May 17 marks the 26th year since the enforced disappearance of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet. The Panchen Lama is the second most important spiritual leader of Tibet. On May 17, 1995 Gendun Choekyi Nyima, a six-year-old boy, was abducted by the Chinese authorities shortly after he was recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. He remains missing and there has been no information about him and his parents’ whereabouts since the abduction.
For decades, Tibetans and human rights groups have been calling on China to release Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his parents. Chinese officials have consistently turned a deaf ear to the calls.
Marking the 26th anniversary of the abduction, the voices and concerns of Tibetans all over the world remain same – they continue to call for China to answer as to his whereabouts, and demand his immediate release.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) also known as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile has expressed gratitude to all governments and their parliaments, international organisations, Tibet support groups and non-government organisations for their support and efforts in seeking justice and calling for the release of Gendun Choekyi Nyima over the years. The CTA appeals for their renewed support in seeking his, and other political prisoners of Tibet, release, and to resolve the critical human rights situation in Tibet.
To mark the anniversary, the Department of Information and International Relations of the CTA has launched a book Tibet’s Stolen Child: Remembering the Story of the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia released the Japanese edition of the book on the same day.
“The Chinese government’s kidnapping of the six-year-old Panchen Lama and keeping him and his family incommunicado for the last 26 years is gross violation of child’s rights, human rights and religious freedom of Tibetans in Tibet,” said Tsewang Gyalpo Arya
Through a video campaign launched by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), researchers, journalists and activists with interests in China and Tibet are calling upon the Chinese government to provide credible evidence of the Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and to release him immediately.
TCHRD demands that China allows independent bodies to meet him in person. The organisation reiterates that advocacy actions for the Panchen Lama’s release will continue until he is released and his human rights restored.
There have been calls from around the world in support of the campaign to free Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
Tom Lantos of the Human Rights Commission has called for China to ”release the Panchen Lama and his family without conditions”.
Nadine Maenza of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has renewed their call for the Chinese government to reveal the Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and for an independent expert to be allowed to visit and verify his well-being.
Australian Member of Parliament Janet Rice has demanded full access to independent observers to verify the whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, tweeting “The Chinese Government must explain what happened to him, and give independent observers full access”.
Freddy Lim, the Taiwanese politician, musician, and independence activistk, also an ardent supporter of the Tibetan cause, has appealed for the freedom of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima tweeting, ”While fighting the pandemic, we still fight for human rights too.”
Canadian lawyer and politician has reiterated his continuous support for the campaign for the unconditional release of the 11th Panchen Lama saying in a Facebook post that he “had the opportunity to directly ask the Tibetan delegation from the Tibet Autonomous Region on the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama when they visited Ottawa in 2018 […] I will continue to advocate for the Panchen Lama and hope for a day when we will see him in person amongst his people”.
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