Translated by Tashi Namgyal
Edited By Yangchen Tso
The Chinese police officials re-educated Gonpo Kyi’s husband, Choekyong, for five days and later released on December 18, 2023.
A concerned Tibetan informed Tibet Times, “Lhasa police released Choekyong on the morning of December 18, 2023, but where Gonpo Kyi has been detained and when she will be released are yet unknown.”
The source added, “The Chinese police have kept Choekyong in detention for five days, and he has been re-educated not to hold any appealing protest in the future.”
On December 13, 2023, Gonpo Kyi and her husband, Choekyong, were doing a demonstration when a group of police officials showed up and arrested the two—following the incident, where they were taken, and additional details remain unknown. For Gonpo Kyi, she had been detained once before but was later released.
It is unknown how much Choekyong had been subjected to physical and mental torture during this detention period. Still, it is common for the Chinese police to arrest Tibetans randomly and inflict inhuman suffering on them. All the Tibetan former political prisoners have told stories of torment that they experienced in the Chinese prisons and labeled them as the ‘hell on Earth.’
Gonpo Kyi protested in 2022 in different ways, such as by prostration in front of Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court and Drapchi prison for her brother Dorjee Tashi’s false imprisonment and not allowing her to visit him. During these peaceful demonstrations, Gonpo Kyi, her husband, and her brother, Dorjee Tsedan, have often been arrested, beaten, and threatened.
Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi was sentenced to life imprisonment through a secret trial in 2010. After serving ten years in prison, his lawyer and family members repeatedly appealed to higher authorities for a revision of the case but were provided with no result. Therefore, since October of last year, his elder sister Gonpo Kyi and younger brother Dorjee Tsedan have been protesting spontaneously in front of the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court, and police officials often interrogated and threatened them to discourage future demonstrations.
