"Documenting 10 Tibetan Writers and Teachers Arrested, Detained or Sentenced By Sichuan Local Authorities" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was posted on her blog on June 12, 2011. In the blogpost, Woeser lists and provides details about Tibetan writers and teachers targeted by the authorities in Sichuan province, who have been arrested or imprisoned since 2008 and appeals for international support.

For a comprehensive overview of the crackdown on intellectuals and cultural figures all over Tibet since 2008, see this report "A Raging Storm" published last year by International Campaign for Tibet.

The photo shows Tashi Rabten's Tibetan language publication "Written In Blood"
that documented the 2008 uprising in Tibet

When President Obama Spoke of “Certain Fundamental Rights” by Woeser

Left: Kunga Tsayang, Right: Kunchok Tsephel

Woeser's commentary on President Obama's China visit was written for Radio Free Asia on November 19, 2009 and posted on her blog on November 27, 2009. This translated article first appeared online in Norwegian on the website Ny Tid (New Time) where Woeser is a guest columnist as part of their initiative "Voices Without Borders" - a weekly column where some of the world′s leading advocates for freedom of expression write for Ny Tid.

When President Obama Spoke of 

“Certain Fundamental Rights”

by Woeser

On November 17, for many people all over the world, the most important news was US President Obama’s arrival in Beijing. The international focus rested upon his sunny smile, upon him and the deadpan Chinese head of state, Hu Jintao, speaking to the globe’s most important media; it also rested upon him finally mentioning that “all men and women possess certain fundamental rights, [...] which are universal rights and all people, ethnic and religious minority groups should be able to obtain these fundamental rights.” Yes, he even mentioned the Dalai Lama, who, as Zhu Weiqun, an official from the United Front Department of the Party Central Committee, recently said, “always makes China unhappy”. The day before, when he spoke to a carefully selected and trained group of Chinese male and female youths, he also mentioned freedom of speech saying that “freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom of information and freedom of political participation are everybody’s rights.”

But at the exact same time, on this extremely cold winter’s day, there were a few minority people, whose voices are not heard and who do not possess the power to change things, who had to find out in a state of shock about what happened to two young Tibetan writers, Kunchok Tsephel and Kunga Tsangyang. Because of their opinion and speech, they were sentenced harshly on Tibetan soil which is tightly controlled, and hence lost all those “fundamental rights, which all men and women possess.”

There are a few foreign journalists who have asked me questions like “what did you make of Obama’s visit to China? Did he fulfill your expectations?” In my answer I always had to admit that I had already prepared myself. From Hilary Clinton’s China visit last year when she avoided any questions concerning human rights up to Obama’s arrival in China now, although they claim that the subject of human rights has been of some concern, President Obama in his natural and unaffected demeanour, like a star coming on stage, still seemed to place too little emphasis on them. Thus, although I wouldn’t say that I am greatly disappointed about this, I am able even to view all this with a certain degree of indifference because I have expected the situation to be like this. Yet, I did feel moved when, facing the head of state of the world’s greatest totalitarian system, President Obama still said that “all men and women possess certain fundamental rights”. But I did not understand why he was not able to clearly state what those “certain fundamental rights” really are. Is the term “human rights” that difficult to pronounce? Perhaps President Obama is more poetically inclined and needs to make use of embellished and indirect language to refer to human rights, so if he bluntly spoke out the two words, it would probably sound a bit crude.

Kunchok Tsephel and Kunga Tsayang are two well-known authors who publish in Tibetan. During last year’s “Tibet incident”, they themselves witnessed how their fellow countrymen of their hometown determinedly took to the streets and voiced their opposition. The two writers revealed their aspirations and discussed facts on the internet, which then unexpectedly became the reason for them becoming criminals accused of jeopardising “state security” and revealing “state secrets”. In other words, one could say that the country’s action of using its power to suppress the violent behaviour of the opposing masses belongs to the category of secret which is often practiced but never spoken of. Whoever dares to reveal the secret, he or she will become the country’s enemy and be confronted with harsh and merciless punishment.

