Disappearances


The "disappeared" are people who have been taken into custody by agents of the state, yet whose whereabouts and fate are concealed, and whose custody is denied.42

In Tibet, the disappearance of political prisoners is a routine occurrence. In numerous cases, Tibetans have been arrested at (or taken from) home without warrant and taken into police custody without the family of the detained person being informed of his or her whereabouts. The disappearance of these people is a source of great concern to their immediate families and those close to them.

6.1. International Law

Disappearance per se is not specifically prohibited by any single human rights norm. Rather, it encompasses a number of other human standards regarding arbitrary arrest and detention, denial of due process and, often, ill-treatment and torture.

Disappearance is not however just a combination of other human rights abuses. It is set apart by the chilling characteristic of completely cutting a person off from the outside world and its protective mechanisms. Not only are the loved ones of the person subjected to the agonising uncertainty of not knowing the whereabouts of the individual, or even whether the person is alive, but the individual is also put through the mental torment of isolation and helplessness. The State, by simply denying any knowledge of the person, can act with impunity.

The Chinese legal system has contributed to the conditions in which disappearances are able to occur in Tibet by allowing for prolonged detention and administrative detention without trial. Despite the conclusion by the United Nations Working Group on Disappearances that "States are under an obligation to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent and terminate acts of enforced disappearance"43, the unwillingness of the Chinese authorities to respond in the few cases where disappearances have been exposed has been apparent in 1996.

The enforced disappearances of Tibetans inside Tibet violate a number of human rights recognised in international law: their right to life and liberty, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest, the right to humane conditions of detention and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel or degrading treatment or punishment.

Rule No. 37 of the United Nations `Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners44' states:

Prisoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits.

One of the major contributing factors to the occurrence of disappearances in Tibet is the concealment by Chinese authorities of the whereabouts of arrested political prisoners. For months and sometimes even years, a prisoner may be kept in solitary confinement without any contact with the outside world. This deliberate denial of communication and information is a serious impediment in locating the whereabouts of political prisoners.

6.2. Cases of Disappearances

Seven year-old Gendun Choekyi Nyima has been missing since May 1995. On 14 May 1995, the then 6 year old child from Nagchu Dzong (district) in Tibet was proclaimed the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama. By the end of May, Gendun Choekyi Nyima, his father Kunchok Phuntsok and his mother Dechen Choedon were reported to have been taken to Beijing and put under house arrest. In May 1996, over a year since the disappearance of Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his parents, Wu Jianmin, China's Ambassador to the UN, admitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that Gendun Choekyi Nyima "has been put under the protection of the government at the request of his parents". The Committee requested that China allow a UN representative to "visit the family and provide reassurance".

So far there has been no public response to the request and the Chinese authorities have still not revealed his whereabouts. Today he remains the world's youngest political prisoner. The disappearance of Gendun Choekyi Nyima is a matter of great concern to the Tibetan people who accept him as the XIth reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second highest religious authority in Tibet.

The whereabouts of Kunchok Phuntsok and Dechen Choedon, the parents of Gendun Choekyi Nyima also remain unknown since their disappearance in May 1995.

Chadrel Rinpoche, head of the Chinese appointed Search Committee for the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama has disappeared since 17 May 1995. Chadrel Rinpoche was accused by the Chinese authorities of "passing information to the Dalai Lama regarding the reincarnation search".

More recently, in their official answer to a communication by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning the cases of several persons detained in the People's Republic of China and Tibet, the Chinese Government stated that Chadrel Rinpoche "... after leaving Beijing in mid-May 1995 on his way to Tibet, was suddenly taken ill and had to be hospitalised. Considering the fragile state of his health, the Managing Committee of the Tashilhunpo Monastery thought it best to relieve him of his functions as Administrator. He is at present under medical care".

It has now been over a year since his disappearance but China has so far failed to reveal the whereabouts of Chadrel Rinpoche. With the exception of some ambiguous reports of his being detained in Chengdu, China, there are still no clear indications as to his whereabouts.

Dhamchoe Gyatso (27), Jigme Tendar (29), Dhamchoe Kalden (31) and Phuntsog (25) of "Nga-rig Kye-tsel-Ling" school (English translation: Flourishing Garden of Five Knowledges) at Kumbum Monastery in Amdo have been accused of publishing a literary magazine which has now been labelled as "counter-revolutionary" and banned. The monks have disappeared since their arrest in mid-March 1996 and almost 10 months after their arrest the whereabouts of the monks remain unknown. They had been arrested along with 21 other student monks of the monastery who were later released in early May 1996.

Jangchub Gyaltsen (31), a tailor at Sera Monastery was arrested in April-May 1995; Lungtok (21), a monk of Rongbo Monastery in Amdo was arrested in July 1995; Lobsang Namgyal, a former monk of Nechung Monastery, was arrested in February 1995 and Ngawang Thonglam, a former monk of Ganden Monastery, was arrested in February 1995. All arrests were for political reasons and the whereabouts of these political prisoners remain unknown.

In October 1996, over 15 months after Ngawang Choephel was taken into detention, the Chinese authorities finally admitted that he was being held. Today he is serving an 18 year prison sentence45.

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Last updated: 14-Feb-97