TIN sources report that a Tibetan from Nenying in Khangmar Shen, Shigatse prefecture, passed away at the home of a relative on 27 September 2003, three days after being released following six months in detention. According to the sources, Tenzin Phuntsog, who was in his 60s, was not formally sentenced and the exact reasons for his arrest are unknown. Unconfirmed reports state that he might have been accused of having a connection with documents calling for Tibet’s freedom.
Tenzin Phuntsog, whom a source alleged to have been a member of the Khangmar Shen People’s Political Consultative Conference and was arrested during March 2003 and detained in an unspecified prison in Shigatse. At least one other person was arrested with him; a middle-school teacher from Gangtse called Nyima Tsering who is still missing and neither his condition nor his whereabouts are known.
Tenzin Phuntsog had stayed in India for a time and had returned to Tibet in 2002, after which he travelled to different places in Tibet, including Lhokha (Chinese: Shannan), Chamdo and Nagchu. Tenzin Phuntsog’s body is said to have no signs of violence.
