Three of the monks from Khangmar monastery in Kakhog (Chinese: Hongyuan) county in Ngaba prefecture arrested last summer have been sentenced to 12 years for political offences including painting a Tibetan flag and having photographs of the Dalai Lama. The sentenced monks are Choedar Dargye (whose name was previously reported as Sherdar), Gedun Thogphel (named in other reports as Tsogphel) and Jampa Choephel (previously reported as Zoepa). Two other Khangmar monks, Migyur Gyatso and Jamyang Oezer, are awaiting sentencing. Jamyang Oezer is reportedly ill and in hospital.
The sentenced monks apparently held responsible positions at Khangmar monastery in Sichuan province. According to a report by Tibet Information Network on 28 November 2003, Choedar Dargye was the chant-master at the monastery in Kakhog (also known by the traditional Tibetan name of Marthang). Photographs obtained by TIN show four of the Khangmar monks in a room with pictures of the Dalai Lama on the wall (http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/2003/2811.htm ). Many Tibetans still display pictures of the Dalai Lama in private, particularly in the Tibetan areas outside the Tibet Autonomous Region formerly known as Amdo and Kham and now incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu. The US State Department states in its annual Report on International Religious Freedom that ‘currently, possession of pictures of the Dalai Lama appears to be on the rise’ (18 December 2003).
According to the same US State Department report, ‘[Chinese] government officials maintain that possessing or displaying pictures of the Dalai Lama is not illegal’. But Chinese officials at national and provincial levels distinguish between political and religious application of the exile leader’s photograph, maintaining that while it is acceptable for an individual to possess a photo of the Dalai Lama for the purpose of worshipping him as a religious figure, it is not acceptable if the photo is being used ‘to advocate separatism’.
This is one in a series of independent reports by Kate Saunders commissioned by the Australia Tibet Council, Free Tibet Campaign and the International Campaign for Tibet.
