By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – A Tibetan Buddhist monk, who identified himself as Jigme, went into hiding after Chinese security agents visited his home last week.  According to Jigme, he was detained on March 21 and accused of participating in this spring’s uprising against Chinese rule across Tibet.  He said that he was questioned and abused for two days at the People’s Armed Police guesthouse in the Gansu province town of Xiahe.  “They hung me up by my hands and beat me hard all over with their fists,” Jigme told the AP by phone Friday.  Similar treatment was meted out to other Tibetan prisoners, while family members were refused permission to bring them additional food and warm clothing, he says.  After several weeks of interrogation and abuse, he was released for medical reasons.  Jigme states that he took no part in the violent protests that followed deadly rioting in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa on March 14.

According to Jigme, political indoctrination campaigns had intensified in Tibet.  Monks are forced to attend twice-weekly “patriotic education” classes where they are told to shun all contact with the Dalai Lama and his followers.  The Dalai Lama is accused by China of fomenting the spring protests.
A police officer contacted by phone in Xiahe, who gave only his surname, Liu, said he had no information about Jigme’s case. Officials at the Communist Party management committee also said they had no knowledge of such a case and refused to give their names, making Jigme’s claims impossible to verify.  However, the basic facts of his story correspond with testimony given by monks and nuns detained in previous campaigns and widely reported by credible overseas human rights groups.

Furthermore, Reporters Without Borders calls on the Chinese authorities to release Dhondup Wangchen, and Jigme Gyatso. They have been detained since March 2008 for filming interviews with Tibetans.  Neither of their families has had any news of them for the past five and a half months.  The film produced by Wangchen and Gyatso is a 25-minute documentary entitled Leaving Fear Behind (www.leavingfearbehind.com).  It shows Tibetans in the Amdo region expressing their views on the Dalai Lama, the Olympic Games, and Chinese legislation.

For more information, please see:

AP – Tibet monk in hiding tells of interrogation, abuse – 14 September 2008

Reporters without Borders – Two Tibetan documentary filmmakers held for past six months in Tibet – 16 September 2008

Voice of America – Report: Tibetan Monk in Hiding from Chinese – 15 September 2008