The Chinese Party-state is targeting and silencing influential Tibetan writers, intellectuals and cultural leaders that it views as hindrance to its cultural assimilation campaign. New information obtained by TCHRD revealed the ongoing detention of four other writers on top of the four recently sentenced to four to ten years in prison.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) confirmed that Gō Sherab Gyatso also known as Gosher was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court a month ago, following news of the sentencing that surfaced on social media on Human Rights Day last Friday.
The Communist Party of China’s Central Propaganda Department announced the launch of a campaign to crack down on illegal online activities and fake news.
The 45-year-old disciplinarian, identified as Konmey, was arbitrarily taken into police custody around 20 July 2021. Since then, there has been no information on why and where he was detained. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche, a reincarnated lama and founder of the Gyatso orphanage home, was due for release on 31 July this year after serving 18 years of life imprisonment in Chushur (Ch: Qushui) County Prison near Lhasa.
Tibetan political prisoner Tsultrim Gyatso has become eligible for release in November 2026 after his life sentence was commuted for the second time by the Intermediate People’s Court of Tianshui City in April last year, reported the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders on 17 July. The Tianshui court approved a 6-month sentence reduction claiming that Gyatso had “pleaded guilty, [showed]…
TCHRD received confirmed information that Namdrol Lhamo, one of the last two Drapchi 14 nuns in prison, was released in September 2003. She is reportedly in Lhasa City and in bad health condition. Namdrol was released upon completion of her 12 years’ imprisonment term.
Namdrol Lhamo and many other political prisoners arrested in late 1980s and early 90s are now being released on completion of their respective terms. Most of them suffer long-term illnesses even after release as a result of prison atrocities. The released prisoners face utter hardship in resettling in the society as they are put under severe vigilance and bound in invisible chains.
Torture against Tibetan political prisoners has been used as a method of repression since the Chinese occupied Tibet in the 1950s. Despite China’s claim that it adheres to international law which effectively bars the use of torture, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has gathered numerous testimonies from former political prisoners which demonstrate that torture is still…