Commentary manuscript lands Tibetan youth 10 years in prison
TCHRD[Tuesday, July 25, 2006 16:15]

According to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a 29-year old Tibetan youth, Dolma Kyab, has been sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment term for writing and maintaining a commentary manuscript about Tibet. He is currently imprisoned at Chushul (Ch: Qushui) Prison, "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR").

Dolma Kyab a.k.a Lobsang Kelsang Gyatso (pen name) was arrested on 9 March 2005 in Lhasa where he was teaching History at a Middle School. As a passion for writing, he maintained a commentary manuscript written in Chinese titled "Himalaya on Stir" (Chinese: Sao dong de Ximalayashan), which was a compilation of 57 chapters written on various topics about democracy, sovereignty of Tibet, Tibet under communism, colonialism, religion and belief etc. Along side the manuscript, he also began writing another one on the geographical aspects of Tibet, which was comparatively short, yet touched on sensitive topics about the location and number of Chinese military camps in Chinese occupied Tibet etc.

Upon arrest in March 2005, Dolma Kyab was first detained at the "TAR" Public Security Bureau Detention Centre, popularly known as Seitru in Tibetan. On 16 September 2005, Lhasa People’s Intermediate Court wrongly charged him of "Endangering State Security" and passed a verdict of ten years’ imprisonment term. Although his family appealed for a just retrial, the court upheld the sentence on 30 November 2005. Upon the declaration of sentence, he was shifted to the then newly opened Chushul Prison. However, the prison officials refused to accept him as a prisoner because Dolma had contracted Tuberculosis whilst in detention. After some treatment, he was transferred to Chushul Prison in March 2006 soon after the Tibetan New Year and continues to be imprisoned there.

TCHRD is highly concerned about Dolma Kyab and seeks the support of human rights groups and the international community in securing his release. The Centre deems the case as an outright clamp down on the freedom of opinion and expression in Tibet. Freedom of Expression is a fundamental human rights which is a prerequisite to the enjoyment of all human rights. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’.

The Centre calls upon the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo, and also the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to issue their intervention on the case of Dolma Kyab.

Background information about Dolma Kyab

Dolma Kyab a.k.a Lobsang Kelsang Gyatso (pen name) was born in 1976 to Mr Khetsun and Mrs. Dolma in Ari Village, Chilen (Ch: Qilian) County, Tsochang "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" ("TAP"), Qinghai.

He attended the local Primary School in 1984 and later joined the County Middle School. After completing his schooling in 1995, he joined a Teachers Training Centre and served as a teacher in a Middle School in Chilen County. He later went to a University in Beijing to continue his studies.

In 2003, he came to India to learn English and Hindi languages and returned to Tibet in May 2004. Upon return, he served as a History teacher in a Middle School in Lhasa until arrest.

Note: The Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is the first Tibetan non-governmental (NGO) organisation to be formed with the mission "to highlight the human rights situation in Tibet and to promote principles of democracy in the Tibetan community."