Wangdu (activist)

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For the county in Hebei province, China, see Wangdu County.

Wangdu (Tib: དབང་སྐུད་, dbang sdud ; Chinese: Wangdui) is a former Tibetan monk who became an HIV/AIDS activist at the age of 41. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for "endangering state security", and in 2012 he was in hospital.

Wangdu was born in the

17-Point Agreement was forced on an independent Tibet. Thus he became a political prisoner, and he was released from prison in 1995.[1]
However, he was prohibited by Chinese law from re-entering his monastery because he had received a prison sentence.

Wangdu went on to work with a British

Public Security Bureau at his home in Lhasa on 14 March, and was held incommunicado until his trial seven months later.[2]

On 7 November 2008, he was sentenced by the Lhasa City Intermediate People's Court to life imprisonment and lifetime deprivation of political rights on a charge of "endangering state security".[4] It was alleged that he had set up an underground intelligence network in Lhasa to provide national security information to the "Dalai clique" (a term used by the Chinese government to describe individuals and organisations sympathetic with the Dalai Lama's views). It was also alleged that the network had produced and distributed materials that aimed to split the country by inciting a "Tibetan people's uprising".[2] Wangdu was one of a group of seven Tibetans who were convicted of espionage and of transferring information to foreign countries.[1][5] He was subsequently transferred to Chushul prison near Lhasa. The only way that the Burnet Institute could only obtain information concerning him was via the press.[3]

According to official Chinese reports, by 2011 Wangdu was incarcerated in

Drapchi prison in Lhasa.[2] The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy claim that he was being kept in solitary confinement in hospital at the end of February 2012 guarded by three police officers. They reported that "one of his hands was apparently broken and he had one side of his head shaven" and suggested that his injuries may have resulted from beatings in prison.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Gulotta, Nick (5 March 2009). "Profiles in Courage: Day 7 – March 4th". Students for a Free Tibet. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Action: Political Prisoner Profiles". Tibet Society. August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Australian aid group says Tibet worker has been missing since March". New York Times. 22 November 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Tibet: Seven Sentenced to Life Imprisonment". Unrepresented nations and Peoples Organisation. Punjab Newsline. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  5. ^ "NGO worker sentenced to life imprisonment: harsh sentences signal harder line on blocking news from Tibet". savetibet.org. International Campaign for Tibet. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Severe beatings and arrests continue in Tibet". Phayul. Dharamshala. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
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