UPDATE

On 7 December 2009 it was reported that Yangkyi Dolma died in hospital during her sentence. Phayul reported that exiled groups had voiced their concern that Yangkyi had possibly died of injuries sustained during mistreatment in prison. Read the Phayul article here. Sonam Yangchen remains imprisoned and is at severe risk.

Background on the case

The protest was reportedly staged at around 3pm Beijing standard time at Kardze County on 24 March, where the nuns began shouting slogans calling for the “swift return of the Dalai Lama”,  “human rights for Tibetans in Tibet” and “religious freedom in Tibet”.

TCHRD sources claim that during the short protest Yangkyi Dolma had distributed handfuls of handwritten pamphlets. The Chinese Peoples’ Armed Police (PAP) detained both the nuns immediately and beat them with rods and electric batons before throwing them into a security vehicle and driving away. TCHRD's report goes on to say that following the incident, at around 7pm, security forces stormed Yangkyi's family home, seizing a portrait of the Dalai Lama and rebuking the family for being supporters of separatist forces.

Reports also say that security forces told Yangkyi's brother Tsangyang Gyatso to report to the Kardze County government headquarters, but no more information about these prisoners have been released.

Protests have been common in Kardze, where there had also been a protest on 17 March 2009. Two nuns, Lhawang Dekyi and Nordon, received three and two years imprisonment when they were finally sentenced on 17 November 2009. They were from Nyimagetsul nunnery in Dhartsedo, which had been subject to 'patriotic re-education' campaigns in which nuns were forced to denounce the Dalai Lama. It was reported that those arrested faced both physical and mental torture. Fifteen of those arrested on 17 March were paraded on April 5 in order to create a sense of fear in the local Tibetan community. They had their heads shaven and were chained as they were marched through the streets.