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[ADD Your name]
[ADD Your address]
[ADD Date]
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Date]
[TITLE & ADDRESS OF FOREIGN MINISTER]

Dear [ADD NAME OF YOUR FOREIGN MINISTER],

Re: Tibetan Political Prisoner, Khenpo Kartse: Sentenced for two and a half years; believed to have serious medical health issues.

I am writing to you today as I am deeply concerned about the detention, sentencing and health of Khenpo Kartse [Layname: Karma Tsewang | Chinese: 尕玛才旺] [1], a highly respected Tibetan Buddhist teacher and community leader. Khenpo Kartse has been in detention since December 2013 and is understood to have been sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison in a secret trial. [2] He is suffering from serious medical health issues relating to his lungs and liver, for which he had sought regular medical attention prior to being detained. Recent reports state that he has been coughing up blood [3] and appeals by his lawyers for his better treatment were regularly rejected by authorities.

Khenpo Kartse was seized in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on 6 December 2013 by officers from China’s Public Security Bureau of Chamdo prefecture (Ch: Qamdo) in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and charged at first with “harming state security.” Reports state he was later specifically accused of harboring a fugitive monk.

His lawyer, Tang Tianhao, hired by Khenpo Kartse’s family to defend him, was refused access to him for over three months. Tang later withdrew from the case under government pressure.

China has provided no information about the basis of these charges or justification for his sentence. I call on you to make urgent representations for the release of Khenpo Kartse, and request authorities to disclose where he is being held and details of his trial and the charges brought against him.

I also urge that you press China to ensure that he be allowed immediate access to regular medical examinations and legal advice as expected under Chinese law.

Yours Sincerely

[ADD YOUR NAME]
NOTES:

1: When speaking with Chinese officials the name Karma Tsewant [Chinese: 尕玛才旺] should be used. Khenpo (meaning Abbot) Kartse is his local Tibetan name.

2: Reports about his sentence appeared in Radio Free Asia on 17 October 2014 –

3: Reports about his detention and medical health:
– Tsering Woeser: The Cross-Provincial Arrest of Khenpo Karma Tsewang from Nangchen (translated by High Peaks Pure Earth)  
– Radio Free Asia: Jailed Tibetan Religious Leader in Failing Health, Meets with Lawyer