By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, JAN 31: PEN America released an open letter signed by nearly 1,000 writers, linguists and language rights advocates calling for the release of Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan businessman jailed for language rights activism. This year marks the fourth anniversary of Tashi Wangchuk’s imprisonment on charges of “inciting separatism” after he participated in a New York Times documentary and article as a Tibetan language activist. On Jan 27, 2016, Chinese officials detained Wangchuk for his activism and was sentenced to five years in prison after a one-day trial in 2018.
“We are deeply concerned that Tashi’s arrest and trial have been marked by a lack of due process, including the fact that Tashi was reportedly tortured prior to his trial,” the letter reads. “We believe that the right of everyone to learn, teach and develop their native language must be protected. As such, we call upon the government of the People’s Republic of China to release Tashi Wangchuk, and to honor its own domestic and international obligations to uphold ethnic minorities’ rights to learn and develop their own spoken and written languages.”
Tashi Wangchuk has long been a peaceful advocate for Tibetan language rights and has advocated for the use of Tibetan language in both government offices and in education. Chinese officials have severely limited the ability of schools and public institutions to teach the Tibetan language whereas harsh assimilation tactics are exercised which infringe on Tibetans’ linguistic rights.
“Tashi’s continued imprisonment and harsh treatment at the hands of Chinese authorities is a stain on China’s government and its unfulfilled promises of securing the linguistic rights of minority groups,” said James Tager, deputy director of free expression research and policy at PEN America, which initiated the open letter campaign. “Tashi’s peaceful advocacy for the Tibetan language is, at its core, advocacy for a universal human impulse: the right to use and celebrate one’s mother tongue. For that, he has been treated like a criminal. Tashi has never had a fair trial, and every day he is imprisoned is a day he is unjustly deprived of due process and his freedom.”
The language rights activist had once attempted to sue the Chinese government to restore the use of Tibetan language in Yushu prefecture, predominantly populated by Tibetans outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). It led to severe reprisals from the Chinese government including his eventual imprisonment. Tashi Wangchuk was held for months without his family being notified and his right to access a lawyer still remains severely curtailed.



