Tag: detention

Tashi Kyi
Tashi Kyi

On 2 July 2015, a 20-year-old Tibetan woman was arbitrarily detained by local Chinese police in connection with the 80th birthday celebration of the Dalai Lama in Meuruma Township in Amdo Province of Tibet.

Tashi Kyi, a Tibetan nomad, was taken to Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. There is no information on the exact location of her detention.

Tashi Kyi grew up with her nomad parents, Monu and Tsering Kyi – never attended formal schooling and was raised a nomad. At the time of her detention, she was living with her parents.

Sources in Tibet believe that the detention was related to some activities that took place at the 80th birthday celebration of the Dalai Lama in Meuruma Township. It remains unclear what she did on 21 June, the 80th birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, according the Tibetan calendar.

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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.

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Choephel Dawa
Choephel Dawa

Chinese authorities have detained four Tibetan men including three monks from the embattled Tsenden Monastery in Sog (Ch: Suo) County in Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), in the Tibetan province of Kham.

According to the information received by TCHRD, local police detained the monks identified as Choephel Dawa, Jigme Wangyal and Choeyang Choega and a layman named Dorjee who were detained on the night of 28 March 2015. No reason was given for their sudden detention. There is no information on the location of their detention raising concerns among family members about their physical and psychological health since torture is routinely practiced in Chinese detention centers.

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Jigme Gyatso's arrest warrant issued by the Public Security Bureau in Gannan Prefecture in Gansu Province. Obtained by TCHRD in February 2012.
Jigme Gyatso’s arrest warrant issued by the Public Security Bureau in Gannan Prefecture in Gansu Province. Obtained by TCHRD in February 2012.

In his first speech as the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein declared “courage is the first human virtue… The courageous individual is he or she who has nothing to wield but common sense, reason and the law, and is prepared to forfeit future, family, friends and even life in defence of others, or to end injustice.”

On the same day that High Commissioner Al Hussein opened the 27th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva with these strong words, Radio Free Asia reported that Jigme Gyatso of Labrang Monastery in Gannan (Tib: Kanlho) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province had been sentenced to five years in prison for “splittist activities.” This is the first news of Jigme Gyatso since the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) obtained a copy of Jigme Gyatso’s arrest warrant in February 2012. The arrest warrant was issued almost five months after Jigme Gyatso was arrested from his hotel room by 40 police officers.

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Wangdak, the leader of Denma Shugpa Village was detained at midnight on 11 August 2014
Wangdak, the leader of Denma Shugpa Village was detained at midnight on 11 August 2014

Despite strict restriction on communication, information is coming out of Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province that Chinese paramilitary forces opened fire on unarmed Tibetan protesters on 12 August 2014. At least ten Tibetans were injured.  The injured Tibetans suffered gunshot wounds to their heads and torsos. Photographs of the injuries appeared on social media sites shortly after the shooting.

The Tibetans were protesting the detention of Wangdak, 45, a widely respected village leader, the night before. Local police officers detained Wangdak at midnight from his home in Denma Shugpa Village in Loshu (Ch: Luoxu) Township in Sershul (Ch: Shiqu) County, Kardze TAP.

Wangdak had advocated for Tibetans to be allowed to observe the Denma Horse Festival. According to a reliable source with contacts in Tibet, Wangdak argued that banning the observance of the festival was a violation of the religious freedom of Tibetans because the festival was part of Tibetan cultural and religious practice. Wangdak is also the chairman of the Denma Horse Festival Committee.

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Singer Kelsang Yarphel, about 37, detained for singing "politically subversive" song at a musical concert.
Singer Kelsang Yarphel, about 37, detained for singing “politically subversive” song at a musical concert.

A well-known Tibetan singer was detained last month in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on suspected charges of singing a “politically-subversive” song at a music concert.

According to information received by TCHRD, Kelsang Yarphel, about 37, was detained at around 14 July 2013 in Lhasa and taken to a detention centre in Chengdu city in Sichuan Province where he remains now.

