Heroes Blog
- Lessons Learned: Remembering Lobsang Dhondup, Taking Action to Free Tenzin Delek
By Lhadon Tethong (first published in January 2011)I was attending the World Social Forum in Brazil when the Chinese government executed Lobsang Dhondup and sentenced Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to death. I was checking my email in a small cybercafe in Porto Alegre, surrounded by activists from across the globe, when I heard the news. At first, I just sat there. Stunned. Moments later, I couldn’t fight it back, and I wept. Then, I resolved to fight. It was a defining moment for me as a young Tibetan activist.
Up until that moment, I had somehow been convinced that the Chinese wouldn’t go through with it. They hadn’t dared to execute a Tibetan in such an overtly political and high-profile way for nearly 20 years, not to mention the incredible amount of unwanted attention and government pressure the Chinese were facing as a result of the global outcry and campaign in support of the two men. I was sure it was helping. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
On January 26th, 28-year old Lobsang Dhondup was executed, likely with a bullet to the head, and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s death sentence was upheld, with a two year reprieve. Lobsang’s relatives never got to see his body. Only his ashes were returned to them.Looking back on that day now, I see how naive I was to think that the Chinese authorities didn’t have the stomach for the fight – that they would somehow be unwilling to risk the negative press and global condemnation – and therefore wouldn’t carry out the sentences. I guess at that time, despite all I knew of their cruelty, all of the horror I had heard about since I was a small child, I had to learn this lesson and never forget it.
Though the Chinese government proved me wrong in my judgment that day, I was neither defeated nor hopeless. In fact, their brutal and heartless treatment of these two innocent Tibetan men only increased my determination to work harder and my conviction in the justice of this fight. And fight we did. In the campaign to stop Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s execution in the years that followed, we did everything we could possibly think of – from street protests and direct actions at Chinese embassies & consulates, to online advocacy campaigns and government lobbying – to gain global public and political support, and to inspire people to take action.
In the end, on January 26, 2005, the Chinese government commuted Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s sentence to life imprisonment for what they said was “good behavior” while in prison. Call it whatever they like, we knew why they did it. And though we were not able to help Lobsang Dhondup, I truly believe we saved Rinpoche’s life. This is the most important lesson.
We can make a difference. We must fight. We might not win every battle, but we must always try.
We did our best for Rinpoche then, and we must do it again now. And never ever give up.
- Kelsang Tsultrim: “All suppressions are suffering and all freedoms happiness”
By Bhuchung D SonamIn her book ‘Revolution: the Banned Tibetan memories of the Cultural Revolution’, Tibetan author and poet Tsering Woeser writes that the Chinese authorities are carrying out the same policies of the Cultural Revolution but in a different name. This can be seen most prolifically by the fact that Beijing has arrested more Tibetan intellectuals over the last four years than ever before.
Kalsang Tsultim, or Gyitsang Takmik as is his pen name, hails from Labrang Sangchu Dzong in North Eastern Tibet, and is one of the many writers and artists detained in this latest crackdown.
In 2009 he recorded a moving video message calling for the preservation of Tibetan culture and language among other things. After the Chinese authorities accused him of ‘splitting the motherland’, Kelsang Tsultrim went into hiding. He was later arrested on 13 December 2010 and kept in detention for a year during which none of his family members were allowed to visit him or provided information about his whereabouts.
On 30 December 2011, Kelsang’s family was notified by the Chinese authorities that he had received a four-year prison sentence. Again they have not been allowed to see him.
I recently translated Kelsang’s words in which he says, “A Tibetan saying goes “all supressions are suffering and all freedoms happiness.” But how do we talk about the term ‘freedom is happiness’. Freedom to me is the right to preserve my culture, practice my religion and to maintain my Tibetan way of life. It goes without saying that Tibet is nation with its own unique history, way of life, and abundant cultural heritage that goes back over millennia.”; words classed by the Chinese Authorities as being ‘banned contents’.
Kelsang’s arrest and arbitrary sentencing, for simply speaking these words above, highlights Beijing’s systematic policy to stifle and phase out Tibetan culture and language by hammering down on Tibetan creative artists who, undaunted by the risk of these harsh Chinese responses, are using alternative ways to get their messages to the outside world.
