A strict ban on religious activities has been imposed recently on all former and current Party members and cadres in Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
The situation of the Tibetans arbitrarily detained in Dza Wonpo in Sershul (Ch: Shiqu) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham from late August is difficult with poor detention facilities, daily interrogations, and political education sessions.
Chinese authorities have intensified anti-religious campaigns by systematically converting Tibetan monastic institutions into Chinese government offices and the monastic population into Chinese Communist Party members in Diru (Ch: Biru) County in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), in Kham province. These campaigns, implemented by the local County government and party through a new regulation, has severely curtailed the…
Chinese authorities in Yulshul (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham has begun implementing new repressive measures introduced in late 2011 to directly control and manage Buddhist religious institutions in Tibet.
A source with contacts in Tibet told TCHRD that in recent months Chinese officials have been visiting Kyegudo and giving orders to Tibetan monasteries particularly those located in Trindu (Ch: Chenduo) County to replace all the monastic staff and management committee members with government and party appointees by 7 June 2014.
At Nyatso Zilkar Monastery located at Dzatoe (Ch: Zaduo) Township in Trindu County, a government appointed Monastery Management Committee (MMC) has already replaced the previous Democratic Management Committee (DMC) whose term of five years had not expired. The replacement took place earlier this month although TCHRD is unable to immediately confirm the exact date due to extreme restrictions on communication channels. The authorities accused the previous management committee of failing to maintain stability since numerous protests including self-immolation had occurred at the monastery in recent years notably in 2012 when Nyatso Zilkar monks were arbitrarily detained, beaten up, and sentenced including Tsultrim Kalsang, 25, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Three Tibetan monks detained last year from Wonpo Monastery have been sentenced to prison, with two monks receiving four years each and another receiving one year in prison. Wonpo Monastery is located in Wonpo Village in Dzamey Township of Dzachuka area in Sershul (Ch: Shiqu) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
According to information received by TCHRD, three monks from Wonpo Monastery: Choedar, Sonam Gonpo and Sonam Choedar were sentenced to prison this month. They were detained incommunicado since their arrests in late 2012.
On 9 September 2013, Choedar, 47, was sentenced to one year in prison, less than a year after his detention in mid-October 2012. Choedar was detained along with two other monks: Kyapey, 27, and Lobsang Mithrug, 25, both of whom have been released, but they have been deprived of political rights for three years. Their release was granted after family and relatives of both monks provided guarantee letters pledging not to indulge in ‘political activities’.
Chinese authorities in Gansu Province last year issued an order to expel monks who had come from Tibetan areas outside Gansu to pursue their religious studies in monasteries (including the famed Labrang Tashikyil Monastery) located in the province.
This was revealed by Samten Jigme (name changed), a former Labrang monk, in his testimony to TCHRD. Samten Jigme fled Tibet and arrived in India this month.
The order is now being implemented at Rongwo Monastery in Rebkong (Ch: Tongren) County in Malho (Ch: Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, according to Samten Jigme. (For more on Rongwo, please see here, here, and here)
A disciplinary head of Amdo Jachung Monastery in Bayen County, Tsoshar Prefecture, Qinghai Province has been expelled for failing to comply with the officials of “patriotic education” campaign, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
On 27 June, a team of officials from Religious Affairs Bureau of Bayen (Ch: Hualong) Hui County under Tsoshar (Ch: Haidong) Prefecture, Qinghai Province and the County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials arrived at Amdo Jachung Monastery to carry out “patriotic education” campaign now euphemistically called by the name of “Legal Education” session. According to source, the officials ordered the disciplinary head of Amdo Jachung Monastery, Lobsang Tsultrim, to call for monks to assemble for the “legal education” to be conducted in the monastery.
The Chinese authorities in Meldrogungkar has temporarily closed down Pangsa Monastery in Meldrogungkar County, Lhasa municipality, Tibet Autonomous Region (“TAR”) in Tibet according to credible information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
Pangsa Monastery belongs to the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery’s chief relic is a mummified reliquary body of the highly realized Yogi Jampal Gyatso. Je Tsongapa Chenpo (1357-1419), the exalted master and the founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism brought the holy reliquary statue of Yogi Jampal Gyatso from his birthplace, Tsonga in Amdo Province along with him when he came to Lhasa, during the 14th century. Since then the reliquary statue of Yogi was housed in the Pangsa Monastery as a chief relic.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) deplores the government of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) new religious regulatory measures on the selection of reincarnates that come into force from today.
The China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) official issuance of 14-article measures on reincarnation which came into effect from today, clearly demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) adamant attempt to undermine and tarnish the centuries-old Tibetan tradition of religious practice. It also attempts to weaken the authority of legitimate Tibetan religious leaders including the Dalai Lama. The new measure bars any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation for himself or recognizing a “living Buddha” thus effectively ending the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist practice.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) received confirmed information from reliable sources that on 18 July 2007 the Chinese authorities in Lithang County has detained an elderly Tibetan supporter of Trulku Tenzin Delek and prohibited the monks of Nalanda Thekchen Jangchup Choeling Monastery from carrying a reception ceremony of Trulku Tenzin Delek’s portrait during the inauguration of newly built assembly prayer hall.
It all began on 18 July 2007 coinciding the Buddhist ceremony of Choekor Duechen (the day on which Buddha Shakyamuni preach the first Sermon), when a large gathering of Tibetans in nomadic area of Othok Village in Lithang County, Kardze Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Prefecture “TAP” organized a traditional annual horse race. The horse race was held near Nalanda Thekchen Jangchup Choeling Monastery with large gathering of Tibetan devotees and spectators alike for the occasion. The monastery was built by Trulku Tenzin Delek and named Kham Nalanda Thekchen Jangchup Choeling Monastery by the late Panchen Lama.
2006 marks the 10th anniversary of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), which was established in 1996. Over the past ten years, TCHRD has endeavored to uncover human rights violations in Tibet and reveal its findings to the rest of the world. The Centre’s location in Dharamsala in northern India allows it direct access to Tibetan refugees…