Tibetan nun disappeared since 2008 presumed dead of torture
July 4, 2016
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy, June 30, 2016 – A 25 year old Tibetan nun disappeared after her arbitrary detention by Chinese security forces during the 2008 uprising in Tibet.
Yeshi Lhakdron, a nun from Dragkar Nunnery went missing after her detention along with two other nuns eight years ago in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) County in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in Tibetan province of Kham. The two other nuns are identified as Sangay Lhamo and Tsewang Khando from the same nunnery. Both nuns were sentenced to two years each and were released after completing their prison terms.
Nothing had been heard about the fate of Yeshi Lhakdron despite her family’s persistent efforts. After enquiring about her for a long time, her family members were forced to conclude that she had succumbed to torture in police custody.
According to information provided to TCHRD by Pema Wangyal, a monk from Drepung Monastery in south India who is a relative of the nun, the three nuns protested peacefully in Kardze County in 2008 shouting slogans such as “Tibet belongs to Tibetans!” “Tibetans want Human Rights!” They also threw leaflets that bore slogans calling for the long life of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for freedom in Tibet. Chinese police detained them immediately. Following their interrogation in police custody during which they were subjected to beatings and torture, the nuns were sent to a government hospital in Kardze County. Family members were not allowed to visit them during their treatment in hospital. Word leaked through nurses in the hospital that one of the three nuns had died in the hospital. The other two nuns Sangay Lhamo and Tsewang Khando were released after two years. But Yeshi Lhakdron never returned home. When asked about Yeshi, the two nuns told Yeshi’s family members that they were detained separately and not able to see each other because their heads were covered with black hoods during interrogations. Later, the two nuns were each sentenced to two years without any information on each other’s wellbeing.
In the absence of any evidence such as Yeshi’s body, family members are still struggling to make a definite conclusion on Yeshi’s fate. Yeshi’s family members spent about 40,000 yuan to contact authorities in various counties including Kardze, Drango (Ch: Luhuo), Serthar (Ch: Seda), Lithang (Ch: Litang), Nyagrong (Ch: Xinlong) and Tawu (Ch: Daofu) in Sichuan Province. They also asked other political prisoners who had been released. Nothing came of their efforts and family members were forced to believe that Yeshi was no more. In keeping with Tibetan religious practice, family members conducted funeral rituals for Yeshi various monasteries.
Yeshi Lhakdron was born and raised in Tsochu Village in Sershiuting (Ch: Sexidi) Township in Kardze County. She was 25 at the time of her detention. Her uncle Ngodup Phunstok or Ngoega is a former political prisoner who had been imprisoned twice for holding peaceful protest against Chinese rule. In 2000, Ngodup was sentenced to three years for ‘political crimes’ in Drapchi Prison in Lhasa. Again on 18 March 2008, Ngodup led a public protest in Kardze County during which he sustained severe gunshot injuries. He was later sentenced to eight years in Tekyang prison in Sichuan and released on 20 March 2016.
In 2009 and 2010, TCHRD reported 16 and 29 known cases of enforced disappearance in Tibet respectively. In September 2008, TCHRD reported a surge in cases of enforced and involuntary disappearances following the outbreak of major protests across the Tibetan plateau beginning March 2008. In 2008, following widespread arrests in Tibet, TCHRD reported that the enforced disappearance of at least one thousand known Tibetans.
On 9 December 2015, in its Concluding Observations on the fifth periodic review of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the UN Committee Against Torture reiterated its call for accountability for the events during the 2008 protests in Tibet and criticised the PRC for failing to provide information about 24 of 26 Tibetan cases that the Committee had specifically asked about during the previous review in 2008. In 2008, during the widespread protests throughout Tibet the PRC had its fourth periodic review before the Committee Against Torture. Similar to its fifth periodic review in 2015, the PRC dismissed claims of torture in Tibet as “groundless” and failed to provide practical or statistical information about the implementation of the Convention Against Torture.
Arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearances are some of the tools used by the Chinese authorities to silence peaceful expressions of political opposition and other grievances in Tibet. Chinese security officers in Tibet, particularly the Public Security Bureau, the People’s Armed Police and the state security agents, use enforced disappearance to terrorise and intimidate the disappeared person, his or her family members, as well as the entire community. In 2013, the PRC introduced amendments to its Criminal Procedure Law that legalised enforced disappearances. Since then, a series of new laws such as National Security Law has been introduced to give a semblance of legality to states-sponsored human rights abuses such as enforced disappearance, torture and extrajudicial killings.

