Tenzin Dolma
Detentions- Person
- Status
- Released
- Date of Detention
- Nov 21, 2015
- Date of Detention (mm/yyyy)
- 21/10/2015
- Length of sentence
- 3 years
- Description of event
On 21 October 2015, Namkyi and her sister Tenzin Dolma both wore Tibetan attire and carried large portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as they marched in the crowded streets of ‘Martyr’s Road’ in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, calling for ‘Free Tibet’ and the return of the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche to Tibet. Both were 15 years old at the time.
After 10 minutes, local police officers arbitrarily detained them in a Detention Centre in Ngaba County, then transferred them to another detention centre in Barkam city for interrogation. On 23 November 2016, following over a year and a month of detention, a court in Trochu County held a trial for them. It was the first time they saw each other since their arrest. No family members were present, but two government-appointed lawyers, one Chinese and one Tibetan. They were falsely accused of separatist activities and supporting the Dalai Lama’s group and sentenced to three years each, despite being minors at 16 years old.
- Date of sentence
- Nov 23, 2016
- Type of length of sentence
- 1-3 years
- Type of place of detention
- Detention centre
- Detention centre/prison (Detention template)
- Ngaba County Detention Centre
- Consequences of detention
On 23 November 2016, following over a year and a month of detention, a court in Trochu County held a trial for them. It was the first time they saw each other since their arrest. No family members were present, but two government-appointed lawyers, one Chinese and one Tibetan. They were falsely accused of separatist activities and supporting the Dalai Lama’s group and sentenced to three years each, despite being minors at 16 years old.
After the trial, they were taken to ethnic minority prisons in Sichuan and then to Chengdu city’s largest women’s prison. For the initial three months, they underwent military training and patriotic education and learned about the Chinese constitution.
- Location of prison
- Ngaba County
- Location of prison-comments
- Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
- Court type
- Trochu County Court
- Charges
- Activities challenging Beijing's rule
- Advocating independence for Tibet
- Anti-national activities
- Disturbing social stability
- Engaging in activities to split the nation
- Engaging in separatist activities
- Inciting separatism
- Independence activities
- Separatism
- The Dalai Lama Material
- Type of violation
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of association
- Freedom of choice
- Freedom of expression
- Freedom of peaceful association
- Freedom of peaceful protest
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of thought
- Right to fair trial
- Torture
- Yes
- Relation detention-release
- Release at the completion of sentence
- Date of release
- Oct 21, 2018
- Description of torture
On 23 November 2016, following over a year and a month of detention, a court in Trochu County held a trial for them. It was the first time they saw each other since their arrest. No family members were present, but two government-appointed lawyers, one Chinese and one Tibetan. They were falsely accused of separatist activities and supporting the Dalai Lama’s group and sentenced to three years each, despite being minors at 16 years old.
After the trial, they were taken to ethnic minority prisons in Sichuan and then to Chengdu city’s largest women’s prison. For the initial three months, they underwent military training and patriotic education and learned about the Chinese constitution.
- Comments
On 21 October 2018, they were released from prison. Despite their release, their freedom of expression and movement remained severely restricted. Namkyi’s cousin sister, Tsering Kyi, was summoned for interrogation several times.
Namkyi and her sister were born into a typical nomadic family of Pema Lhathang in Charo village, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, Tibet. Like many other nomadic children, they did not receive the opportunity to go to school and spent their childhood as nomads.
- Created on
- Apr 24, 2024
- Updated on
- Apr 24, 2024