By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Sept 15: Four Tibetan monks from the restive Ngaba County in eastern Tibet ‘s Amdo region who had carried out solitary protests last year have been sentenced to three years each on the charges of ‘inciting separatism’.
The four monks, most in their early twenties, from the Kirti Monastery had been detained late last year on separate occasions for protesting solo on the infamous “martyrs’ lane” (pawoe sanglam in Tibetan) in Ngaba town carrying portrait of the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and shouting slogans. They were all held in detention following their arrests without the knowledge and information to their families.
Lobsang, 23, was detained on Sept 10, 2015. On July 19, 2016, he was sentenced to three years in a secret trial held by the Maowun County Intermediate People’s Court where fellow Kirti monk Adrak, 21 was also sentenced to a three year sentence. Adrak was detained on Sept 10, 2015 and found later to be held at the Mianyang prison in the Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan.
Jamyang Phuntsok, 22 was detained on 9 September 2015 and was sentenced to three years imprisonment on August 1 this year. He was held incommunicado at Maowun County Detention Centre and was likely moved to Deyang Prison, located in Huang Xu Town in Deyang City, Sichuan Province, according to Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
The youngest among the four monks, Lobsang Kelsang, 20 was detained on Sept 7, 2015 and is currently serving his three year sentence at Mianyang Prison in Chengdu.
Dharamshala based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy explains that systematic criminalisation of basic political rights were being implemented in the restive Ngaba region. “A booklet was distributed in 42 monasteries in Ngaba Prefecture and criminalised, among others, acts of solo protests as inciting separatism. ‘Inciting separatism’ is a catchall phrase used by Chinese authorities to persecute human rights defenders and their non-violent activities,” the rights group mentioned.
The organisation estimates, “28 known peaceful solo protestors, out of which six are laywomen, 14 monks and eight laymen. Majority of the solo protests was staged in Ngaba County, which also witnessed the most number of self-immolation,” since 2009. Many cases are feared to be out of knowledge due to heavy restriction on information exchange and surveillance on communication mediums.
