Tsering Dhondup
POLITICAL PRISONER- Does it have an image?
- No
- Gender
- Male
- Age at Detention
- 74
- Origin County Level
- Origin Province
- Sichuan Province
- Origin Prefecture
- Kardze (Ch: Ganzi ) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,
- Grounds for Detention
- Inciting separatism
- Date of arrest
- June, 2002
- Detention Centre/Prison
- Nyakchukha PSB Detention Centre
- Responsible for arrest and detention
- People's Armed Police (PAP)
- Public Security Bureau Officials (PSB)
- Description of event
Tsering Dhondup, a 74-year-old village elder from Othok in Nyakchuka County, Sichuan Province, was arrested in June 2002 for supporting the social and humanitarian work of Trulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. A long-standing member of the Communist Party and a highly respected local leader, he openly defended Tenzin Delek and signed petitions in his support, actions that the authorities labeled as “separatist activities.”
Public Security Bureau officers and Armed Police forcibly removed him from his home, beating his wife and knocking his 15-year-old grandson unconscious when they attempted to intervene. The Nyakchuka County People’s Court later sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. He was first held at Nyakchuka County Detention Centre and later transferred to Ra-Nga-Khang Prison.
- Violations Faced in Detention
- Denial of Medical Treatment
- Details of Violations Faced in Detention
During his imprisonment, Tsering Dhondup’s health deteriorated severely. Despite having undergone eye surgery prior to his arrest, he was denied access to his glasses, resulting in blindness in one eye. He later developed serious leg problems that left him unable to walk. Repeated appeals for his release on humanitarian grounds were rejected, and he remained detained under harsh conditions, with his release scheduled for 2007.
- Types of Human Rights Violations
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Association
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Expression and Opinion
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief
- Length of Sentence
- 5 years
- Prison Location
- Type of Sources
- Primary: TCHRD field sources
- Torture
- Torture
- Published
- Published
- Related Prisoners of same event