Two Tibetan singers imprisoned for four years for releasing a music album were released on 3 October from Mianyang Prison and received a warm welcome from friends and well-wishers including former political prisoners in Meuruma Town in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is pleased to learn that Ronggye A’drak, a Tibetan nomad who was imprisoned for staging a peaceful protest eight years ago, has been released after the completion of his sentence. Ronggye A’drak was released from prison and brought home by officials at around 1 am local time on 31 July in…
Trulku Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche (also known as Pangri-na Rinpoche), a highly revered reincarnated lama from Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, has been found recently in serious condition at a prison near Chengdu city, according to information given to TCHRD by a source from inside Tibet.
The source who provided this information to TCHRD said he saw Rinpoche by chance early this month while visiting another prisoner at Mianyang Prison, located about two hours from Chengdu city. “At first I couldn’t recognize him as he had become so weak, almost emaciated,” said the source. “It looks like he is not being treated well in prison.”
The source further told TCHRD that local Tibetans have expressed deep concern and anxiety over Rinpoche’s deteriorating health, which they believe is caused by the severe condition he is subjected to in prison.
A prominent Tibetan writer, editor and teacher was released earlier today after the completion of his three-year prison term from Mianyang Prison in Sichuan Province.
According to information received by TCHRD, Jolep Dawa, the founder and editor of a Tibetan language journal called Durab Ki Nga (This Century’s Self) was released at around 9 am on 30 September 2013, after being imprisoned in Mianyang for three years on trumped up charges of “separatism”. At the time of his sentencing, Jolep Dawa was 39 and a father of two.
Jolep Dawa was arrested by state security officers on 1 October 2010 in Chengdu and was detained for a year at Jinchuan County Detention Centre before his sentencing. After his arrest, Chinese police raided the bookstore cum DVD rental store (run by Dawa’s wife Zamlha) and confiscated his personal computer and diary along with some of his writings.
Tashi Rabten (pen name: Theurang) is a Tibetan writer and poet who is serving a four-year sentence in Mianyang Prison, Sichuan Province. He graduated from North-West University for Nationalities and wrote for the now-banned Tibetan language journal “Shar Dungri” and also published “Written in Blood”, a compilation of his poems, notes and writings on the situation in Tibet following the 2008 protests.
On the fifth anniversary of 14 March 2008 protest in Lhasa, TCHRD has translated and edited one of Theurang’s essays written before his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in 2009. The essay was republished in exile in the book “Reflections on 2008 Protests: a Collection of Essays by Tibetan Intellectuals in Tibet”, by Domey Editorial Committee, Dharamsala, India.