Case CHN 141008.1
Follow-up of case CHN 141008
Whereabouts located/ Possible unfair trial/ Sentencing/ Fear for safety
Geneva, 17 December 2008
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has received new information in the following situation in the People's Republic of China.
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture network, that Mr. Wangdue (one name only), a Tibetan HIV/AIDS activist who had disappeared since 14 March 2008, was sentenced to life imprisonment and deprivation of his political rights for life on charges of “endangering state security” by the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court on 27 October 2008. No further information is currently available on the context of the trial and OMCT fears he has faced an unfair trial.
The exact detention place of Mr. Wandgue could not be ascertained but he might be detained in Sangyip prison (aka “TAR” Public Security Bureau (PSB) Detention Centre) (where individuals convicted of serious political crimes are usually detained). It is not clear where he had been detained since his arrest on 14 March 2008.
In March 2008, a severe crackdown by Chinese security forces had followed protests in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan areas of neighbouring provinces. The peaceful protests had started on 10 March 2008, when monks had demanded the easing of a government-imposed campaign which forces monks to write denunciations of the Dalai Lama and subjects them to government political propaganda.
The International Secretariat of OMCT remains gravely concerned for the safety of Mr. Wangdue. OMCT fears he was arrested and sentenced solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression. OMCT further recalls that China is a State party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. OMCT urges the authorities to conform with China’s international human rights obligations, commitments that were reaffirmed on the occasion of its election as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
According to the information received, the whereabouts of Mr. Wangdue had remained unknown to his family members since he was arbitrarily arrested by the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials from his home on 14 March 2008 in Lhasa. No reason for his arrest was reportedly given to his family.
Mr. Wangdue is a former political prisoner initially arrested for his involvement in the March 1989 protest in Lhasa and was later sentenced to three years to Re-education Through Labour (RTL) in Sangyip prison. His prison sentence was reportedly further increased by four years by the Lhasa city Intermediate People’s Court for his involvement in a protest in Sangyip, and he was later transferred to the notorious Drapchi prison in Lhasa where he completed his prison term. Mr. Wangdue was released in 1995.
Mr. Wangdu reportedly later came in contact with the Burnet Institute, an Australian NGO working on an HIV/AIDS awareness program in Lhasa city and worked to create HIV/AIDS awareness in various brothels around Lhasa city, in schools in neighbouring counties and towns, and organised talk series in various nightclubs mushrooming in the holy city.
Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China urging them to:
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Brussels, Avenue de Tervuren, 463 1160 Auderghem, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 663 30 10 / + 32 2 663 30 17 / +32 2 771 14 97 / +32 2 779 43 33; Fax: +32 2 762 99 66 / +32 2 779 28 95; Email: chinaemb_be@mfa.gov.cn
Please also write to the embassies of the People’s Republic of China in your respective country.
Geneva, 17 December 2008
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
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