Dharamsala, May 20 – China has arrested four monks of Wara Monastery in Thangpu Township, Jomda County (Ch: Jiangda xian) in Chamdo Prefecture, “Tibet Autonomous Region” (‘TAR’) Saturday (15 May). The monks were suspected of leading and instigating protest at the county headquarters in Spring 2008 and two senior monks of the same monastery were taken into custody for “failure to ‘educate’ the monks under ‘Patriotic education’ campaign,” according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
The monks were picked up from their monastery in early morning raids on Saturday and Sunday. Thinley; 25, and Nangsey; 27 were arrested from their rooms while Soegon was arrested for alarming others about the arrival of PSB officials into the monastery. Another monk, Kelsang Gyurmey, 29, was nabbed from his home as the PSB officials who were looking for him had not found him at the monastery.
The four monks are currently detained at Jomda County PSB Detention Centre.
The two senior monks, Sonam Gonpo or Soegon, 40; and Tagyal; 29 were arrested on May 16 (Sunday) for “failure to “educate” the monks of the monastery under “Patriotic education” during widespread protests in Tibet in 2008. There is no information as to where the two are currently held.
On 3 April 2008, monks of Wara Monastery in Jomda County confronted Chinese government’s “work team” and refused to comply with the ‘patriotic education’ campaign saying “even at the cost of our lives we will never denounce our leader, the Dalai Lama.”