Communications clampdown after Tibetan beaten to death by police
July 4, 2016
Radio Free Asia, July 1, 2016 – A Tibetan man living in southwest China’s Sichuan province was beaten to death by police last month, as fears mount that a Tibetan nun missing for eight years after taking part in protests challenging Chinese rule may also have died in custody, Tibetan sources said.
Yudruk Nyima, aged about 40 and a resident of Dzakhok township in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Dege (Dege) county, was detained by police after returning from a trip to collect cordyceps, a valuable medicinal fungus, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“He was detained on suspicion of possessing a gun at his home in Dzakhok,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity and citing contacts in his native Dege.
After being taken to a nearby village, Nyima was severely beaten by police who then tried to move him to the Dege county seat, the source said.
“However, he died on the way while still in police custody,” he said.
News of Nyima’s death was briefly delayed in reaching outside sources due to communications clampdowns imposed by Chinese authorities in the area.
Relatives rejected allegations that Nyima had owned a gun and have filed a complaint with local authorities over his death, the source said, adding that the case “has become a cause of tensions in the area.”
Losing hope
Family members of a young Tibetan nun detained in 2008 are meanwhile losing hope she may still be alive after receiving no word of her whereabouts since she was taken into custody, an India-based Tibetan rights group said this week.
Yeshe Lhakdron, a 25-year-old nun from Drakkar nunnery in Kardze prefecture’s Kardze county, was detained with two companions eight years ago after they called out in public for Tibetan freedom from Beijing’s rule, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said on Thursday.
“Following their interrogation in police custody during which they were subjected to beatings and torture, the nuns were sent to a government hospital in Kardze County,” TCHRD said, adding that family members were not allowed to visit the nuns during their treatment in hospital.
Nurses at the hospital later said that one of the nuns had died there, and the other two—named Sangye Lhamo and Tsewang Khandro—were eventually released after serving two-year terms in prison, TCHRD said.
“But [Yeshe] Lhakdron never returned home,” the rights group said.
Lacking firm evidence of Lhakdron’s death, family members “are still struggling” to come to a conclusion regarding her fate, but have now conducted funeral rites for her at various monasteries, TCHRD said.
Government controls

Tibetans living in Kardze prefecture are known for their strong sense of Tibetan national identity and frequently stage protests alone or in groups opposing rule by Beijing.
Monasteries and nunneries in Kardze now operate under strict government controls and have been threatened with closure if they permit monks and nuns living there to engage in political activities, including unauthorized promotion of the study of the Tibetan language, a Tibetan resident of the area told RFA.
“[Also], if any monk or nun comes from other places to protest, they will not be allowed to return to their own institutions, and those monasteries must not accept them back,” the source said.
“These rules may be aimed at containing expressions of solidarity and support among monks and nuns in monasteries in different parts of Tibet,” he said.
Reported by Pema Ngodup and Sonam Wangdu for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Five Tibetan protesters detained in Chinese ‘show of force’ at Qinghai Lake
June 27, 2016
Radio Free Asia, June 23, 2016 – Chinese police descended in force on Friday at a Tibetan protest site near Qinghai Lake, detaining five protesters a day after an assault by authorities on Tibetan villagers left eight seriously injured, sources in the region said.
The five were taken into custody without explanation at around 8:00 a.m. local time on June 24, a Tibetan resident of the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“A large Chinese security force arrived in three large vehicles packed with police and another 20 vehicles carrying unidentified officials,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Five protesters were immediately detained, the source said, naming four of those taken into custody as Lhachen Kyab, Jigje Delek Gyatso, Rinchen Bum, and a woman named Tashi Drolma.
All five were residents of Trelnak township’s Karla and Dose villages in Qinghai province’s Chabcha (in Chinese, Gonghe) county, the source said.
“They were taken away without any reason being given or court document being shown,” he said.
“It was a sheer display of force and intimidation.”
Others held over photos

