Urgent Action: TIBETAN MONK JAILED FOR ONLINE MESSAGES (China: UA 72.21)
June 25, 2021
Tibetan monk Rinchen Tsultrim was sentenced to four years and six months in prison in March 2020 without a fair trial. His family members only learned of the sentencing a year later when they were officially informed he was being held in an unnamed prison in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. No other information about his condition or even the charges against Tsultrim Rinchen have been shared to date. His family believes he has been imprisoned for expressing political views on his WeChat account and personal website. Without access to family and legal representation, there are grave concerns for Rinchen Tsultrim’s condition and wellbeing.
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TAKE ACTION:
Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on August 25, 2021.
Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 72.21. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Director Chen Zhilin
Sichuan Province Prison Administration Bureau
No. 1, Binjiangzhong Lu, Chengdu
610020 Sichuan Province
People’s Republic of China
Ambassador Cui Tiankai
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: 202 495 2266 / Fax: 202 495 2138
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ChineseEmbinUS ; @AmbCuiTiankai
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Director Chen,
I am writing to express my concern about Rinchen Tsultrim (仁青持真), a Tibetan Monk who was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment in March 2020 without any known trial.
It is distressing to learn that Rinchen Tsultrim’s family members only learned about his sentence when the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Bureau informed them in March 2021 that he was in a prison in Chengdu. In March 2020 his family received official information that he was suspected of “inciting separatism”. However, no other official information about his condition or even the charges he was convicted of have been shared with his family to date.
Rinchen Tsultrim’s family believe that his imprisonment is related to his expression of his political views on his WeChat account and personal website. According to international human rights law and standards, no one should be imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.
I am alarmed to learn that Rinchen Tsultrim appears to have been held incommunicado since August 1, 2019. Without regular access to family and legal representation, I am gravely concerned about his condition and wellbeing.
I therefore call on you to:
Release Rinchen Tsultrim unless there is sufficient, credible and admissible evidence that he committed an internationally recognized offence and is granted a fair trial in line with international standards;
Pending his release, disclose Rinchen Tsultrim’s whereabouts and ensure that he has regular, unrestricted access to his family and lawyers of his choice and is not subjected further to torture or other ill-treatment.
