Namkyi
POLITICAL PRISONER- Prisoner image

- Does it have an image?
- Yes
- Gender
- Female
- Age at Detention
- 24
- Detention Year
- 2010s: 2015
- Origin County Level
- Origin County Geolocation
Latitude: 32.9024499
Longitude: 101.70634
- Origin County Geolocation (linked POLITICAL PRISONER)
- Ngaba County(རྔ་བ་རྫོང་།)
- Origin Province
- Sichuan Province
- Origin Prefecture
- Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture
- Date of Detention
- 21/10/2015
- Grounds for Detention
- Endangering state security
- Inciting separatism
- Type of Place of Current Detention
- Detention centre
- Date of arrest
- Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
- Detention Centre/Prison
- Ngaba County Detention Centre
- Description of event
On 21 October 2015, Namkyi and her sister Tenzin Dolma both wore Tibetan attire and carried large portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as they marched in the crowded streets of ‘Martyr’s Road’ in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, calling for ‘Free Tibet’ and the return of the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche to Tibet. Both were 15 years old at the time.
After 10 minutes, local police officers arbitrarily detained them in a Detention Centre in Ngaba County, then transferred them to another detention centre in Barkam city for interrogation.
On 23 November 2016, following over a year and a month of detention, a court in Trochu County held a trial for them. It was the first time they saw each other since their arrest. No family members were present, but two government-appointed lawyers, one Chinese and one Tibetan.
They were falsely accused of separatist activities and supporting the Dalai Lama’s group and sentenced to three years each, despite being minors at 16 years old.
"On 23 November 2016, following over a year and a month of detention, a court in Trochu County held a trial for them. It was the first time they saw each other since their arrest. No family members were present, but two government-appointed lawyers, one Chinese and one Tibetan. They were falsely accused of separatist activities and supporting the Dalai Lama’s group and sentenced to three years each, despite being minors at 16 years old.
After the trial, they were taken to ethnic minority prisons in Sichuan and then to Chengdu city’s largest women’s prison. For the initial three months, they underwent military training and patriotic education and learned about the Chinese constitution. " (to be reviewed)
- Details of Violations Faced in Detention
On 23 November 2016, following over a year and a month of detention, a court in Trochu County held a trial for them. It was the first time they saw each other since their arrest. No family members were present, but two government-appointed lawyers, one Chinese and one Tibetan. They were falsely accused of separatist activities and supporting the Dalai Lama’s group and sentenced to three years each, despite being minors at 16 years old.
After the trial, they were taken to ethnic minority prisons in Sichuan and then to Chengdu city’s largest women’s prison. For the initial three months, they underwent military training and patriotic education and learned about the Chinese constitution.
On 21 October 2018, they were released from prison. Despite their release, their freedom of expression and movement remained severely restricted. Namkyi’s cousin sister, Tsering Kyi, was summoned for interrogation several times.
- Types of Human Rights Violations
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Assembly
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Association
- Civil and Political Rights Violations: Right to Freedom of Expression and Opinion
- Sentencing Court
- Trochu County Court
- Length of Sentence
- 3 years
- Prison Location
- Status of Detention
- Released: Upon completion of sentence
- Torture
- Torture
- Comments
On 13 May 2023, Namkyi began her escape journey with her cousin Tsering Kyi without informing anyone. They reached a reception centre in Nepal on 27 May 2023 and then arrived at the reception centre in Dharamshala on 28 June 2023.
Namkyi and her sister were born into a typical nomadic family of Pema Lhathang in Charo village, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, Tibet. Like many other nomadic children, they did not receive the opportunity to go to school and spent their childhood as nomads.
- Origin Comments
- Pema Lhathang in Charo village, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, Tibet.
- Published
- Published