Following a police assault on protesters the day before in which eight were badly beaten, an unknown number of Tibetans were also detained “on suspicion of taking photos of the Chinese crackdown,” the source said.
The attack followed a demand by authorities on June 21 that Tibetans running small businesses near Qinghai Lake demolish their shops, guest houses, and personal dwellings and leave the area, sources said in earlier reports.
The structures, deemed ‘illegal’ by authorities, had been built to cater to tourists visiting a scenic stretch of the lake, sources said.
Several hundred business owners then marched in protest along a road that circles the lake, “but authorities did not listen to them,” one source said.
“Instead, security forces attacked the Tibetans, injuring several of them.”
“Land grabs, destruction of property and environmental exploitation have become increasingly common sources of dispute between Tibetans and local authorities in the last few years,” Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren, director of the London-based rights group Free Tibet, said in a June 23 statement.
“Tibetans continue to stand up for their rights, while their sense of grievance about Chinese rule grows ever deeper,” Byrne-Rosengren said.
Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney

Open for signatures: Parliamentary e-Petition for the Panchen Lama
June 27, 2016
Ottawa, June 27, 2016 – An e-petition requesting the Government of Canada to seek the immediate release of Tibet’s Panchen Lama, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, and information about his whereabouts and safety, has been launched in the Parliament of Canada.
The e-petition is an initiative of the Canadian Parliamentary Friends of Tibet and was submitted by MP Randall Garrison.
Residents of Canada are asked to sign the e-petition at https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-431
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will visit China in September this year and is expected to raise human rights issues while he is there.

China faces criticism at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva
June 27, 2016
Tibet Bureau, Geneva, June 22, 2016 – At the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council which took place in Geneva last week, China once again faced severe criticism for failing to meet international human rights standards and for narrowing the space for civil society by adopting new laws on foreign NGOs and national security.
In delivering his “Item 4” (opening) statement to the UNHRC, Mr. Keith Harpar, Ambassador and US Permanent Representative to Human Rights Council said “We are also deeply concerned that China’s new Law on the Management of Foreign NGO Activities will further narrow space for civil society and about excessive government controls on religious practices, especially those affecting Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, and Christians.
The European Union also expressed concern about China’s human rights record saying that “In China, ongoing detention and harassment of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, labour rights defenders and their families remains a major concern…… The recent adoption of the national security packages including the counter terrorist law further raises serious questions about China’s respect for its international human rights obligations.”
The statement further says that the EU expects China to implement the UPR recommendations it accepted including ensuring an enabling environment for civil society including foreign NGOs. The EU also urged China to respect cultural diversity and freedom of religion or belief especially in Tibet and Xinjiang.
Germany aligned itself with the EU statement saying “Germany remains deeply concerned about the ongoing human rights violation throughout China in particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet.”
Switzerland stated its concern about restrictions on freedom of religion, expression and freedom of movement for national minorities particularly Tibetans and Uyghurs and it called upon China to guarantee fundamental rights of all individual including members of ethnic minorities.
France reiterated similar concerns and called upon China to undertake dialogue with officials in order to resolve the deep underlying causes of tension in Tibet and in Xinjiang.
Canada stated that it remains concerned about the regulation of foreign NGOs in China which undermines the intrinsic value of civil society in driving innovation, promoting stability and advancing human rights. Canada called upon China to bring its legal framework into compliance with international human rights norms and standards in order to ensure an enabling environment for civil society to flourish.
The Tibet Bureau representative, Dawa Tsultrim, delivered an oral statement on June 23 on behalf of the Society for Threatened People (NGO under consultative status with ECOSOC).

(edited by WTN editors)

President Obama meets with His Holiness the X1V Dalai Lama
June 20, 2016
The White House, June 15, 2016 – The President met today with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.
The President accepted the Dalai Lama’s condolences for the shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12 and commended the Dalai Lama for his efforts to promote compassion, empathy, and respect for others. The President and the Dalai Lama discussed the situation for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China, and the President emphasized his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions and the equal protection of human rights of Tibetans in China. The President lauded the Dalai Lama’s commitment to peace and nonviolence and expressed support for the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” approach.
The President encouraged meaningful and direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama and his representatives with Chinese authorities to lower tensions and resolve differences. In this context, the President reiterated the longstanding U.S. position that Tibet is a part of the People’s Republic of China, and the United States does not support Tibetan independence. The Dalai Lama stated that he is not seeking independence for Tibet and hopes that dialogue between his representatives and the Chinese government will resume. The President and the Dalai Lama agreed on the importance of a constructive and productive relationship between the United States and China.
The President welcomed the Dalai Lama’s leadership on climate change issues, and expressed support for the Dalai Lama’s efforts to raise awareness of the importance of limiting global warming, including to protect the Himalayan glaciers and the environment on the Tibetan plateau.

