Dza Wonpo Town
Photo : CTA
Tibetans in Dza Wonpo township in Serschul county in Kardze prefecture continue to face mass surveillance: banned online activities include keeping picture of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and communicating with Tibetans and others in exile. Among the detainees following the recent mass arrests were members of a local group promoting the use and preservation of the Tibetan language.
Mass arrests of Tibetans in Dza Wonpo, both monks and lay people, by Chinese police started on August 25, eight more were arrested on September 3 bringing the total number of detainees to 121. So far only four people: two men, one woman and a monk have been released. Details of the detainees or their whereabouts are currently not available owing to the strict restrictions imposed on communications in Tibetan areas.
Residents in Dza Wonpo remain grim under surveillance and are subject to harsh rules and unlawful inspections.
The latest report by the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) Human Rights Desk names one of the detainees, Kardon, a woman aged around 50, who has fallen critically ill while in detention. She is reported to have been refused treatment in both Sershul County Hospital, where she was initially taken, and then another hospital where she was taken when Sershul did not treat her. Requests to visit other hospitals have been denied. It is understood that Kardon was arrested for allegedly contacting Tibetans living in exile. The CTA report says that she remains in custody despite her poor health.
In addition to the drive to root out banned online activities, the authorities are targeting people who campaign and advocate the use, teaching, preservation and promotion of the Tibetan language. The authorities have warned residents against joining, creating or engaging in WeChat groups which discuss or promote the preservation of the Tibetan language, and religious groups promoting religious activities such as chanting Mani mantras and other prayers.
There are reports that people arrested are being denied proper food and clothing while in detention to the point at which it is affecting their health. Radio Free Asia reports a source as saying, “They are also being interrogated every day and are being given political re-education sessions in the prison”.
RFA’s latest report on the situation identifies eighteen Tibetans among those detained in Dza Wonpo : Soepa, Lobsang Choezin, Pendo, Pelkyab, Tsangpa, Choe Lhamo, Kardon, Loden Chunglam, Tenzin Losel, Losher, Choechok, Gaden, Sherab, Jampel, Dolo, Choepa, Sonam Galek and Tamdin Norbu.
Dza Wonpo town has been in the Chinese authorities’ spotlight since the widespread protest in the region in 2008. The surveillance intensified in 2012, when the monks refused to host Chinese flag on the monastery’s roof in place of their own Tibetan flag.
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