Four Tibetan student magazine editors arrested, two of them sentenced
Sonam Rinchen and Sonam Dhondup, two students who helped to edit the Tibetan student magazine “Namchak”, have been sentenced to two years in jail. Two other editors of the magazine, who were arrested at the same time as them in March, are still awaiting trial.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
According to Reporters Without Borders, their conviction has coincided with other cases of repression. For example, the Tibetan writer Kalsang Tsultrim, also known by the pen-name of Gyitsang Takmig, was arrested on 7 July in Dzoge, in Sichuan province.
According to relatives cited by Tibetan sources in the northern Indian city of Dharamsala, his arrest was prompted by his book “Miyul La Phul Ve Sempa” (Share My Heart’s Inner Thoughts) and recordings of his speeches voicing his concerns for the Tibetans that have been distributed on CDs.
The lack of independent observers in Tibet allows the Chinese authorities to arrest and convict Tibetan journalists, writers, bloggers and environmentalists without any form of due process. The government prevents the foreign media from working in Tibet so that there are no witnesses.
When the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of the People´s Republic of China recently polled its members, 98 per cent said it was impossible to cover the situation in Tibet properly because of obstruction by the authorities. See more information here.
Four students arrested
Arrested on 17 March, the four Tibetan students who edited Namchak (Thunderbolt) were charged with separatism and inciting separatism in their writing.
Sonam Rinchen, 19, and Sonam Dhondup, 18, were registered as students at the University of Barkham (in Sichu
an province), as were the other two, who have been identified as Yargay (picture above) and Dakden (picture on the right).
Kanyak Tsering, an exiled Tibetan monk, told Reporters Without Borders that they had published comments about China’s policies towards minorities, including Tibetans.
According to Phayul, the four students they initiated a gathering of Tibetan students on March 17 this year to commemorate the 2008 uprisings.
Several articles, poems and essays by Tibetan students of the school expressing their solidarity with the jailed Tibetan protesters and paying tribute to those killed by Chinese security forces and criticizing the Chinese government were published in the magazine.
Other arrested Tibetans
Tibetan writer Tragyal, also known by the pen-name of Shogdung, has meanwhile been held in harsh conditions since April in Xining detention centre, in Qinghai province, where his family has not yet been allowed to see him.
His lawyer says the police are dragging their feet and have not passed
the case to prosecutors. In a book entitled “The Line between Heaven and Earth,” Tragyal called for peaceful resistance by the Tibetan people. As a result, he has been accused of inciting separatism.
Before his arrest, Tragyal said: “I am, of course, terrified by the idea that, once this essay is published, I will have to endure every kind of hell this planet has to offer. I could lose my head because of my mouth, but this is the road I have chosen.”
At least 50 Tibetans have been arrested since March 2008 for sending information abroad.
According to Freedom House's released “Worst of the Worst 2010: The World’s Most Repressive Societies” annual report, Tibet is among twenty "worst of the worst" contries and territories in the World.
HRH Oslo, based on Reporters Without Borders and Phayul.com information.