Adak Kalgyam is sentenced for five years for 'splittism'

Source: Tibet Watch

Runggye Adak’s nephew, Adak Kalgyam, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment after being held incommunicado for ten months.

The sentencing was handed down on 14 July by the Dartsedo (Chinese: Kangding) People’s Court in Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) (Chinese province: Sichuan). Adak was sentenced for the crime of “inciting splittism”.

Adak Kalgyam, 27 years old, is the youngest of seven brothers. He is married with two young daughters and is from Kashul village in Lithang county

Kalgyam was arrested on October 3 2007. A patriotic education campaign had been implemented in Lithang county following the arrest of Tibetan nomad, Runggye Adak (Adak Kalgyam’s uncle), in August 2007 which led to large-scale protests by nomads in the area. As part of the patriotic education programme, a meeting was called in Lithang county on October 2. Local officials at the meeting had demanded that local Tibetans say that they were happy to live in Tibet. Adak Kalgyam refused to comply with the officials’ demands and instead shouted: “Long live His Holiness” [the Dalai Lama] and “We want His Holiness to return to Tibet”. The authorities attempted to arrest Kalgyam but were prevented by other Tibetans at the meeting. Kalgyam was arrested the following day.

From the time of his arrest on October 3, Kalgyam’s family were denied access to him. They were not even told where he was being held, despite numerous requests from Lithang county police station. On 13 July 2008 his family was told that he was to be sentenced the following day by the Dartsedo People’s Court. His family was allowed to speak to him on 14 July. Kalgyam told them that he had been hospitalised for one month due to earlier maltreatment in prison. Kalgyam told his family that he had been subjected to solitary confinement in a dark cell on a number of occasions which had led him to faint sometimes. His family reported that marks from handcuffs were still visible.

Adak Kalgyam’s uncle, Runggye Adak was sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the Kandze (Chinese: Ganzi) Intermediate Court on November 20 2007 for “inciting splittism”. Adak Kalgyam’s eldest brother, Adak Lopoe, was sentenced with Runggye Adak. Lopoe was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for “colluding with foreign separatist force [a reference to Lopoe’s alleged attempts to distribute photos of the protests] to split the country and distributing political pamphlets”, according to Radio Free Asia.

TAKE ACTION!
1. Write to your MP and ask him or her to contact Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN.

Ask your MP to write to Lord Malloch-Brown and ask him to publicly condemn the sentencing of Adak Kalgyam and call on the Chinese authorities to release Adak Kalgyam immediately.
As a constituent your MP has a responsibility to listen to you and raise issues on your behalf with relevant Ministers (who are not accountable to members of the public in the same way). By writing to your MP, and requesting a response from the relevant Minister, your concern about Tibet is reaching two important audiences and is triggering the appropriate mechanism for government action.

(Your MP’s name)
The House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

You can find out who your MP is and send him or her an e-mail via the website www.writetothem.com.
If you do not have access to the Internet, you can find out who your MP is by ringing the House of Commons Information Office on 020 7219 4272.

2. Write to the Chinese Ambassador and call for Adak Kalgyam’ s immediate release.
Madam Fu Ying
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United Kingdom
49-51 Portland Place
London
W1B 1JL
E-mail: press@chinese-embassy.org.uk
Fax: 020 7636 5578
Please raise the following points in your letters.
i. The sentencing of Adak Kalgyam is proof that the Chinese government does not respect the fundamental right of the Tibetan people to freely express their opinion, as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
ii. Demand an explanation why Adak Kalgyam was held for ten months incommunicado, without charge and access to due process.
iii. Demand that China honours its commitment to the eradication of torture. Express your concern about the health of Adak Kalgyam following his statements that he was tortured and hospitalized during his detention.
iv. Adak Kalgyam should be released immediately.

Please send copies of any responses to Free Tibet Campaign; this helps us to monitor the situation.

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