The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has learned about the release of Tibetan writer, teacher and environmentalist Kunchok Tsephel on 18 March after serving more than 13 years at two different prisons including Dingxi near Lanzhou city in Gansu Province. Tsephel’s 15-year prison term had been reduced by almost two years after he saved the life of a fellow prisoner and collected ‘points’ for exhibiting ‘good behaviour’.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) strongly condemns the Chinese authorities’ incomprehensible attack on Karma Samdrup and several members his family. In a span of less than one year, six members (three brothers and three cousins, all male) of a single family have been arrested, sentenced, and reportedly tortured-actions which can only be characterized as official reprisal for their activism. Four of the six are serving prison or “re-education through labor” sentences; at this time the whereabouts and well-being of two others remain unknown.