Tibet: 18 Year Old Panchen Lama still Missing
The 25 April 2007 marks the birthday of the now 18 year old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the XIth Panchen Lama of Tibet who has been missing for twelve years.On Monday 24 April 2007, UNPO joined the International Campaign for Tibet in The Hague to mark the Panchen Lama’s birthday and to support a petition that was handed to the Dutch parliament.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family have been missing for twelve years: Many believe that he was kidnapped by the Chinese authorities, who to this day, refuse to let the world know about his whereabouts.
Below is a press statement that was published on The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Website.
In the last decade numerous governments and independent organizations have pressed the authorities in
A year later, in an official communication from
In the latest initiative, human rights group, Amnesty International raised concern about the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama with the Chinese government and asked the Chinese authorities to allow him freedom of movement. In addition, this year during the UN Human Rights Council meeting a joint statement was made by 15 NGOs describing the disappearance of the XIth Panchen Lama of Tibet a continuous crime.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour, raised the case of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima to the Chinese authorities during an official visit to
Likewise, the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom and Belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, on 9 January 2005 raised her concern, "about the grave interference with the freedom of belief of the Tibetan Buddhists who have the right to determine their clergy in accordance with their own rites and who have been deprived of their religious leader."
Last year, the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance of the UN Commission on Human Rights stated that it "would appreciate being provided by the Government of China with documents supporting its statement that he and his parents had appealed to the Government for protection and at present are "leading normal lives and enjoying perfect health."
The People's Republic of
BACKGROUND:
On 14 May 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced that the then six-years old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the Xth Panchen Lama. Three days later, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents disappeared and have never been seen again.
In addition, Chadrel Rinpoche, a former abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery seat of Panchen Lama, and Chairman of the Search Committee for the reincarnation of the XIth Panchen Lama and his assistant Champa Chungla disappeared from
Although his sentence ended on 13 May 2001 following the completion of a six-year prison term, there is no credible information on his whereabouts or on his state of health. Jampa Chungla, a former assistant of Chadrel Rinpoche, was arrested in 1995 for his participation in the search committee of the XIth Panchen Lama. He was sentenced to a four- year prison term and to a two-year deprivation of political rights. There is also no information on Champa Chungla after the completion of his original four-year prison term.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is gravely concerned at the continued disappearance and detention of the Panchen Lama and his parents and appeals for their unconditional release. TCHRD urges the International bodies to pressure the