Department of Information and International Relations-CTA Welcomes UN Experts Demand for Release of Nine Tibetan Political Prisoners

Three independent UN experts demanded the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to provide credible information about nine Tibetan environmental human rights defenders who were detained and sentenced to lengthy prison terms and called for their immediate release if China is serious about combating climate change.

The UN experts stated that Chinese authorities have not provided a clear understanding of the circumstances surrounding those Tibetans’ detention, trial, or sentencing. However, in cases where they have “sufficient” information, these Tibetan environmental activists have been imprisoned and sentenced to serve seven to 11 years in prison. Experts are not convinced that the human rights defenders have been provided with legal counsel during their detention or that “they have access to medical care while in prison”.

The nine imprisoned environmental human rights defenders–Anya Sengdra, Dorjee Daktal, Kelsang Choklang, Dhongye, Rinchen Namdol, Tsultrim Gonpo, Jangchup Ngodup, Sogru Abhu, and Namesy–were arrested after protesting illegal mining activities at sacred mountains and exposing hunting of endangered species in the Tibetan areas of Amdo and Kham provinces now incorporated into China’s Qinghai and Sichuan Province and the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Kalon Norzin Dolma of the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, welcomed the joint statement and thanked the experts for the investigation into China’s unlawful silencing of Tibetan human rights defenders over the past decade. Kalon also urged China to release all Tibetan political prisoners who are incarcerated solely for exercising their basic rights to protect Tibetan culture, language and environment from being exterminated by the Chinese authorities.