China foreign minister complains to Secretary of State Kerry after Dalai Lama visits Washington
June 20, 2016
Reuters, June 18, 2016 – The United States should not interfere in China’s internal affairs on matters related to Tibet, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call on Saturday.
According to an account of the call posted on the Chinese foreign ministry website, Kerry reaffirmed that there was no change in the U.S. policy that Tibet is a part of China and that the U.S. does not support Tibetan independence.
The phone call follows on from President Barack Obama’s meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, last week at the White House despite China warning it would damage diplomatic relations.
China views the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. The meeting came at a time of already heightened tensions between the U.S. and China over Beijing’s pursuit of territorial claims in East Asia.
On the call, Wang and Kerry also discussed the success of the recently concluded bilateral Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing, according to the foreign ministry posting, which did not give specifics.
(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

His Holiness the Dalai Lama Speaks at United States Institute of Peace and the American University

Washington DC, USA, 13 June 2016 – After arriving in Washington from India yesterday and, as he declared this morning, having had ten hours sleep last night, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first engagement was at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). The Institute’s President Nancy Lindborg and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi met him at the door and ushered him into a breakfast meeting. Introducing him Mrs Pelosi said:
“A visit by His Holiness is always a cause for celebration and—in the light of the tragedy in Orlando—today we need you more than ever.” He responded:
“Genuine peace must come from inner peace. It’s impossible to find peace if we are full of frustration, suspicion and mistrust. USIP must encourage a change of heart based on a change of awareness rather than a dependence on blessings. Whether we are happy or sad depends directly on our own actions. I know that USIP is committed to creating peace. I believe that to achieve it what we need is education. Today’s education with its focus on materialistic goals needs to pay more attention to inner values. If this can be done, we may create a more peaceful world by the middle of this century.”
When Nancy Lindborg mentioned a recent USIP led visit of youth leaders from countries in conflict to meet His Holiness in Dharamsala, he remarked that these young people had real determination and courage, which he took as a real sign of hope for change. In his answers to questions he spoke of a draft curriculum that is being developed to incorporate human values into modern education, which will also require the training of teachers. Asked how to help the current waves of refugees he said:
“I admire all those countries that are helping them, but simply providing shelter is not enough. The long term solution is to restore peace in the lands these people are fleeing. In the meantime their young people must be given education and training to equip them to be able to help rebuild their countries in due course.
“Life is difficult, but coping with it is much easier if you have peace of mind. One way to achieve this is to encourage a more holistic approach to education that fosters a greater warm-heartedness based on scientific findings, common experience and common sense.”
Nancy Lindborg concluded the meeting by thanking Kalden T Lodoe, Tibetan Representative Kaydor Aukatsang and USIP Vice-Chairman George Moose for facilitating the Dharamsala visit.
Moving to a discussion before a larger audience in the Frank Carlucci Auditorium, His Holiness opened the meeting with an invitation to observe a moment of silent prayer in view of the tragedy in Orlando. Introducing herself as President of USIP, Nancy Lindborg said, “Peace is possible, practical and essential for world security.” Referring again to having taken 28 youth leaders to Dharamsala, she invited all present to watch a short video that summarized what took place. She said, “We share your vision of the 21st century as an era of peace.”
“We all have problems to do with fear and anger,” His Holiness said in his address, “but withstanding difficulties is much easier if you have mental strength. In my own case, I lost my freedom aged 16 and then lost my country when I was 24. I faced an array of problems after that, but my mind has remained peaceful.
“All 7 billion human beings alive today are mentally, physically and emotionally the same. We all have the same potential to find peace of mind. Some people mistakenly conclude that cultivating compassion is all about others’ benefit, whereas the first benefit is to us. Compassion brings us peace of mind. It attracts friends. Friends are based on trust and trust develops when we show concern for others. I really admire these young people who came to see me, not only for their interest, but because of the action they have taken in their own countries.”
Columnist Michael Gerson described the Dharamsala youth workshop in terms of something Robert Kennedy said in Cape Town 50 years ago, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope…”
Soukaina Hamia, a young leader from the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center, a large slum in Casablanca, Morocco said she had learned to be more honest; that she didn’t need to be afraid to be open. “We are all members of one human family,” she said. “We are peace and love. Knowledge only becomes real when it is shared. We should build a generation that dedicates itself to peace every day, again and again.”
