Jigme Gyatso
Jigme Gyatso | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966 Luchang, Jiujia Township, Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, People's Republic of China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Other names | Guri, Golog Jigme |
| Occupation(s) | independence activist, filmmaker |
| Known for | Leaving Fear Behind, 2008 arrest |
Jigme Gyatso (born 1966; also known as Guri or Golog Jigme) is a Tibetan filmmaker, human rights activist, and former monk who has been repeatedly imprisoned by the PRC government on charges relating to his activism.
Early life
Jigme Gyatso was born in 1966 in the village of Luchang, Jiujia Township, Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province.[1] He entered Labrang Monastery at the age of 14 to become a Buddhist monk.[1] He has two sisters and a brother, and his brother's son, Sangay Gyatso, has lived with Jigme Gyatso at the monastery from a young age.[1]
He was first arrested by authorities following a 2006 trip to meet with the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama in India.[1] On his return, he was immediately detained without charge for forty days before being released for lack of evidence, and over RMB 10,000 in cash intended as a donation to the monastery was allegedly confiscated from him and not returned.[1]
Leaving Fear Behind
In 2007 and 2008, Jigme Gyatso assisted Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen in the making of Leaving Fear Behind, a documentary film which interviewed Tibetan people on their opinions of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government in the months preceding the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[2][3] In March, they had completed filming and just smuggled the tapes out of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, when riots erupted and began to spread through Tibetan-majority areas of China.[2] As part of the government response that followed, both Jigme Gyatso and Dhondup Wangchen were detained on March 28 in Tong De, Qinghai Province.[4]
The 25-minute documentary resulting from Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso's footage was described by The New York Times as "an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government".[5] It was compiled from 40 hours of interview footage[5] shot by a single camera.[6] The documentary premiered on the opening day of the Olympics and was clandestinely screened for foreign reporters in Beijing.[7]
Trial, release, and re-arrest
Dhondup Wangchen was later sentenced to six years' imprisonment, a sentence he was still serving as of January 2010.[2] Front Line reported that he was believed to be held in a secret prison.[4] Jigme Gyatso was sentenced to seven months in Linxia prison, during which time he was reportedly tortured by prison authorities.[2] He later detailed his allegations in video testimony to Human Rights Watch:
For a whole month I was kept handcuffed most days and nights. During the interrogation, I was left hanging with my hands tied behind my back. They punched my face and chest. They accused me of having connections with people abroad such as the Dalai Lama, Samdhong Rinpoche [head of the Tibetan government in exile], and Akya Rinpoche [a senior Lama at Kumbum in Qinghai province who defected in 1998 and now lives in the US].[8]
Jigme Gyatso also stated that he was repeatedly hospitalized as a result of losing consciousness from the beatings.[8]
On 3 September 2008, Jigme Gyatso's video testimony with Human Rights Watch was later replayed by Voice of America in Tibet.[9] On 4 November, two months later, Jigme Gyatso was rearrested and held for six months without charge.[8] He returned to his monastery on 2 May 2009.[2]
International reaction
Jigme Gyatso and Dhondup Wanghcen's arrests have been condemned by numerous human rights groups. Amnesty International protested the arrests of both men, noting Jigme Gyatso to be at risk of further torture[9] and naming Dhondup Wangchen a prisoner of conscience.[10] Human Rights Watch,[8] Front Line,[4] The Committee to Protect Journalists,[11] and the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy[3] all advocated on Jigme Gyatso's behalf.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Political prisoner: Lama Jigme Gyatso (aka Guri)". freetibet.org. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Jane Macartney (8 January 2010). "Film-maker Dhondup Wangchen jailed for letting Tibetans tell their tale". The Times. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Chinese authorities re-arrest Jigme Gyatso". Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "China: Arrest of human rights defender Mr Jigme Gyatso, and detention of human rights defender Mr Dhondup Wangchen". Front Line. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ a b Andrew Jacobs (30 October 2009). "China Is Trying a Tibetan Filmmaker for Subversion". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Denchen Pemba. "The story of Dhondup Wangchen, filmmaker jailed in China". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ Michael Bristow (6 August 2008). "Clandestine Olympic protests". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d "I Saw It with My Own Eyes". Human Rights Watch. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ a b "People's Republic of China – Tibet Autonomous Region: A year of escalating human rights violations" (PDF). Amnesty International. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ "CHINA: TIBETAN FILM-MAKER MAY FACE UNFAIR TRIAL, DHONDUP WANGCHEN". Amnesty International. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ "Security officials re-arrest Tibetan filmmaker Jigme Gyatso". Committee to Protect Journalists. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2011.