Sources from Tibet said that in October and November 2012, Kelsang Yarphel and some other Tibetan musicians and singers organised a music concert called Khawei Metok. At the concert, Kelsang Yarphel performed a song titled Bhodpa Tso (Fellow Tibetans) whose lyrics were deemed ‘politically subversive’ by the Chinese authorities. The DVDs made out of the songs performed at the concert were distributed distributed widely in Tibetan areas in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. A month later, the Chinese authorities enforced a ban on the sale and distribution of the DVD many of which were confiscated.

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Warning: This post contains graphic images. 

An undated photograph of Chanzoe Tsewang Choephel, a senior monk and staff at Nyatso Monastery.
An undated photograph of Tsewang Choephel, a senior monk and staff at Nyatso Monastery.

Tsewang Choephel, a senior monk and administrative staff (Tib: chanzoe) at Nyatso Monastery, is the latest Tibetan to be identified among those injured in Chinese People’s Armed Police (PAP) firing on 6 July.

According to information and photographs received by TCHRD, senior monk Tsewang Choephel was shot at multiple times on his hands and legs. His condition is critical. With Tsewang Choephel’s identification, the number of the injured in PAP firing has increased to ten, including a layman Ugyen Tashi who was shot with eight bullets.

The beatings, shootings and teargassing in Tawu led to the violent disruption of an otherwise peaceful religious ceremony observed to celebrate the 78th birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The scale and extent of the Tawu shootings appear to overshadow another brutal shootings in January 2012 in Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County.

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A monk from Tongkyap Monastery has gone ‘missing’ since his arbitrary detention earlier this month by People’s Armed Police in Gade (Ch: Gande) County in Golok (Ch: Guolo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

 According to information received by TCHRD, on 11 March, the day after the 54th anniversary of Tibetan national uprising, Tritsun (pen name: Tri Bhoe Trak), 26, a monk from Tongkyap Monastery was detained on unknown charges. Police detaining the monk gave no explanation for the sudden detention. Tritsun’s incommunicado detention has severely affected his aged mother, Phagmo, who is the only member in his family.

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Amid news of heightened restrictions and increased detention, an uncle of Dorjee Lhundup, a Tibetan farmer who set his body on fire in protest against the Chinese government, was detained recently in Rebkong (Ch: Tongren) County in Malho (Ch: Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

According sources with contacts in the region, Yarphel, 42, uncle of Dorjee Lhundup, a farmer in his 20s, was detained on the morning of 2 February. Yarphel, a monk at Yershong Monastery, was detained along with fellow monk, Rabyang. Both were taken to the local police station and interrogated for long hours.

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An unspecified number of Tibetans have been detained following the twin self-immolation protests in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

Two Tibetan men, both believed to be young, staged a joint self-immolation protest near Jhokhang Temple at Barkhor (Chinese: Parkor) Street in Lhasa. Dorjee Tsetan died while Dhargye is hospitalized with burn injuries.

Chukey, the owner of the restaurant where Dhargye used to work as a cashier, was arrested along with his wife and family, according to sources. Our sources also identified some of the detained Tibetans as Dolma Kyab, Nyurgyog, Khambey, Tamdrin Kyab and Sangdrak; all of them belong to Ngaba Prefecture.

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The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy(TCHRD) condemns in strongest term over Chinese authorities — launching of the –”Strike Hard” campaign aimed at carrying out further detentions of Tibetans in Tibet as the March anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising approaches.

According to information given in the official newspaper Lhasa Evening News (Ch: Lasa Wen Bao) today, “the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials under the order of Lhasa City government, the “Tibet Autonomous Region” (“TAR”) PSB, “TAR” Party Committee and Lhasa City Party Committee had carried out the “Strike Hard” Campaign from 9:00PM (Beijing standard time) yesterday across the Tibetan Capital, Lhasa. “The campaign was also launched across all seven prefectures under the “TAR” in order to strike hard according to law against all kinds of criminal activity and to vigorously uphold the social order and stability.” The length of this campaign was not mentioned and it may last for months. 

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