Dharamshala, 17th September: A group of UN specialists has questioned China regarding the disappearance of Tibetan Buddhist Scholar Go Sherab Gyatso and the arbitrary detention of Tibetan monk Rinchen Tsultrim, both of whom are Tibetan monks from Ngaba in Amdo, Eastern Tibet.
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, and Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief have jointly called on China to provide information about the whereabouts of Go Sherab Gyatso and Rinchen Tsultrim.
According to UN experts, “these detentions are not isolated instances,” but rather indicate a systemic pattern of arbitrary and incommunicado detentions, closed trials, and unknown charges and judgments against Tibetans by Chinese authorities. Experts also voiced worry that China has targeted people based on their religion or ethnicity.
On October 26, 2020, a Tibetan Buddhist scholar named Go Sherab Gyatso was arrested in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and his location and well-being have remained unknown ever since. Go Sherab Gyatso is the author of various publications on Tibetan philosophy, culture, and monastic education. The Chinese authorities had previously detained Go Sherab Gyatso in 1998 and 2008.
Rinchen Tsultrim, a monk from Ngaba’s Nangshing monastery, has been kept incommunicado since July 27, 2019, when he was unjustly detained by Chinese officials from the Ngaba Public Security Bureau. It wasn’t until March 23, 2021, that it was revealed that he had been sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The charges against him, the trial date, and the court where the trial was held remained unclear.
Based on the report submitted by Tibet Bureau Geneva.
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