year prison term is in critical condition following injuries suffered during detention and lack of medical care in prison.

Palden Thinley, 26, was released from Deyang prison on the afternoon of 17 May 2015 in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham, according to information received by Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
On the day of his release, prison authorities handed over Palden Thinley to County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers in Kardze apparently to prevent local Tibetans from giving him a hero’s welcome. At around 3 am on 18 May 2015, the Kardze County PSB handed over Thinley to Dhato Township PSB, who in turn secretly summoned his family at night to pick him up.

18/03/2015 News

China detains Tibetan monk for staging peaceful protest

A young Tibetan monk named Lobsang Kelsang was detained after staging a peaceful solo protest on the main road of Ngaba county town on 17 March this year. According to information received by TCHRD, at around 3:40 pm local time, the 19 years old monk of Kirti Monastery initiated a peaceful solo protest on the main road of Ngaba…

01/10/2014 News

Six monks arrested for removing and burning Chinese national flags in Diru

Chinese authorities have detained six monks for challenging a government order to fly Chinese national flags on their monastery rooftops. The unidentified monks had removed and burned a Chinese national flag hoisted on the rooftop of Drong-ngur Kagyu Phelgyeling Monastery at Wathang town in Diru County, Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region.

20/01/2014 Thematic Reports

Gulags of Tibet

TCHRD’s special report, ‘Gulags of Tibet’ examines the history and evolution of RTL, analyzes the current RTL laws, in addition to examining how RTL violates the international prohibitions of arbitrary detention, forced labor, and torture. The report features interviews with Tibetan RTL survivors who tell their personal stories of being locked up in forced labour camps. In late December 2013,…

10/12/2013 News / Thematic Reports

Banned Expression

In his essay, Soul of Poetry, the influential Tibetan poet, Yidam Tsering (1933 – 2004), likened the poets to nightingales who sing through their poems the hopes and aspirations, pain and agony, of their people. Her further wrote, “as long as the people live a life of million years, the poet will be able to sustain a life of million…

01/07/2013 News / Thematic Reports

Resettlement is Displacement: A right-based perspective on the internally displaced in Tibet

The Tibetan people have been facing severe human rights violations at the hands of the Chinese government for over half a century. The Chinese government is now implementing policies that are displacing the Tibetan population: however they are not recognised internationally as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This report utilises the UN Guidelines on Displacement as a methodology to analyse data…

17/01/2013 News

TCHRD releases 2012 Annual Report on Human Rights Situation in Tibet

In the year 2012, the human rights situation in Tibet hit a new low even as Tibet remained closed to independent media, UN monitors, international fact-finding delegations or visitors. The Chinese government effectively blocked communication channels and prevented information about human rights abuses from going out of Tibet. Despite heavy surveillance and restrictions, individual Tibetans continued to let the world know about the real situation in Tibet often at great personal risk. As the UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Food told the Human Rights Council session in March 2012: “We know that regularly the communication systems: Internet, the phones, SMS’s are blocked and Tibet is completely closed to independent observers, including the media.”