By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, JAN 18: International rights advocacy group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Chinese government to drop all the ‘political motivated cases’ against Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan language rights campaigner awaiting trial.
The education rights activist was arrested on January 27, 2016 and charged with ‘inciting separatism’ on March 24, 2016, following a New York Timesreportage including a short documentary video and an article about the Tibetan pursuing legal resorts to claim rights prescribed in the Chinese Constitution.
He has been held in Yushu Detention Centre in Kyegudo since his arrest.
“Tashi Wangchuk has joined the ranks of those prosecuted in China by simply calling for rights to be respected and the law to be upheld,” said Sophie Richardson, China director of the New York-based organization.
“Cultural rights, which include the right to use one’s own language, are protected under both the Chinese Constitution and international human rights law,” Richardson said.
The Tibetan entrepreneur, who runs a small shop in Kyegudo region have been vocal ever since the local authorities stopped the monasteries and a private school from teaching Tibetan to laypeople.
The trial of his case was recently deferred after the Chinese prosecutors handling the case against him asked for more time to investigate.
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a Tibetan rights group fears that the extra time allotted would be used for gather ‘false evidence’ against him using ‘unlawful means’.
The group, while demanding his immediate release had also expressed that the lengthy nature of the case indicates ‘lack of evidence to prove the charge against Tashi’..
He was earlier detained twice for his attempt to go to India on a pilgrimage in 2012 and for posting comments condemning the authorities in a land grab case.
