Lobsang Thapkhey
Detentions- Status
- Sentenced
- Length of sentence
- 3 years
- Description of event
Lobsang Thapkhey, a former librarian at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, was sentenced to three years, for merely attempting to import and distribute religious and cultural books from India to Tibet and for engaging in the Tibetan Buddhist practice of making financial offerings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche.
- Type of length of sentence
- 1-3 years
- Type of place of detention
- Prison
- Consequences of detention
Lobsang Thapkhey was arrested in June 2023 and has been missing since has recently been sentenced to three years. He is imprisoned at Deyang(德阳) Prison in Huang Xu Town in Deyang City, Sichuan Province.
In August, Lobsang Thapkhey’s family received a brief notice informing them that he had been sentenced to three years in prison. However, no details regarding his location and whereabouts were provided, and his family was warned against disclosing the verdict publicly.
- Location of prison-comments
- Deyang(德阳) Prison in Huang Xu Town in Deyang City, Sichuan Province.
- Charges
- Separatism
- Type of violation
- Freedom of religion and belief
- Right to access to culture
- Torture
- Unknown
- Comments
Lobsang Thapkhey, age 56, is the son of Khadon (father) and Jhoka (mother). He has made significant contributions to the Kirti Monastery Library by importing a diverse collection of books.
Before his arrest, he had been summoned to the Ngaba police station and detained for several days on multiple occasions. Between 2017 and 2018, when a lama named Chakdor from Kirti Monastery passed away, Lobsang Thapkhey was detained and interrogated for several days at the Ngaba County police station for sending 2000 Chinese yuan as a prayer offering to the Dalai Lama, Kirti Rinpoche and other lamas in India.
- Created on
- Sep 24, 2024
- Updated on
- Sep 24, 2024
- Person
- Sex_detention
- Male
- Age_detention
- 56
- Origin_detention
- Ngaba County
- Occupation_detention
- Religious
- Deceased_detention
- No
- Image_detention
- Origin in Tibetan_detention
- ཨ་མདོ།
- Origin comments_detention
- Kirti Monastery in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo
- Institution_detention
- Kirti Monastery
- Comments_detention
Lobsang Thapkhey, age 56, is the son of Khadon (father) and Jhoka (mother). He has made significant contributions to the Kirti Monastery Library by importing a diverse collection of books.
His recent sentencing to three years in prison constitutes a violation of cultural rights, arising solely from his attempt to import and distribute religious and cultural books from India to Tibet. Among these texts are significant works such as The Necklace of Textbook by Kirti Rinpoche and writings by Geshes from southern India, all in the Kirti Monastery Library.
He has been accused of collaborating with so-called “separatists,” a term employed by the Chinese authorities to label members of the exiled Tibetan community, solely for his efforts to import religious texts. He had previously faced detention in 2017 and 2018 and interrogation for sending 2,000 Chinese yuan as a prayer offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche.
- Created on_detention
- Sep 24, 2024
- Updated on_detention
- Sep 24, 2024