China had likely detained a total of 145 Tibetan political prisoners in the country’s prisons, according to the London-based Tibet Information Network (TIN).
TIN did not have complete information on all their cases and said the total number of detentions could be as much as 10 or 20 times higher.
Political repression has increased in Tibetan areas of China’s Sichuan province over the last year and that has offset the shrinking number of detentions and sentences expiring within Tibet itself, the organisation said.
The Tibetan prefectures Kardze (Ganzi) and Ngaba (Aba) in Sichuan have become more restive as authorities intensify religious repression and persecution of popular religious leaders, it added.
Nine of the political prisoners identified were women, including six nuns, and the mother of Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the Panchen Lama recognised by the Dalai Lama and feared by the Chinese government as a possible focus for dissent. The Dalai Lam and the Panchen Lama are the highest and second highest offices in the Tibetan Buddhist faith.
