Prominent Tibetan writer and co-founder and editor of the first-ever Tibetan literary website 'Chomei' (Butter Lamp) Kunchok Tsephel has reportedly been released by Chinese authorities after a harrowing 13 years in prison.
Tsephel who had been detained 13 years ago in 2009, was convicted of "leaking state secrets" and subsequently sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.
Kunchok Tsephel served four years of his 15-year sentence in Dingxi prison, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, before being transferred in August 2013 to a new prison nearby where the harsher conditions raised serious concerns for his health, according to Pen International, an organisation that advocates protection of 'Freedom to right'.
Facing harrowing conditions, Tsephal's family was allowed to visit him only once every two months, and they were only permitted to speak to him for 30 minutes in Chinese via an intercom across a glass screen, the report said.
They were not allowed to speak in Tibetan, which was extremely difficult and disconcerting for many of his nomadic family members who do not understand Chinese. His mother in particular was extremely distressed about the fact that she is unable to communicate with her son during prison visits, Pen International said.
Tsephel's website which was jointly created with leading Tibetan poet Kyabchen Dedrol in 2005 promoted Tibetan culture and literature and featured both classical and contemporary Tibetan writing. His website was censored or closed on various occasions by Chinese authorities.
Tsephel lived in exile in India in 1989 before returning to China for further studies. In 1995, according to the Tibetan website Phayul, he was allegedly detained and tortured for two months before being released without charge. At the time of his arrest in 2009, Tsephel was working as an environmental officer for the Chinese government.
The case of Kunchok Tsephel is only one among the several thousands of Tibetans who have been deprived of their basic human rights in China over the past many decades, which continues to this date.
Recently, the Chinese authorities introduced a new code of conduct for members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Tibet that explicitly forbids party members from all forms of religiosity in both public and private life.
Another new regulation called 'Measures on the Administration of Internet Religious Informative Services' which came into effect on March 1 bans all foreign organizations and individuals from spreading religious content online in China and Tibet except those who have acquired government licenses.
At the same time, China has also started to demolish structures symbolizing Tibetan Buddhism including old statues and monasteries with at least three such demolitions taking place since December last year as per reports.
( With inputs from ANI )
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