The Chinese government should immediately and unconditionally release the imprisoned Tibetan monk and religious philosopher Go Sherab Gyatso, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.
Close associates outside of Tibet say Go Sherab Gyatso's health has recently worsened, the HRW said in a statement. He suffers from a chronic lung condition, and may not be receiving adequate medical treatment in prison.
"Once again the Chinese government's wrongful imprisonment of a Tibetan risks becoming a death sentence," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. "Go Sherab Gyatso should be immediately released and given comprehensive medical care."
Ministry of State Security agents detained Go Sherab Gyatso, 45, on October 26, 2020, in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the Chinese authorities said in an August 2021 statement, in response to an inquiry from three United Nations human rights experts.
The rights group said that the authorities transferred him to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), where, on February 3, 2021, he was formally charged with "inciting secession." The government statement said he was later tried but did not give the date or outcome of the trial. Tibetan sources outside the country report he was given a 10-year sentence and is in Chushul Prison, 20 kilometres southwest of Lhasa, according to HRW.
Exile sources report that no visitors have been allowed to see Go Sherab Gyatso and that he is in poor health. The Chinese authorities had previously detained him on at least three other occasions.
The recent reports about Go Sherab Gyatso's health cannot be independently verified, Human Rights Watch said. However, there have been a number of cases in which Chinese authorities have allowed people in Tibet and across China who were arbitrarily detained on politically motivated charges to die in custody for lack of appropriate medical care.
There is no indication that he committed any crime in the TAR or elsewhere, suggesting that the authorities detained and prosecuted him to intimidate other Tibetan monks and writers. The TAR authorities pursue more aggressive policies than those in other Tibetan areas of China, but it is rare for the TAR authorities to detain a person from outside the TAR and charge them for an alleged crime with no obvious connection to the region.
"The Chinese authorities' determination to systematically silence Tibetan scholars is clear evidence that their aim is to devastate Tibetan culture, language, and religion," Richardson said. "Go Sherab Gyatso's immensely important work should not put him in prison at risk for his life."
( With inputs from ANI )
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