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List of current prisoners |
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Sentenced April 2009
In a trial in April 2009, a Tibetan woman named named Penkyi (right) received a life sentence, while Chime Lhamo (left) was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, both for alleged roles in the spring 2008 Tibetan uprising. Another woman named Penkyi, aged 21, was given a suspended death sentence on the same day. There were unconfirmed reports that she had been executed along with Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak in October 2009, but the Chinese government later clarified that Penkyi had not been executed.
Arrested March 2008
Update: Sentenced to six years in December 2009
Dhondup Wangchen was arrested following the completion of the documentary film ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ in March 2008. The film was shot inside Tibet and smuggled out at great risk. He was denied his choice of legal representation and was sentenced to six years after being tried for the serious crime of 'inciting separatism'.
Arrested May 2008
Update: Sentenced to eight and a half years in December 2009
Phurbu Rinpoche 52 and a revered lama, received an eight and a half year sentence from the Dartsedo People’s Court (Sichuan Province) for possession of weapons and occupying state land. His lawyers claim that his arrest is unlawful, the evidence against him unsound and that he has been tortured. Free Tibet believes that Phurbu Rinpoche was detained following peaceful demonstrations by nuns from Pangrina nunnery, where he is abbot, in order to deter local Tibetans from further protests.
Arrested spring 2008
After sharing details of the desperate situation she witnessed, Norzin Wangmo from Ngaba County was, after seven months of detention, sentenced on 3 November 2008 to five years imprisonment.
Arrested October 2008
Arrested March 14 2008
Arrested March 2009
Six monks and two lay people were sentenced to various prison terms from seven years to six months in August 2009. They had been arrested when over 1,000 Tibetans protested in Machu county after a local monk jumped into the Machu river.
Arrested February 2009
Tabe took the unusual action of setting himself alight as a means of protest, but was then taken away to an undisclosed location after shots were heard. His whereabouts and wellbeing are unknown.
Arrested December 2009
Update: Sentenced to one year and seven months in January 2010
A popular Tibetan singer, Tashi Dhondup was detained on 3 December 2009 for releasing an album of songs containing what the Chinese authorities deemed to be politically 'subversive' content.
It is the second time the 30-year-old has been arrested for his music.
Sentenced in 2009
Trek guide and mountain rescue worker Gonpo Tsering was sentenced to three years imprisonment for sending texts and emails about protests in Lhasa in March 2008.
Arrested August 2007
Four men (Runggye Adak, Adak Lopoe, Kunkyen and Lothok) were sentenced to between 3 and 10 years following Runggye Adak’s public call for the return of the Dalai Lama at a horse race festival in Lithang in August 2007.Kunkhyen, a Tibetan art teacher was sentenced to nine years on charges of "carrying out splittist activities" and a fourth Tibetan, Jarib Lothok, received a three-year sentence for allegedly helping to send photos of the aftermath of the protest abroad.
More information on Adak Lopoe here
More information on Kunkyen & Lothok here
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Arrested October 2007
Adak Kalgyam, 27, was arrested on 3 October 2007 following his refusal to take part in a patriotic education campaign in his village in Lithang county. He was held incommunicado detention for ten months before he was charged and found guilty of ‘inciting splittism’.
Arrested July 2009
Popular Tibetan writer and blogger Tashi Rabten was reportedly arrested in August 2009. His arrest demonstrates the strict controls put on Tibetans who wish to use the internet and other mediums to share their opinions and experiences about the situation in Tibet.
Arrested March 3 2008
Arrested Spring 2009
109 monks from Lutsang monastery were arrested in spring 2009 and subjected to 'patriotic re-education'. Most were arrested in March 2009, and another six in April.
Four monks were given two year sentences.
Arrested May 2008
Sangye Lhamo was one of many nuns who stood up to protest against Chinese rule and the 'patriotic re-education' campaign in monasteries and nunneries in the 'second waive' of protests across Tibet in spring 2008.
Arrested April 2008
Eight Tibetan Monks were arrested in April 2008 after allegedly staging a bomb attack on a government building in the Tibetan township of Gyanbe on March 23,. They have all been given lengthy prison sentences, ranging from 9 years to life imprisonment.
Arrested April/May 2008
Thabkey and Tsultrim, monks from Labrang monastery, were arrested along with six other monks for protesting in front of the media. The monks disrupted an official media visit to Labrang Monastry, it was the first time journalists had been allowed into the region since protests broke out. The monks spoke of their lack of human rights and desire for freedom.
Arrested March 2008
Thirty Tibetans, including six monks, were sentenced in Lhasa on 29 April to imprisonment ranging from three years to life during a one-day show trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa. They were the first Tibetans sentenced for taking part in the protests which began in Tibet on 10 March.
Arrested February 2009
Lobsang Lhundup was detained and taken to the Lithang County PSB detention centre after shouting slogans “Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama” and “No Losar this year” as well as demanding the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. Sources told Free Tibet that Lobsang Lhundup staged his protest on 15 February.
Sentenced early 2009
Lobsang Wangchuk received a 15 year sentence for allegedly taking part in the Tibetan protests of spring 2008, according to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Two other Taktse protesters were sentenced in the same trial, along with a man arrested during a protest in Lhasa.
Arrested March 2009
These two nuns were reportedly beaten with rods and electric batons before they were bundled into a van and taken away from the scene of a protest in March 2009. One of the nuns, Yankyi Dolma, was reported to have died in hospital during her imprisonment in December 2009. Soname Yangchen remains imprisoned and at severe risk.
Arrested October 2007
Jamyang Tenzin was arrested for speaking out against a 'patriotic re-education' session at his monastery in 2007, but was held until 2009 before he was sentenced.
Arrested March 2009
A monk and well respected writer and blogger, Kunga Tseyeng was arrested in March 2009 for writing political material criticising the Chinese government. Dokru Tsultrim (above) was also arrested for writing articles critical of the Chinese government.
Arrested 1988
Arrested spring 2008
Arrested March 2005
Dolma Gyab, a Tibetan history school teacher was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on charges that appear to be espionage.
Arrested 1999
Bangri Tsamtrul Rinpoche, the founder of the Gyatso children's home and school, is serving life imprisonment for charges of 'attempting to split the country'.
Nyima Coedron released February 2006
Arrested 1995
Dawa Gyaltsen and Nyima were arrested for making pro-Tibet posters and materials, and are serving 18 and 13 year sentences respectively.
Arrested April 2002
Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, one of the most important religious leaders in Tibet, is in prison for a crime he did not commit. Initially sentenced to death in 2002, China commuted his sentence to life imprisonment in January 2005 following an intense international campaign.
Arrested 1995, aged 6
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was abducted in 1995 by the Chinese authorities, at the age of six. His abduction came just days after he had been recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Gedhun has not been seen since and the Chinese Government has installed a boy of its own choosing as the Panchen Lama.
