Lobsang Choedak
POLITICAL PRISONER- Does it have an image?
- No
- Gender
- Male
- Age at Detention
- 43
- Origin County Level
- Origin County Geolocation
Latitude: 29.6526199
Longitude: 91.13775
- Origin County Geolocation (linked POLITICAL PRISONER)
- Lhasa(ལྷ་ས།)
- Origin Province
- Tibet Autonomous Region
- Origin Prefecture
- Lhasa
- Occupation at Detention
- Trade
- Date of arrest
- 17/06/1993
- Detention Centre/Prison
- Sangyip Prison
- Description of event
Mr. Lobsang Choedak, aged 43, a native of Lhasa, was employed as a small trader in the Barkhor area. He was arrested on 17 June 1993 for reasons that remain unknown and is currently being held incommunicado at Seitru (Si-Chu) Prison within the Sangyip prison complex.
Mr. Choedak had previously been arrested in 1980 for raising slogans in support of Tibetan independence. He was subsequently sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, during which he was detained at Sangyip Prison, Drapchi Prison, and Powo Tramo labour camp.
Mr. Choedak was seriously injured by gunfire during the 1988 crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators. Married and the father of three children, he travelled to India in 1993 to attend the Kalachakra initiation conducted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His mother, now living in exile, has expressed grave concern for his safety and has appealed for urgent international intervention on his behalf.
- Place(s) of Previous Detention
- Prison
- Violations Faced in Detention
- No Fair Trial: No family meet ups
- No Fair Trial: No legal representation
- Length of Sentence
- 4 years
- Type of Sources
- Primary: TCHRD field sources
- Comments
His family has suffered repeated persecution. His father, Mr. Chozed Tenpa Choephel (aged 66), who worked as a sweeper at Norbu Lingkha, was arrested in 1987 for distributing speeches of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and died under torture on 25 August 1989 while in detention at Sangyip Prison. Mr. Choedak’s mother, Tsering Lhamo (aged 62), is a former political prisoner who spent a total of 20 years in Chinese prisons prior to her release in 1979. She was again arrested in 1980. One of Mr. Choedak’s sisters, Nyima Tsamchoe, also known as Lhadon, was arrested in December 1988.
- Published
- Published