drapchi – TCHRD

03/05/2013 News

Freedom at last? : Released from 25 years’ imprisonment, former longest-serving Tibetan political prisoner under surveillance

Tibet’s longest-serving known political prisoner, Lobsang Tenzin, was released last month after completing his 18-yr term in Chushul Prison in the outskirts of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Lobsang Tenzin was the longest-serving political prisoner among a new generation of Tibetans born after the 10 March Tibetan uprising in 1959. Lobsang Tenzin was arrested on 5 March 1988 during a demonstration against Chinese rule in Lhasa. He was then about 24 and a student of Tibet University (Lhasa).

20/04/2009 TCHRD Statements

TCHRD calls for release of Jigme Gyatso on medical grounds

Jigme Gyatso, a 48-year-old Tibetan political prisoner from Amdo Kersul, who is serving 17 years’ prison sentence is learnt to be seriously ill following years of torture and ill-treatment in the prison since 1996, according to information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) from reliable sources.

The Centre expresses its deepest concern at the continued imprisonment of seriously ill Jigme Gyatso and urges the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to order his immediate release on compassionate health grounds. Jigme Gyatso is currently serving his sentence in Chushul Prison (Ch: Quhui), on the outskirt of Lhasa city.

01/06/2001 News / Thematic Reports

Drapchi Prison: Tibet’s Most Dreaded Prison

The year 1998 marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ironically, in Drapchi Prison the same year, Chinese prison guards and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials violated all human rights norms with the use of brutal force on Tibetan prisoners. On the ill-fated days of 1 and 4 May 1998, the unarmed prisoners…

05/05/1998 News

Two prisoners shot dead in Drapchi Prison

Two prisoners in Tibet’s Drapchi Prison died instantly on May 4, 1998, when prison officials opened fire on unarmed prisoners staging a protest in the prison. Sources from Tibet report that 200 other prisoners were seriously injured in the shooting and beatings used to suppress the revolt. The identities of the dead prisoners are unknown.

Earlier reports stated that the May 4 protest was begun by a group of 80 Drapchi prisoners from units 5 and 6. The group reportedly disrupted a prison function commemorating “Youth Day” by shouting slogans and pasting posters around the prison. Recent information indicates that the protesters distributed pamphlets and demanded the release of prisoners who had been placed in solitary confinement following an earlier protest in Drapchi on May 1.