Images showing Lobsang Sangyal before (left) and upon release (main) from a Chinese prison.
Image: photos taken by a courageous Tibetan inside occupied Tibet/graphic via @tibettruth
According to the Tibetan Center for Democracy and Human Rights (TCHRD) “On 12 November, a Tibetan monk named Lobsang Sangyal was released from Mianyang prison near the provincial capital of Chengdu, Sichuan Province in People’s Republic of China”.
Unfortunately due to an editorial policy of TCHRD we do not share or post their reports, why so? Well for some curious reason this Tibetan staffed and managed organization, based in the exiled Tibetan community of Dharamsala, India, consistently repeats and promotes propaganda terminology used by the Chinese regime to support its bogus claims that Tibet is an inalienable part of China. The result is that what are clearly Tibetan towns, villages, and territories are regularly described using cynically fabricated Chinese-sounding terms.This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts regarding Tibet’s geographic and territorial status as a distinct land and culture whose people enjoyed prior to invasion by China in 1950 national freedom with their own government. The TCHRD appears unconcerned by the reality that within international law Tibet remains an independent nation under an illegal occupation. Nor does it appear aware that in employing China’s disinformation it misleads those who regard its publications as a trusted source of information on Tibet. Furthermore its tainted reports, which conform in regards to Tibetan geography with official Chinese descriptions and titles, are effectively endorsing China’s rule over Tibet.
As we have noted before if TCHRD wishes to present itself as a balanced and neutral source, then surely it could, without too much effort in its reportage, describe places accurately as Tibetan (city, town, village, region) and then add in parenthesis the politicized Chinese version. But it does not do so, preferring to emphasize such locations as being in Chinese provinces within China, that is a political decision on its part. Which we oppose!
This is why we choose not to spread reports from TCHRD and prefer to rewrite their content to more accurately inform those who may have little knowledge on Tibet, which we do so below concerning this latest release of a Tibetan political prisoner.
‘Lobsang Sangyal was a monk at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, Amdo region of occupied Tibet (Chinese: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province). Chinese authorities restricted the monk’s family members from receiving him outside the prison. Compared to his pre-prison picture with the present, Lobsang Sangyal appears very weak and is said to suffer from memory loss, according to exile Tibetan sources.Previous information released by TCHRD indicates that the monk was detained soon after the self-immolation of his cousin Lobsang Kelsang, also a monk at Kirti Monastery, on 27 August 2012. However exile sources claim that Lobsang Sangyal had been detained several times before his imprisonment in 2012. The reason for 2012 detention that led to his four-year sentencing was due to the sale and distribution of Dalai Lama’s photos and records of the teachings of the Tibetan spiritual leader. TCHRD is unable to verify the exact charges although Lobsang Sangyal has been released. The charges and sentence term imposed on him still remain vague because of the extreme restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities inside Tibet. Lobsang Sangyal is believed to have returned to his monastery.’ (Source: TCHRD 11/18/2016-Amended to include accurate Tibetan locations)
We wonder how Lobsang Sangyal would feel upon hearing that the TCHRD described him as coming from Sichuan Province in China?
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