Prison Sentences End for Tibetan Monks From Gaden Monastery

June 1, 2006

At least three Tibetan Buddhist monks of Gaden Monastery near Lhasa completed 10-year prison sentences on May 6, 2006, and may have been released, according to sentencing details found in case records in the CECC Political Prisoner Database (PPD). Security officials detained monks Lobsang Tenzin, Phuntsog Dondrub, and Atsag at Gaden on May 7, 1996, after a May 6 confrontation at the monastery between hundreds of monks and officials of a patriotic education work team. The officials ordered the monks not to display any photographs of the Dalai Lama at the monastery and to hand over all photographs of the Dalai Lama to the work team.

At least three Tibetan Buddhist monks of Gaden Monastery near Lhasa completed 10-year prison sentences on May 6, 2006, and may have been released, according to sentencing details found in case records in the CECC Political Prisoner Database (PPD). Security officials detained monks Lobsang Tenzin, Phuntsog Dondrub, and Atsag at Gaden on May 7, 1996, after a May 6 confrontation at the monastery between hundreds of monks and officials of a patriotic education work team. The officials ordered the monks not to display any photographs of the Dalai Lama at the monastery and to hand over all photographs of the Dalai Lama to the work team.

Two other Gaden monks detained at the same time, Tenzin Norbu and Tazang Norbu, may have also been released upon completing 10-year sentences, but reports on the length of their sentences are uncertain. Tenzin Norbu may be serving 12 years of imprisonment, and Tazang Norbu may be serving an 11-year sentence, according to CECC analysis of prisoner case information.

The patriotic education work team arrived at Gaden on May 6, 1996, to enforce a ban on possessing or displaying images of the Dalai Lama, according to a series of reports published by the Tibet Information Network (TIN) in 1996 (May 17, May 24, June 12, and August 15 reprinted on the Web site of the World Tibet Network, and November 27 reprinted on the Web site of the Australian National University). After some monks began throwing stones at the work team’s temporary quarters in the monastery, People’s Armed Police (PAP) officers arrived at the monastery and opened fire on monastery buildings, killing one monk and injuring several more, according to the TIN reports. As many as 90 monks were detained by May 10. The PPD, which includes information about Tibetan political prisoners that TIN shared with the CECC, identifies 61 Gaden monks detained on May 7-10.

Authorities released most of the monks relatively quickly over the following months, but courts sentenced 16 Gaden monks to terms of imprisonment ranging from 5 to 15 years, and public security officials ordered 16 monks to serve terms of one to two years of reeducation through labor (RETL), according to information in the PPD. In August 1996, officials expelled at least 150 monks from Gaden, including most of the detainees, for refusing to denounce the Dalai Lama, according to the TIN reports. Few official details are available about the charges and criminal proceedings against the monks. In the case of Lobsang Tsering, one of the monks whose 10-year sentence is complete, official Chinese information confirmed that the Lhasa Intermediate People's Court sentenced him on January 17, 1997, to 10 years imprisonment for "counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement," a crime under article 102 of the 1979 Criminal Law. No reports are available suggesting that authorities charged any of the monks with a violent crime.

Seven Gaden monks remain imprisoned for their alleged participation in the May 1996 incident and are serving sentences longer than 10 years:

  • Jampa Tenkyong, Lobsang Tenpa, and Yeshe Rabgyal are serving 15-year sentences and are believed to be imprisoned in Qushui Prison;
  • Lobsang Khetsun, Pasang Tsegye, and Tenzin Geleg are serving 12-year sentences and are believed to be imprisoned in Tibet Autonomous Region Prison (TAR Prison, also known as Drapchi Prison);
  • Konchog Dondrub is serving an 11-year sentence and is believed to be imprisoned in TAR Prison.

    The patriotic education incident at Gaden was the start of an intensive five-year campaign (1996-2000) that reached monasteries and nunneries throughout Tibetan autonomous areas of China and resulted in the displacement or expulsion of thousands of monks and nuns.