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Urgent campaigns / Urgent Interventions / China / 2011 / August

China: Fear for the safety of three monks of the Tawu Nyasto Monastery in Sichuan Province, whose wherebaouts remain unknown after their arrest

​CHN 240811

Whereabouts unknown/ Risk of torture and ill-treatment

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.

Brief description of the situation

TheInternational Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the arrest and disappearance of three Tibetan monks of the Tawu Nyatso Monastery, namely monk Norbu, monk Gyaltsen and the identity of the third monk remains, at the time of issuing this urgent appeal, unknown. All three were arrested by members of the Public Security Bureau (PSB), in Tawu county, Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Sichuan Province. OMCT fears that they may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

According to the information received, monk Norbu, originally from the village of Rinah Lungpa, was arrested on 19 August 2011 in Siyo, near Chengdu (the capital of the Sichuan Province). Monk Gyaltsen, originally from the village of Nyeshap, was arrested on 21 August 2011, at the entrance of a hospital in Chendgu, where he was accompanying a relative. The third monk, whose identity is currently unknown, was arrested on 22 August 2011 (at the time of issuing this urgent appeal, no further information was available on the exact circumstances of their arrest). The charges against them and their current whereabouts are not known.

OMCT recalls that, on 15 August 2011, 29-year-old monk Tsewang Norbu of the same aforementioned monastery set himself on fire after raising slogans such as “Freedom in Tibet” and “Return of his Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet”. Since then, security forces have been reportedly deployed in the area and the monks of the monastery have been regularly interrogated. Furthermore, restrictions on the movement of local Tibetans and communications have been severely tightened.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the safety of monk Norbu, monk Gyaltsen and the third monk who was arrested, as their whereabouts and fate remain unknown.OMCT fears that they may be subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. OMCT urges the competent authorities to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity at all times, in accordance with international human rights law, in particular the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and to immediately locate and disclose their whereabouts. Enforced disappearance and torture and other ill-treatment constitute serious human rights violations and are strictly prohibited under international law.

Actions Requested

Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China urging them to:

i.                     Immediately locate and disclose the whereabouts of the three arrested monks;

ii.                   Guarantee, in all circumstances, their physical and psychological integrity; 

iii.                  Grant them immediate and full access to a lawyer of their choice and their family, as well as guarantee that they are examined by independent doctors and receive adequate medical care if necessary, in accordance, inter alia, with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;

iv.                 Order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial, independent and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;

v.                   Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

·      Mr. Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Guojia Zongli, The State Council General Office, 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

·      Mr. Wu Aiying, Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345, minister@legalinfo.gov.cn / pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn

·      Mr. Meng Jianzhu, Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang, Gong’anbu, 14 Dongchang’anjie, Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100741, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 63099216

  • Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Justice, Sifating, 24 Shangxiznglu, Chengdushi 610015, Sichuansheng, People's Republic of China

·      Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Ch. De Surville, CP 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Suisse, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int, Fax : +41 22 793 70 14

Please also write to the embassies of the People’s Republic of China in your respective country.

***

Geneva, 24 August 2011

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

Properties

Date: August 24, 2011
Activity: Urgent campaigns
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: China
Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances

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