Contact is taking a holiday!

Dolkar (left) with her nephew Wangchen
Photo : RFA

Reports have emerged from Tibet that former political prisoner Dolkar’s health is deteriorating from the injuries and torture she sustained during her one year and three months in prison between 2019 and 2020. She was arrested in Kham Kardze’s Sershul County on May 3, 2019; during her imprisonment, she was severely beaten and subjected to long hours of forced labour leaving her with damaged hips and unable to move her body. Despite prolonged stays in hospital for treatment, her condition has not shown any improvement and she has returned home. A source close to her has written to Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan service with an update on her condition. The sources in Tibet maintain anonymity for their own safety.

RFA’s source reported that since her release from the prison, her overall health has been failing drastically and, now home, it is uncertain whether she will survive or not. The authorities continue to make her life difficult with surveillance on her daily life, including spying on her to identify any contacts outside Tibet and recording her phone conversations.

Dolkar was arrested and sentenced in connection with the detention of her nephew Wangchen and his friends Lobsang and Yonten on April 29, 2019. Wangchen and friends were arrested for praying at a hill top near Sershul Monastery in Kardze and calling for the immediate release of Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Panchen Lama, and the reunion of the Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama in Tibet.

Wangchen, who was then a 20 year old, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison while his friends Lobsang and Yonten were each fined 15,000 yuan (US$2,200 / £1,700) and ordered to attend political re-education classes on “issues of national security” for six months. Dolkar was accused of sharing the news of Wangchen’s protest outside the region and sentenced to a one year and three month prison term.

Wangchen is still in prison, none of his family have been able to visit him. Dolkar herself is bedridden but says she hopes and longs to see her nephew Wangchen one day.