Dharamshala, 17th September: According to RFA, a Tibetan writer who was imprisoned for three years for criticizing Chinese government policies in Tibet died this week in Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital, after suffering ill health for eight years after his release. Ra Tsering Dhondup, also known as Shinglo Marpo, was a monk at the Rongtha monastery in Khyungchu county, Sichuan’s Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture when he died at the age of 34.
As per RFA’s claim, Gendun Tsering, a friend and former colleague of Dhondup currently living in India, told RFA’s Tibetan Service that Dhondup was imprisoned in February 2010 for publishing a journal “whose content criticized the Chinese communist government.”
“He was first detained in Barkham and was later sent to Mianyang Prison to complete his three-year sentence,” Tsering explained. “He was released in 2013, but he was in failing health, and later he succumbed to liver disease and passed away.”
According to another acquaintance of Dhondup who spoke to the RFA, also speaking from exile, said that a magazine published by Dhondup portrayed conditions in Tibet as anti-Chinese riots swept the region in 2008, leading to hundreds of arrests and fatalities at the hands of Chinese security forces. “Another friend, Ra Tsering Dhondup, and I collaborated on that publication. However, it was only published once,” he explained.
According to Tenzin Dawa, a researcher at the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala, India, Dhondup’s condition deteriorated significantly after his release due to harsh treatment and a lack of medical attention in prison.
Tibetan political prisoners in serious condition are sometimes released before the conclusion of their sentence, with at least seven believed to have died from injuries inflicted during torture in jail in the last year—either in prison or after their release, according to RFA’s sources. “This is the Chinese government’s approach of escaping accountability for its crimes,” Dawa explained.
Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expressions of cultural and religious identity are restricted by Chinese authorities, who subject Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
Article based on RFA’s “Tibetan Writer Dies After Eight Years of Failing Health Following Release From Prison”