Tibetan monk Rinchen Zhuzhen, a Tibetan monk from Aba, was arrested in August 2019 on charges of “separatism” and was not heard from until March this year, when authorities informed his family that he had been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison and was currently being held in a Chengdu prison.
It is reported that the Tibetan monk, Rinchen Zettshen, his friend, Lohri Zettshen, and another anonymous person were arrested on Aug. 1, 2019, in Aba County on “suspicion of inciting secession. The two monks were released a few days after their arrest, but the location of Rinzin’s detention is unknown. It is feared that his arrest was related to a few days of phone calls via WeChat with his sister Gonsang Drolma in India.
In addition, Rinchen and his younger brother Lobzin were arrested twice in 2018 for communicating with Tibetans outside of China via WeChat, and the authorities banned Rinchen from using WeChat. On the occasion of the birth anniversary of the Panchen Lama in 2019, Rinchen was again caught communicating with Tibetans outside of China through social networking tools.
According to Amnesty International’s annual human rights report, the Chinese Communist authorities have cracked down on human rights defenders and dissidents, increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and using “anti-secession”, “anti-extremist”, and “anti-security” measures in Tibet and Xinjiang. In the name of “anti-separatism,” “anti-extremism,” and “anti-terrorism,” the Chinese authorities have carried out large-scale systematic crackdowns on ethnic minorities.
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