Centre’s researcher Nyiwoe and legal associate Phurbu Dolma during the release of the Tibetan guidebook on “Engaging with the UN Special Procedures” 24 October 2023 – To mark the 78th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) founding, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has released “Engaging with the Special Procedures”, a Tibetan guidebook on one of the most significant human rights mechanisms: the Special Procedures. Part of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) framework, the Special Procedures constitute a vital cadre of independent human rights experts and working group ..read more

Last Tuesday, China retained its membership in the Human Rights Council, the UN’s premier rights body responsible for protecting and promoting human rights globally. China received 154 votes in its reelection bid, up from 139 it received in 2020. This is the sixth time China has been elected to the Council.  “That China, with its long and egregious human rights record, can get itself elected to the Human Rights Council time and again is symptomatic of the deep ills that plague the UN human rights system,” said Ms Tenzin Dawa, executive director of TCHRD. “The international community has l ..read more

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), represented by the executive director, Ms Tenzin Dawa, and researcher, Mr Ngawang Lungtok, actively participated in the working sessions of the 54th Human Rights Council session. This participation included attending side events, delivering oral statements, and meetings with various diplomatic missions and NGO partners based in Geneva, Switzerland.   TCHRD executive director Ms Tenzin Dawa (right) and researcher Mr Ngawang Lungtok (left) at the UN Human Rights Council Session In the lead-up to the fourth cycle of the Universa ..read more

TCHRD’s Tibetan researcher, Mr. Nyiwoe, moderated the panel discussion featuring three former political prisoners and a Tibetan human rights researcher In 2012, China amended its Criminal Procedure Law, introducing a provision in Article 73 that marked an unconventional departure from established legal norms. This provision enabled a practice known as “Residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL), which allowed authorities to detain individuals without formal arrest for up to six months. Notably, this detention could occur at a location chosen by the police, circumventing the nee ..read more

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) strongly condemns the continued persecution of the well-known Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk, who had been released from prison in 2021 after serving five years’ prison term on the trumped-up charges of “inciting separatism”. Since his release from unjust imprisonment, Tashi Wangchuk has faced persistent restrictions  and limitations on his movement and activities even as he continued to advocate for the promotion and protection of the Tibetan language.  The latest persecution faced by the Tibetan language rig ..read more

Writer Dhi Lhaden’s release following four years of confinement raises concerns over the uncertainty surrounding his physical and psychological well-being, compounded by the limited accessibility of information relating to his present circumstances. In addition to media reports, TCHRD sources have confirmed the release of Lhaden and his return to his residence, an occasion met with much joy from fellow Tibetans. However, no immediate and comprehensive information can be obtained about his current physical and psychological condition due to heavy restrictions placed upon him and others to stop ..read more

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) submitted a UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report ahead of the fourth periodic review of the People’s Republic of China in January 2024.  The submission outlined a number of concerns and recommendations on specific human rights issues, including repression of Tibetan Buddhism, systematic attacks on the Tibetan language, freedom of expression and association, denial of legal rights of detainees and prisoners, and torture. TCHRD will conduct a series of advocacy and lobbying activities in the months leading up to the review, targ ..read more

Chinese authorities are systematically removing from its publicly accessible databases records of court verdicts involving Tibetans convicted of engaging in the vaguely worded and broadly defined crimes of “endangering state security”. Recent information received by TCHRD confirms that such records are not only made inaccessible for cases in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) but also in other Tibetan areas outside TAR. This means that an unknown number of Tibetans are tried and sentenced in secret with no official acknowledgment or information about their imprisonment. The court verdict of the ..read more

Almost five years after his arbitrary detention and unjust imprisonment on politically motivated charges, prominent Tibetan activist A-nya Sengdra is being subjected to further injustices. Mr Sengdra is a prominent activist known for successfully mobilising local Tibetan nomads and carrying out campaigns against government corruption and environmental destruction in his hometown of Kyangche (Ch: Jiangqian) Township, Gade (Ch: Gande) County, Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo. Along with eight other associates, Mr Sengdra wa ..read more

Every year on 26 June, the United Nations observes the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to highlight torture’s profoundly damaging and distressing consequences and its lasting generational impacts, serving as a reminder that torture is a deliberate and calculated infliction of severe physical and mental suffering that cannot be justified in any manner or form.  The UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment recognises that torture is perpetrated with the intent to extract confessions, punish dissenters, instil fear or perp ..read more