TWA Marks 14 years in Captivity of the 20 year old 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet
May 17, 2009: 14 years of enforced disappearance, incarceration and coerced incommunicado of Tibet's 11th Panchen Lama has borne its heavy brunt on the exile Tibetans and the world at large. With no access to verifiable information about Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the then six year old boy from Nagchu District, Tibet, who on 14th May s 1995, was identified by H.H the Dalai Lama to be the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, the concern about his safety and whereabouts is mounting and the patience of the Tibetans is wearing its thinnest armor. The continued detention of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents further evidences the serious case of political oppression, social suppression and religious repression in Tibet and it is a blatant rejection by the Chinese government of the recommendations of the international human rights bodies.
Amidst such paradigm, the release of Tibet's revered and spiritual leader, the Panchen Lama is importunate and to this end, TWA convened a Panel discussion on May 17, 2009, on the 14th anniversary of Panchen Lama's abduction intended to discuss as to how we can best can decide the future course of action and bring about an effective and a strategic means to secure the release of the imprisoned Panchen Lama. The speakers; Gyari Dolma, Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Urgyen Tenzin, Director, Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, Lobsang Tashi, Researcher, Central Association for His Holiness the Panchen Lama, Lungrik Gyal, Editor, Tibet Times and Gang Lhamo, Reporter, Tibet Express, focused on and expounded on the topic of discussion; 'Can we secure the Release of the 11th Panchen Lama after 14 years of His abduction?'
The first speaker Mrs. Gyari Dolma began her deliberation saying that there is a prolonged sense of urgency and the question at stake is whether the Panchen Lama is alive or not? In applauding the efforts of TWA in shouldering a pivotal role in seeking the release of the imprisoned Panchen Lama, she emphasized that Tibetans and Tibet supporters across the globe have put in tremendous effort to secure the release of the 11th Panchen Lama and albeit He is not free right now, she believes that all our efforts have not gone in vain. She also stressed that through united and concerted efforts, we have been successful in building enough pressure on the Chinese government who had to acknowledge that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is indeed in their custody. She further assured us that if we continue to build international awareness, then we can definitely secure His release. The deputy speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in exile said that when the news about Panchen Lama's demise was printed in an Italian Newspaper on April 20, 2009, the deputy speaker happened to be in Italy for an official visit and she had requested the Italian Parliament and the Italian Information Office to verify the information. Gyari Dolma divulged an interesting piece of information that April 25 (the birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima) is co-incidentally marked as the Italian Liberation Day and therefore the Italian government and its people hold a special affinity towards Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
The second speaker Mr. Urgen Tenzin made an important remark that albeit the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has not been very successful in safe-guarding the rights of all human beings in this world, but he is confident that if we are to achieve any concrete solutions regarding the Panchen Lama, it has to be through this organization and therefore, he deem it imperative that we are able to use the UN platform to voice our concerns about the Panchen Lama's safety. Urgen Tenzin vehemently commented that Panchen Lama's confinement is political in nature and therefore the Tibetans and Tibet supporters should work consistently and relentlessly to seek the release of the Panchen Lama.
The third speaker Mr. Lungrik Gyal stressed that before we discuss the possibilities of the Panchen Lama's release, we have to first find out whether he is alive or not. He further expounded on the news article published in an Italian article on April 20, 2009 just five days prior to the Panchen Lama's 20th birthday, claiming that He is dead. He also explained that as the editor of the largest selling Tibetan newspaper (Bod Kyi Dus Bab), he is currently in correspondence with the journalist from Japan who wrote that article and he deem it very significant to unearth truth about this matter.
The fourth speaker Mr. Lobsang Tashi suggested that since Panchen Lama is a world spiritual leader, the two main things that the exile community could do are; appeal to all the leaders of different faiths and generate support from them in securing the Panchen Lama's release and raise awareness about the plight of the 11th Panchen Lama amongst Buddhist people in the Himalayan region. He cited a slice from history and said that since the 10th Panchen Lama had a very special relation with the people of that region, we can afford to succeed in garnering tremendous support from them in seeking His release. Lobsang further explained that if we could coordinate a campaign to free the Panchen Lama with the people of the Himalayan region, then this will definitely serve the purpose of hitting the conscience of the Indian Government and significantly that of the Chinese government to this urgent matter.
The fifth speaker Gang Lhamo said that if we had in-depth knowledge of the Chinese government's laws and particularly the laws safeguarding the rights of prisoners, then we could challenge the atrocities of the Chinese government by quoting their own law. She further said that it is increasingly important for us to build mutual trust and friendly relationships with the common Chinese citizens and significantly because we are all hit hard by the fact that the Chinese government's political propaganda has incited hatred amongst Chinese citizen against us. She admitted with conviction that we can definitely have them voice their concern for the missing Panchen Lama. Therefore the crux of Gang lhamo's deliberation is that we as Tibetan Buddhists need to act on educating the Chinese people about the hard facts about the Panchen Lama.
The discussion held at Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) was moderated by Tashi Wangchuk, reporter for Voice of Tibet. The question-answer session thats followed as a culmination of the panel discussion facilitated ample opportunity for the audience to raise questions.
TWA is convinced that this kind of a well-structured and a strategic discussion will essentially clear the ambiguity and unearth cardinal means and measures for the expeditious and unconditional release of the detained Panchen Lama. This is paramount to assuage the 14 years of the international outrage and the earnest appeal and outcry of the Tibetan people for his release.
TWA's participation in the 36th session of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in September 2005 resulted in the CRC recommendation to the Chinese authorities to "allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the well-being of Gedun Choekyi Nyima while respecting his right to privacy, and that of his parents." Subsequently, TWA's representation at the 41st session of United Nations Committee against Torture in November 2008 saw the CAT experts laying strong emphasis on the need to follow-up and implement the recommendation of Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on Panchen Lama made in the year 2005.
The Chinese Government's continued abduction of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima violates the basic principles enshrined in the general human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Albeit we continue to request and seek the intervention of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance (UNWGEID), but it is palpable that the Chinese government holds the key to 14 years of Panchen Lama's confinement and consequently His release.
In a bid to eliminate H.H the Dalai Lama's influence in Tibet and to gain political mileage out of spiritual traditions, the Chinese government in November 1995 installed a different boy as the 11th Panchen Lama. This imprudent gesture exposes the Chinese government's insecurity regarding its illegitimate authority in Tibet. The 20 year old Gendun Choekyi Nyima who has been made a pawn in the Chinese government's game for political control in Tibetan spiritual affairs, is now mature enough to fend, protect and speak for Himself without the Chinese government's alleged protection and security. The Chinese authorities must bear the thrust of this abominable act.
Tibetan Women's Association stands unreserved in our vehement condemnation of the atrocities of the Chinese Government and we beseech the Chinese government to immediately release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and to come to the understanding that the Chinese state interference in the religious affairs of Tibet threatens the very survival of a religious tradition that has flourished for over 2000 years. We will step up our efforts in our relentless pursuit of our goal; to ensure the safe return of Panchen Lama to his rightful abode (Tashi Lhunpo monastery) and to see the complete restoration of His freedom and His political and religious rights.
Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) has 49 regional chapters and over 15, 000 members outside Tibet. Today, TWA is the second largest Tibetan NGO and the only women's NGO in our exile that advocates human rights for Tibetan women in Tibet and empowerment of Tibetan women in exile, particularly the new refugee women from Tibet.