The release of writer Dhi Lhaden after four years of imprisonment raises concerns regarding his physical and mental well-being, exacerbated by the limited accessibility of information about his current situation. Having endured two years of incommunicado detention since 2019, he was charged with “disrupting social order,” a common accusation against human rights activists, and secretly sentenced to four years in 2021. Despite his expected release this year, it was delayed by two months, perceived as a result of cautious measures by Chinese authorities to control information flow. Lhaden’s unjust trial, preceded by isolation, potential coercion, and torture, further adds complexity. As a former monk and writer, his works illuminated the Tibetan perspective, encompassing hopes, wishes, and the overall plight.

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A-nya Sengdra in an undated picture

Hundreds of Tibetans have submitted three known petitions calling for the immediate release of a local anti-corruption activist who has been in Chinese police custody since September last year.

Mr A-nya Sengdra, 47, was beaten up and detained by Gade (Ch: Gande) County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers on 4 September from a highway intersection in Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

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Monlam Kyi in an undated photo

In a shocking case of reprisals against a former Tibetan political prisoner living in India, Chinese authorities have subjected his family members including his elderly mother to illegal detention in Pema (Ch: Baima) County in Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. The family was threatened of severe consequences if they failed to hand over the former political prisoner to the authorities.

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Tristen after release from detention
Tristen after release from detention

A Tibetan monk was released earlier this month after being detained two years ago for writing a book on self-immolation protests. Tritsen, 29, who wrote the book under his pen name, Tri Bhoe Trak, was released on 19 March, according to exile Tibetan sources.

There is no information available on his current condition or events leading to his sentencing. No details are available on how long he was kept in detention, when he was sentenced or whether he was allowed to hire a lawyer to defend himself. Although no confirmed information is available on the exact charges, some sources say he was sentenced for ‘causing social disputes’ and ‘inciting separatism’.

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Tibetan writer and activist Lhaden. (File/TCHRD)
Tibetan writer and activist Lhaden. (File/TCHRD)

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has recently obtained a book written by Lhaden, a Tibetan writer and activist living inside Tibet. This latest book, titled ‘Resistance Through Cooperation With Law’ (Tib: Tungol Trimlug’) is Lhaden’s second, published and now being translated into English by TCHRD.

TCHRD presents an excerpt from Lhaden’s latest book translated from its original Tibetan version. He writes under the pseudonym, ‘Di Lhaden’. In this excerpt, Di Lhaden writes about his motivation for writing the book, expresses his belief that Tibet’s non-violent struggle has the potential to achieve genuine peace and reconciliation between the Tibetan people and the Chinese government. Di Lhaden asks the China to acknowledge, rather than violently crush, the legitimate grievances and aspirations of the Tibetan people, which he believes are in accord with the laws and constitution of the People’s Republic of China. He believes that Tibet’s non-violent struggle is inspired by the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

This book represents one of the many voices of millions of Tibetans inside Tibet who live in a system that penalizes human rights activists as criminals and denies basic human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Chinese domestic law and international human rights law. Read in the context of China’s recent rhetoric on rule of law, Lhaden’s book presents a formidable challenge to Chinese claims of respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights according to ‘rule of law’.

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