{"id":15471,"date":"2021-01-28T23:06:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T23:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=155807"},"modified":"2021-01-28T23:06:05","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T23:06:05","slug":"tibetan-language-activist-tashi-wangchuk-released-from-prison-after-five-year-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/28\/tibetan-language-activist-tashi-wangchuk-released-from-prison-after-five-year-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Tibetan Language Activist Tashi Wangchuk Released From Prison After Five-Year Term"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Chinese authorities on Thursday released Tibetan activist Tashi Wangchuk from prison after he completed a five-year term for discussing language restrictions with Western media, but rights groups expressed concerns about his health and safety amid ongoing controls on his freedom.<\/p>\n

One of Wangchuk\u2019s lawyers, Liang Xiaojun, announced in a tweet that staffers from the Justice Bureau had taken the activist to his sister\u2019s home in Trindu (in Chinese, Chenduo) county, in Qinghai province\u2019s Yulshul (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and that his family members said, \u201che\u2019s in good health.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Liang noted that he had been unable to meet with Wangchuk or directly contact his family and had not seen a photo of him after his release, and therefore is unsure \u201cwhether or not he is fully free.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the completion of his jail term, Wangchuk\u2014who is around 35 years old\u2014now begins a five-year deprivation of his rights to free expression, association, assembly, publication, vote, and to stand in elections. Although in practice few of these rights actually exist in Tibet, Wangchuk will be subject to near-constant monitoring by authorities.<\/p>\n

A shopkeeper from the Yulshul township of Jyekundo, also called Gyegu, Wangchuk was arrested in January 2016 after giving and interview to The New York Times<\/em> about his inability to secure the right for children in Tibet to learn the Tibetan language as guaranteed in China\u2019s constitution, despite filing a formal complaint with authorities in Beijing.<\/p>\n

He was detained for two years before appearing in court to face charges of \u201cinciting separatism\u201d and in May 2018 was sentenced to five years in Dongchuan Prison, in Qinghai\u2019s provincial capital, Xining.<\/p>\n

According to his lawyers, Wangchuk was repeatedly tortured while being interrogated during his early days in detention, endured threats to the safety of his family, and was denied the right to see legal representatives on multiple occasions\u2014both prior to and after his trial.<\/p>\n

Multiple human rights groups and Western governments have spoken out against his arrest and imprisonment, as well human rights experts from the United Nations.<\/p>\n

While China claims to uphold the rights of all minorities to access a \u201cbilingual education,\u201d Tibetan-language schools have been forced to shut down and kindergarten-aged children regularly only receive instruction in Mandarin Chinese.<\/p>\n

Observers say such policies are aimed at eliminating the next generation of Tibetan speakers and part of a broader effort by the government to destroy Tibetans\u2019 cultural identity. Similar policies are deployed against Mongolians in Inner Mongolia and Uyghurs in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n

Concerns over health and safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. lawmakers and The New York Times welcomed Wangchuk\u2019s release on Thursday, but slammed Beijing for arresting him in the first place.<\/p>\n

Representative James McGovern and Senator Marco Rubio, co-chairs of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), called Wangchuk\u2019s detention \u201carbitrary\u201d and said he \u201cshould never have spent a single day behind bars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be monitoring Tashi Wangchuk\u2019s condition and call on Chinese authorities to ensure that he is fully free from all post-release restrictions\u201d the lawmakers said in a joint statement, that also expressed concern over Beijing\u2019s language policies.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for The New York Times applauded Wangchuk\u2019s release in an emailed statement to RFA\u2019s Tibetan Service, adding that \u201chis imprisonment was an action that appeared intended to silence critics, impede the free flow of information, and ultimately deprive Chinese citizens of information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rights groups questioned whether Wangchuk is truly free, given his ongoing deprivation of rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are pleased that Tashi can finally return home to his family after five years, no one should view his release as a victory,\u201d Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese government falsely charged Tashi with breaking the law, held him for years despite an international call for his release, subjected him to a sham prosecution and caused him unimaginable physical and psychological damage, all while refusing to address his legitimate concerns about Tibetans\u2019 language rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICT also expressed concerns about Wangchuk\u2019s long-term health and safety, noting that some Tibetans have died after their release from prison as a result of the beatings they have received as inmates, while others have been re-arrested.<\/p>\n

John Jones, campaign manager for London-based Free Tibet, called it an \u201coutrage\u201d that Wangchuk was ever jailed in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is further galling that he will now have his rights further curtailed and repressed,\u201d Jones said, adding that governments should \u201ctake joint action calling on authorities to immediately lift all restrictions on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tenzin Tselha, campaigns officer for San Francisco-based International Tibet Network, noted that Wangchuk \u201cremains unfree\u201d amid his deprivation of political rights that \u201cwill see his every action surveilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTashi\u2019s only \u2018crime\u2019 was to peacefully call for the right of Tibetans to learn in their own language and governments must take strong, assertive action calling for his human rights to be upheld following his release,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sophie Richardson, China Director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Wangchuk\u2019s complaint was lodged peacefully and according to both Chinese and international law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that the Chinese government doesn\u2019t want anybody reporting on Tibet, Xinjiang or other human rights violations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community must not only focus on defending people like Tashi Wangchuk and the importance of press freedom and freedom of expression, but they should focus on holding Chinese officials accountable who are responsible for these human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Non-Release Release\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A day ahead of Wangchuk\u2019s release, rights group Safeguard Defenders issued a report entitled \u201cChina\u2019s False Freedom\u201d which details the practice of Non-Release Release (NRR) in which prisoners, once freed from jail or a detention center, are arbitrarily detained by the police at their home, at a hotel or in a secret location for weeks, months or even years.<\/p>\n

In a statement accompanying the report, Safeguard Defenders said the study of how China places released prisoners and detainees into an illegal form of house arrest entirely outside of the judicial system \u201ccould not be more timely as the world now watches what will happen to Tibetan activist Tashi Wangchuk\u201d upon his release.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is widely expected that Tashi will be not be freed,\u201d the statement predicted. \u201cRather, police will likely spirit him into some form of NRR.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter Dahlin, founder and director of Safeguard Defenders, called NRR \u201cyet another example of systematic illegal behaviour by Chinese police that make a mockery of China\u2019s justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt renders serving your sentence or being released on bail meaningless, when being freed simply means being moved into another form of imprisonment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reported by RFA\u2019s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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