Dharamshala: On 26 June 2025, to mark this sombre International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Human Rights Desk of the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, bring forth a report to commemorate and honour the untold numbers of Tibetan political prisoners and the indescribable ordeal they suffered at the hands of Chinese authorities. Since 2000, a harrowing number of Tibetans have lost their lives—some in the confines of prison, others shortly after release, in hospitals and in their own homes. These deaths were not natural. They were the product of the systematic torture, long-term denial of medical care, inhumane conditions and harsh treatment in prison that authorities had inflicted upon them for nothing more than exercising their basic rights—speaking their language, practising their religion, and defending their identity.

The report titled “Torture Deaths of Tibetan Political Prisoners” aims to record these tragedies and share the agonies of Tibetan political prisoners who have lost their lives to Chinese repression. It provides individual profiles and stories of Tibetan political prisoners under thematic sections such as Beaten to Death, Denial of Medical Treatment, Died Post Prison Release, Illness from Prison, Execution, and Erasing Evidence. While many of these prisoners experienced multiple forms of abuse, the report is structured to highlight the most devastating aspects of their ordeals. These stories illuminate the extreme cruelty inflicted in Chinese prisons, the deliberate withholding of urgent medical care, and the systematic attempt to silence truth by erasing evidence of China’s state-sponsored torture.

In publishing this report, we hope to keep the memory alive of those Tibetans who perished fighting against the brutal oppression of the Chinese Communist Party. Their stories must be heard. We need to know their names. We call on the international community to amplify its calls, to uphold international human rights law, and to hold China accountable for its abuses and crime against Tibetans’ rights and identity. Torture is universally condemned under international law and as a State party to the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) as early as 1988, China is under an obligation to cease these abuses. And yet torture in Tibet continues to be systematic, normalised by a legal system that treats peaceful activism as a matter of national security.

If left unchallenged, these practices will not only destroy lives but also perpetuate a cycle of violence and fear for generations to come.

The report is available for reading under the Publications Section of the Tibet.net website.

-Report filed by UN, EU, and the Human Rights Desk, Tibet Advocacy Section, DIIR