Kunchok Tsephel was arrested on February 26 this year and was recently sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment by the local government; Kunga Tsayang was arrested on March 17 this year and was recently sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment by the local government. Moreover, before the judgment was passed, none of their family members knew anything about their whereabouts. In fact, these kinds of situations are very common in Tibet, many families don’t know if their relatives have been arrested or had much worse accidents, and they don’t even know where to go and look for them. The law has turned into mere scraps of paper and the outcomes of these black-box operations can hardly be called impartial. What really worries people is that judging from the known cases, in the near future there will probably be more and more Tibetans who might be faced with, or have already been faced with, heavy prison sentences because of the lack of impartiality and the black-box operations of the judiciary. This also means that there are and will be more and more Tibetans who have already lost what President Obama called “certain fundamental rights, which all men and women possess.”

There exists an increasing amount of suppression; this is the reality in Tibet. But to be honest, it is already very difficult for us to believe that those important world leaders, who are unable to speak out the two words “human rights”, will maintain a firm humanitarian stand.

Beijing, November 19, 2009

Related blogpost on High Peaks Pure Earth: Remembering the Honourable Gangnyi La

Related blogpost on High Peaks Pure Earth: A Letter to President Obama by A Tibetan Blogger

Related blogpost on High Peaks Pure Earth: More Poems to Obama by Tibetan Bloggers

Related article by Woeser: In the Name of Human Rights, Set Free All Tibetan Political Prisoners

“In the Name of Human Rights, Set Free All Tibetan Political Prisoners” by Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth is grateful to Charles Custer at China Geeks for permission to re-post his translation of Woeser’s article originally written for Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on May 22, 2009.

The photo is from an exhibition that was held this year from March 27 - May 30 in Washington DC on "Reform Through Labour in Tibet" showing how the Chinese government has occupied Tibet for fifty years and the human rights situation, including how there is no freedom of speech, how there is religious persecution and how people are subjected to torture etc.

“In the Name of Human Rights, Set Free All Tibetan Political Prisoners” by Woeser

May 25th, 2009, Translated by C. Custer

Since the release of the National Human Rights Action Plan, the internal response in China has been large. It’s rare for a newspaper to dare to publish something like Nandu Daily’s “In the Name of Human Rights, Make Public the Names of Those Killed in the Beichuan Earthquake”, making reference to the clause in the plan that touches on the reestablishment of human rights in the wake of the quake, demanding the names be made public. In his article “Release Liu Xiaobo in the Name of Human Rights”, intellectual Ran Yunfei wrote: “…without action, only stopping for a second on the concept and doing nothing, well then ‘human rights’ can only remain a concept [in our minds, rather than a reality]…all those who have been locked up for something they said, all those who have been arrested and harmed even though their rights are protected under the constitution, including all those who [are arrested/beaten] while attempting to report [the crimes of officials] to higher authorities, officials should apologize to them, and set them free without condition. Like this we can put the Human Rights Plan into practice, turn it from conception into reality and, practically speaking, keep it from becoming another one of those often-heard-but-rarely-seen buzzwords on the tongues of fraudulent officials.”

So I will imitate; my main point here is to appeal: set free all those Tibetans who have been locked up for something they said, all those who have been arrested and harmed even though their rights are protected under the constitution. For example, there’s Dolma Kyab, sentenced to ten years for writing The Restless Himalayas and a new book on the history of Tibetan geography in 2005, or Runggye Adak, who was arrested on August 1, 2007 for calling for the return of the Dalai Lama, or Dhondup Wangchen, arrested in March 2008 for filming the documentary Leaving Fear Behind and showing the world the Tibetan people’s attitude towards the Beijing Olympics, or Norzin Wangmo, sentenced to five years for sending emails about Tibet’s geographical situation in April 2008, etc. etc. And this year, once again, many Tibetan authors were jailed for writing articles promulgating the truth, they are: Kunga Tsayang, Kunchok Tsephel, Drokru Tsultrim etc. The list I’ve provided here is very short, very short indeed, but the actual list of names is very long, very long indeed.

