Reporters Without Borders has expressed concern that detained Tibetan magazine editor Dokru Tsuilrim is being tortured
Dharamsala, April 24: A Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press has expressed concern about the physical safety of journalists and website editors who have been arrested in the past few months in Tibet.
The latest to be arrested is Dokru Tsuilrim, a monk who edited the magazine Khawai Tsesok (Soul of the Snow), Reporters Without Borders/ Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), said in a press release today.
“We are very worried by the reports of Chinese police torturing detained Tibetans, including a lama defended by lawyer Li Fangping,” RSF said in the statement. “They increase our concern that the six journalists detained in Tibet are being mistreated. All those held because of the views they expressed must be released without delay,” it added.
Chinese police arrested Dokru Tsuilrim from his room in Ngaba Gomang monastery (in Sichuan province) at the start of April for publishing articles that allegedly support the “separatist forces of the Dalai Lama.” The authorities have suspended publication of his magazine.
The authorities have meanwhile stepped up controls in Machu County in Gansu province, RSF said. Chinese officials threatened reprisals against residents who continue to listen to international radio stations or visit websites such as the Radio Free Asia one, the statement said citing a researcher at Norbu Lingka Institute in India.
According to the source, the local authorities have installed dozens of satellite dishes while confiscating those belonging to private individuals.
RSF said another monk identified as Thuksam, based in Nurma monastery, has been held since March 11 for allegedly sending reports about human rights violations to organisations abroad. It is not known where he is being held, it said, citing reports by Tibetan NGOs.