The abridged translation of the video text can be read in full at Burning Tibet: ‘I will not close my eyes even in death”
- Courage of a Tibetan monk and his Chinese lawyer by Kate Saunders
There is still no news of the Tibetan scholar monk Jigme Guri, who was detained on 20 August in Tsoe, a Tibetan area of Gansu province, by the Chinese police. Jigme Guri, also known as Labrang Jigme (from the name of his monastery, Labrang), is the first Tibetan inside Tibet to have made a video available on Youtube without withholding his identity, giving a detailed account of his own torture in custody, and expressing his anguish about the Chinese policy against the Dalai Lama.In the meantime, a Chinese civil rights lawyer who sought to defend Jigme Guri and other Tibetans has spoken publicly about his own torture and interrogation, almost a year after his monk client’s.
Jiang Tianyong is one of China’s lawyers and legal experts facing an increasingly deadly struggle in seeking to protect and defend civil rights through litigation and legal activism. Now, like several of his clients, Jiang Tianyong has faced detention and interrogation himself, as one of dozens of Chinese lawyers, bloggers and activists who “disappeared” as part of a crackdown on dissent in China from February onwards.
Few have spoken publicly about their ordeal, but last week Jiang Tianyong gave a detailed account of his two-month imprisonment. He described how at one point after being kicked and punched, he appealed to his interrogator, saying: “I am a human being, you are a human being. Why are you doing something so inhumane?” Enraged, the man knocked Jiang to the floor and screamed: “You are not a human being!” (This appeared in South China Morning Post, on 14 September).
This article first appeared in The Sunday Guardian” on 25 September. To read the full article view: http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/courage-of-a-tibetan-monk-and-his-chinese-lawyer
To take part in the ‘Where Is Jigme Guri? visual petition visit: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5380/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8032
Kate Saunders the Communications Director of International Campaign for Tibet. - Tibet's Heroes; My Heroes by Tenzin Jigme Any demand for freedom or expression of opposition to the Chinese government is met with the harshest of punishment in Tibet. In years past China executed people for their beliefs, and today thousands are imprisoned and tortured. This group is made up of Tibetans old and young, men and women from various social standings. For Tibetans and free loving people all over the world, they are the Tibetan Heroes.
Despite facing the constant threat of imprisonment, many political prisoners continue to engage in defiant yet non-violent actions against the Chinese regime. This is a testament to their bravery and a confirmation for the rest of us that the Tibetan struggle cannot be tortured away. Moreover, actions of the Tibetan Heroes inspire, courage, and inject activism in the Tibetans to stand up against oppression.
One of the Tibetan Heroes is Labrang Jigme Guri. Jigme Guri was initially arrested in 2008, after which he video recorded his ordeal in prison. In this awe inspiring video, he recounts brutal tortures that nearly left him dead and severe interrogation session that made him further realize the injustice embedded in the system against Tibetans.
He also points out the hypocrisy in Chinese government’s action by saying, “the Chinese leadership says that the goal is to achieve a harmonious society, but at the same time continue to vilify the Dalai Lama, a figure that all Tibetans respect and honor as their spiritual head. How can we begin to feel harmony when our values are denigrated and trodden on?”
Even though Jigme Guri is a constant target of the Chinese security personnel and his movements are being watched at all times, he does not hide from them. He reminds me of the famous Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, not just because of their similarity in physique but more so because of their unyielding and unrelenting characteristic against oppression.
Jigme was arrested for the fourth time on 20 August 2011. His whereabouts is not known. We all must do our part to ensure Jigme’s freedom by lobbying our democratic representatives to pressure the Chinese government for his unconditional and immediate release.
‘Jigme’ means fearless. In this case, the man justified the name.
Tenzin Jigme is International Coordinator for International Tibet NetworkTenzin Jigme was born in Lhasa and escaped into exile with his family when he was 10 years old. He previously worked in Dharamsala as part of International Campaign for Tibet’s Field Team before joining the International Tibet Network in 2008.