Victoria Ibiwoye from Nigeria, who works with a group that helps vulnerable children and youth, said, “We have the choice to work for peace. At the heart of the community we have the opportunity to build peace. We want to change the narrative.”
Among questions from the audience, His Holiness was asked his advice for girls and women in violent circumstances. He explained how early human groups probably had no leaders, but once agriculture and a sense of property emerged there was a need for them. At that time the criterion was physical strength, which is why men became dominant. However, education has brought greater equality between men and women. He said that at a time when we need to encourage a greater sense of warm-heartedness, since women are more attuned to others’ pain, they need to take a more active role. He wondered if more of the world’s nearly 200 nations were led by women, the world might be a more peaceful place. Smiling at the two delegates, he remarked:
“Thank you for coming to our meeting. I learned a good deal from you.”
His advice to young leaders to fend off discouragement was to meet with other people, to make a point of recognizing them as fellow human beings, and to make friends with them.
As His Holiness was leaving the building, Oren Dorell of USA Today asked him about the meeting he had just attended. His Holiness reiterated the importance of cultivating peace of mind. He cited it as the main reason that friends tell him that, although he is now nearly 81 years old, his face looks younger. He continued this theme in an interview after lunch with David Bronnstrom of Reuters, telling him that peace can only grow where people have inner peace. He stressed the importance of not isolating our Muslim brothers and sisters. He repeated once more with regard to the current refugee crisis that the key factor is to achieve a cease-fire and restore peace to the lands that people are fleeing.
Bronnstrom asked whether, in the context of what His Holiness had already said about female leadership, it would be good for the US to have a women President. He would only say that he was confident the American people would make the right choice. He ended by saying:
“I support President Obama’s recent initiative to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons and pray that it will come to fruition.”
At the American University in the afternoon, His Holiness was welcomed by Richard Gere, Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi and Capital Area Tibetan Association President Jigme Gorap. In her introduction Mrs Pelosi spoke of her recent delegation to Tibet where local authorities boasted of gilding the roof of the temple as evidence of their respect for religious freedom, while what is studied in the monasteries is subject to restrictions. She said there is no better way to honour His Holiness than to be a friend of the Tibetan people. Richard Gere, for his part, described His Holiness as the greatest advocate of his people and an exemplary proponent of non-violence.
“Dear brothers and sisters I’m so happy to see you all here,” His Holiness began. “As human beings we have a marvellous brain and we have to use it to find joy in life and avoid suffering. That scientists are finding indications that basic human nature is compassionate gives us real hope. It enables us to foster a sense of community and develop infinite altruism.
“We face a lot of problems, many of them of our own making, arising as they do from anger and self-centredness. But we can change. We can use our brains to learn to extend our concern to others, recognizing that as human beings we are physically, mentally and emotionally the same. We all have a seed of compassion in our basic nature. When someone asked me at Heathrow Airport yesterday the secret of my happiness, I replied that it’s a secret, but then told him it’s having peace of mind.
“Education can help us change our way of thinking. The generation of the 20th century to which I belong has created a lot of problems which those of you who belong to the 21st century have to solve. If we take a calm and compassionate approach I believe we can create a better, more peaceful world, but if we continue to quarrel, cheat and exploit each other, we’ll only see greater misery.”
Speaking in Tibetan he encouraged Tibetans not to think only of their livelihood but to remember they are ambassadors for Tibet. He counseled them to appreciate the value of their culture, to remember that Tibetan Buddhism is derived directly from the Nalanda tradition that hinges on the use of reasoning. He suggested that his own training in this tradition, with no modern education, had equipped him engage in meaningful discussions with scientists for more than thirty years.
He suggested that understanding of the workings of the mind and regulation of emotions is something that Tibetans can contribute to the world. Analyzing whether anger is of any value or whether warm-heartedness is more helpful is an example. He said that while anger may appear to bring energy to bear, it tends to be blind. He stressed once again the importance of education.
He referred to his own devolution of political authority to an elected leadership and his retiring the institution of Dalai Lamas from future political activity in the context of the need to adapt to the modern world.
Coming down from the stage, His Holiness made his way right along the front row of an audience eager to make contact with him, shaking hands, exchanging a few words with old friends, and naming young children. Finally, he turned to wave goodbye and, as the audience chanted “Long live the Dalai Lama”, climbed into a car to return to his hotel.