International human rights group Reporters Without Borders said, in terms of reporters, dissidents, netizens, and activists jailed for fighting for freedom of speech, China is far, far ahead of other countries. And it seems as though from China’s large population and 56 minority groups, Tibetans seem to be far, far ahead of everyone else as well. Chinese intellectuals appeal to the authorities: “For the future of the nation, for the happiness of the people, for the image of the ruler, please quickly set free all political prisoners!” “Human Rights don’t just need to be promoted, they also need to be practiced, and be practically implemented!” “Merely saying good things is useless, human rights without action are just words on a piece of paper, a plan without action is just a piece of wastepaper!” Moreover, if they don’t respect their own National Human Rights Action Plan and arrest people who are putting the human rights plan into practice, isn’t that just deceiving oneself along with others, and going back on one’s word to feather one’s own nest?

Early the year before last, Runggye Adak was accused of “being involved in inciting [people] to overthrow the State” and sent to prison for merely attempting to speak his mind for a few minutes. Commenting on it on Radio Free Asia, I said that as far as Tibetans who are in jail because of so-called “political problems” are concerned, whether you just look at the numbers or other aspects of the problem, there has never been a half century like this one, with so many arrested, or with the arrests so widespread and endless. It’s all Tibetans that are filling the prisons being continuously built around the region. As for the tough response of unyielding, exasperated authorities, on the surface it looks effective but it can’t last; rushing undercurrents always eventually break free and burst through the dyke. There’s concrete proof, this is not sensationalizing, last year and this year how many “Protecting Tibet” protest incidents have occurred, it proves the state of human rights in Tibet is truly grim, it certainly isn’t what officials at all levels brazenly describe as “the best time for human rights in Tibetan history.” If it were, how could it give rise to such widespread indignation and discontent? Only when there is practical improvement in the human rights situation across Tibet can a better age for human rights be realized.

2009-5-6, Beijing.


Dolma Kyab

Runggye Adak

Dhondup Wangchen



Norzin Wangmo


Kunga Tsayang (Gangnyi)



Kunchok Tsephel


Drokru Tsultrim

Remembering the Honourable Gangnyi La

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost from the original Tibetan about the detention of Labrang monk, writer, photographer and environmental activist Kunga Tsayang (here referred to by his pen name Gangnyi meaning Sun of Snowland) as written by a friend of his.

This personal and heartfelt tribute to Gangnyi was posted on this blog http://www.tibettl.com/blog/u/geluba on March 24 2009 (photo above). Gangnyi himself also used to blog on the same website http://www.tibettl.com/blog/u/gangni but both sites are inaccessible at the time of writing.

Image from Gangnyi's blog. The Tibetan says Gangnyi, Special Year.
The photographer on the right is Gangnyi.

A concise biography of Gangnyi can be read on the blog run by Students for a Free Tibet. His arrest was first reported by Reporters Without Borders on March 23 2009 and has since also been reported by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Gangnyi's essay Who Are the Real Separatists can be read on the website TibetWrites and an earlier posting by High Peaks Pure Earth about splittism can be read here.

The Tibetan in green says, "forest, water and mountain from my hometown".
The Tibetan in red says, "an unhealable wound is created".

Remembering the honourable Gangnyi La (gangs nyi)

I wasn't able to participate in the blog too often these days and therefore I haven’t been able to keep in touch with my blog friends and stay informed. Today I suddenly heard that Gangnyi la has been imprisoned and I would like to express my regret and remember him. When an active and important friend like him disappears, I think we have to think about the situation. When everyone disappears like that, don't we feel that our right to live out our lives peacefully is taken away? How can he be arrested without any reason? The motive of his arrest is not based on personal crimes he has committed. Therefore if we wish for a free and and peaceful life, we cannot ignore these incidents happening over and over again. Finally I would like to hope for the well being of honorable Gangnyi la’s mind, body and speech and that the wishes of the Tibetans from all three provinces may succeed.