DHARAMSHALA, May 7: Chinese authorities have released a jailed Tibetan monk of the restive Nyatso Zilkar Monastery in Tridu, eastern Tibet, before the expiration of his prison term due to “medical emergency.”
Dharamshala based rights group, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, on Tuesday said Sonam Yingyen, 44, was released “on an unknown date last month before the expiration of his prison term due to medical emergency.”
According to the group, Sonam Yingyen became “seriously ill soon after he was sentenced to two-year imprisonment in October 2012” by a Chinese court in Siling city.
His health had deteriorated during his detention and by the time he was sentenced, the group said, his medical condition had worsened leading to over a month’s hospitalisation in an army hospital in Siling.
“When family members and friends learned that Sonam Yingyen was being held secretly in the army hospital – considered to be the largest hospital in Siling – they visited the hospital, only to be turned away by local security officials who said the army and police were there to do the job. Since then, fears for his life have grown among his family members and friends,” TCHRD said.
Sonam Yingyen was among the five monks of Nyatso Zilkar Monastery arrested on September 1, 2012 in a surprise police raid on the monastery. The other four monks were Lobsang Jinpa, 30, Tsultrim Kalsang, 25, Ngawang Monlam, 30, and Sonam Sherab, 45.
The group said that Sonam Yingyen was sent back to Yushu in April this year where “he will be referred to another hospital for further treatment.”
“There is no information on specific ailments he suffers from,” TCHRD said. “There is no information on the possibility of the family getting visitation rights now that Sonam Yingyen is believed to be in Yushu.”
On September 1, 2012, Chinese security forces had arrived in large numbers at the Nyatso Zilkar Monastery and confiscated electronic items, including computers and CDs from the quarters of the five monks. Other monks of the Monastery who pleaded for the release of those arrested were severely beaten.
The arrests and sentencing is believed to have been carried out in connection with the peaceful protests that engulfed the area on February 8, 2012.
Thousands of Tibetans in Tridu had taken part in a peaceful protest coinciding with the global solidarity vigil called by the exile based Central Tibetan Administration.
Around 400 monks from the Zilkar monastery had led the protest march to Zatoe town with banners, written in blue and red ink, symbolic of the two protector deities of Tibet, calling for the Dalai Lama’s return, release of Tibetan political prisoners including the XIth Panchen Lama and respect for Tibetan lives.
“Situation in Tridu County, where Nyatso Zilkar Monastery is located, is said to be tense, following the February 2012 protest march and the June 2012 twin self-immolation of two Tibetan youths,” TCHRD said.
