Dharamshala, 7th August: A Tibetan instructor who was jailed by Beijing on grounds of separatism has served his 20-year sentence, but there has been no word about his release. Bangri Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist instructor, was sentenced to life in prison on September 26, 2000, with his sentence set to expire on July 31, but no word on his release has been heard, according to Radio Free Asia, citing the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
“We all know Bangri Rinpoche has spent 22 years of his life in prison, and even though he has served his sentence, we have no idea whether he has been freed or what his present health circumstances are,” said TCHRD researcher Tenzin Dawa. The scenario has alarmed human rights organizations. “It is a well-known fact that Tibetan inmates in Chinese prisons are treated inhumanely,” Dawa remarked.
In the meantime, the Tibetan Rights Group has requested Beijing to provide more information regarding Rinpoche’s whereabouts. According to Radio Free Asia, Bangri Rinpoche and his wife Nyima Choedron were arrested in August 1999 in connection with an alleged scheme by a school employee to hoist the prohibited Tibetan national flag in the city’s major square. His wife was sentenced to ten years in prison before being freed in February 2006.
Another Tibetan political prisoner, Lobsang Jinpa, rode an 800-kilometer bicycle tour earlier this month to raise awareness about the repressive conditions in Tibet under the Chinese Communist Party. Jinpa, a former political prisoner, was imprisoned by the Chinese authorities for more than two years for photographing protests in Kham Tawu, Tibet, in 2008.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Scott Perry has submitted a resolution in Congress asking US President Joe Biden to declare Tibet an independent country. All three Tibetan provinces were recognized as autonomous and independent countries under this bill. The Tibet Bill of 2021 also requested Washington to recognize Tibet’s “democratically elected administration, now known as the Central Tibetan Administration, [as] Tibet’s only governing authority.”