Tibetan monk in precarious health after Chinese imprisonment

TibetanReview: Chinese authorities in Xining city of Qinghai Province have released in Apr 2013 a Tibetan monk after he became seriously ill and required secretive hospitalization as a result of severe ill-treatment in jail, said Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Right and Democracy May 8. The centre said the monk, Sonam Yig-nyen, 44, became seriously ill soon after he was sentenced to a two-year jail term in Oct 2012.

Sonam Yig-nyen was among five monks taken into custody in a surprise Chinese police raid on Nyatso Zilkar Monastery in Tridu (Chinese: Chenduo) County of Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province, on Sep 1, 2012. The other monks were Lobsang Jinpa (30), Tsultrim Kalsang (25), Ngawang Monlam (30), and Sonam Sherab (45).

Due to severe ill-treatment by the Chinese police, Sonam had to be hospitalized for more than a month soon after he was sentenced. His family and friends were not allowed to visit him either in prison or at Xining’s largest hospital, an army hospital, where he was kept for more than a month.

In Apr 2013, the authorities sent Sonam back to Yushu, possibly for treatment at another hospital.

 

The centre said the monk’s family and friends have still not been able to see him.