Former Tibetan Political Prisoner Sonam Gyalpo, who has served an aggregate of 16 years in Chinese prisons, sadly passed away on 16 August 2023. 

Late Sonam Gyalpo was first sentenced to three years in Drapchi Prison on 27 September 1989 for his involvement in peaceful demonstrations of 1987 in Lhasa. In July 1993, he was rearrested on the pretext of causing political offence where he was confined in Nyara Prison in Shigatse and Sangyip Prison in Lhasa for a year. His third detention took place on 28 August 2005 by a group of Chinese State Security Bureau officers who confiscated pictures, videotapes and books containing His Holiness the Dalai Lama during a random search in his house before the run-up of the 40th founding anniversary celebration of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region. Alleging him of “endangering state security”, he was jailed for 12 years in Drapchi Prison and was later shifted to Chushur Prison on 3 November 2006. In total, he has served 16 years in Chinese prison.

He was born on 14 June 1955 in Gongkar county of Lhoka and was a permanent resident of Lhasa. 

The exile Tibetan community expresses condolences to his bereaved family members and pays their respect for his selfless and lengthy commitment towards the freedom of Tibet.