Jampel Monlam
POLITICAL PRISONER- Does it have an image?
- No
- Gender
- Male
- Age at Detention
- 21
- 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
- Religious
- Vulnerable Group at Detention
- Religious
- Date of arrest
- 27/09/1987 & 18/07/1989
- Detention Centre/Prison
- Drapchi Prison
- Description of event
Jampel Monlam was arrested twice for participating in peaceful demonstrations in Lhasa—first on 27 September 1987 and again on 18 July 1989. On both occasions, he was detained by Chinese security forces without due legal process. Following his first arrest, he was held at Gutsa Detention Centre. After his second arrest, he was sentenced without a proper trial or legal representation and transferred to Drapchi Prison, where sentences were reportedly announced collectively to groups of detainees.
His arrest was solely based on his participation in nonviolent protests opposing Chinese rule in Tibet. Alongside monks and laypeople, he called for Tibetan freedom and expressed dissent against state policies. Chinese authorities classified such peaceful activity as “splittism,” treating it as a threat to state control.
- Place(s) of Previous Detention
- Detention centre
- Violations Faced in Detention
- Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment: Forced Labor
- Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment: Use of Tiger Chairs
- No Fair Trial: No family meet ups
- No Fair Trial: No legal representation
- Details of Violations Faced in Detention
While imprisoned in Drapchi Prison, Jampel Monlam was held in severely overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation, inadequate food, and minimal medical care. Prisoners were subjected to beatings, forced labor, and exposure to extreme cold without proper clothing. Religious practice was prohibited, and Monlam was repeatedly pressured to denounce the Dalai Lama, which he later described as the most painful aspect of his imprisonment. After his release, he remained under constant surveillance and harassment until he escaped to India in 1998.
- Types of Human Rights Violations
- Legal and Procedural Rights Violations: Right to Fair Trial
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Expression and Opinion
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Liberty and security of person
- Length of Sentence
- 5 years and 4 months
- Prison Location
- Type of Sources
- Primary: TCHRD field sources
- Torture
- Torture
- Published
- Published
- Related Prisoners of same event