China to demolish world’s largest Buddhist monastery: Human Rights Watch
June 13, 2016
NDTV, June 10, 2016 – China plans to demolish a large part of one of the world’s biggest Buddhist monasteries that would leave thousands homeless, Human Rights Watch said today as it appealed to the country to instead negotiate with the Buddhist community.
Chinese authorities should suspend plans to demolish residences at the historic Academy of Larung Gar Buddhist monastery in Sichuan province and negotiate with the community’s leadership, the watchdog said in a report released in New York.
The government plans to take over the management and eliminate quarters for all but 5,000 monks, nuns, and others at the monastery, one of the world’s largest monastic institutions, by September 2017, cutting numbers there by at least half, it said.
“China’s authorities should not be determining the size of monasteries or any other religious institution, but should accept that religious freedom means letting people decide for themselves their religious practices,” Sophie Richardson, watchdog’s China director said.
“If authorities somehow believe that the Larung Gar facilities are overcrowded, the answer is simple: allow Tibetans and other Buddhists to build more monasteries,” she said.
A recent order from the Serta county government in Sichuan provides no reason for the demolitions and dramatic reduction in Larung Gar’s population – which consists of at least 10,000 monks, nuns, and others – but simply says that the community is in need of “ideological guidance,” the report said.
“There is no suggestion that the authorities consulted the Larung Gar leadership about the measures,” it said. The watchdog alleged that officials of the ruling Communist Party would make up the majority of the management staff at the monastery, a practice it said has become common in other Buddhist monasteries too.

Tibetan monk detained following peaceful protest
June 13, 2016
Radio Free Asia, June 7, 2016 – A Tibetan monk was taken into custody by police in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Tuesday after staging a solo protest challenging Beijing’s rule in Tibetan areas, sources in the region and in exile said.
Lobsang Tsering, believed to be in his 20s, was detained shortly after launching his protest at about 4:00 p.m. local time on June 7 on a street known locally as Heroes’ Road in the main town of Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) county in the Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, one local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“While walking in protest through the street, he carried a photo of [exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama and a ceremonial scarf raised high over his head, calling out loudly for the Dalai Lama’s long life,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Soon afterward, police overpowered him and took him away,” he said.
No information was immediately available regarding Tsering’s condition or whereabouts following his detention, though a second local source said that the monk, who was enrolled in Ngaba’s restive Kirti monastery, was “severely beaten” as he was being detained.
“Many people standing on both sides of the road witnessed his protest, but no one else was seen raising any slogans,” the source added, also speaking on condition he not be named.
“Additional numbers of police were then stationed on the roads and at all the intersections of Ngaba town,” a third local source said, adding that members of Kirti monastery’s government-run management committee were later seen at the protest site.
“Security forces were still stationed on the streets late on Tuesday night,” the source said.
Frequent protests
Speaking from exile in France and citing contacts in Ngaba, another Tibetan source said that Tsering, also known as Abe, was enrolled in the Kalachakra College of Kirti monastery, the scene of frequent protests calling for Tibetan freedom in recent years.
“He was born in Lhade Gabma in Ngaba,” the source, named Sonam, said. “His father’s name is Ngore and his mothers’s name is Yukho.”
Tsering’s Kirti monastery has been the scene of repeated self-immolations and other protests by Tibetan monks, former monks, and nuns opposed to Chinese rule.
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.
A total of 145 Tibetans living in China have now set themselves ablaze in self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009, with most protests featuring calls for Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lama’s return from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.
Reported by Lhuboom, Lobe Socktsang, Kunsang Tenzin, and Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.