-Sourced by Free Tibet
Three still remain in detention while a stone memorial honouring resistance to the 1959 invasion found to be destroyed
Tibet Watch reported that around 117 Tibetans from Dza Wonpo Township detained en masse were released one by one from 23 September onwards. The detainees, who had been held in Sershul County Detention Centre since late August, were subjected to a month-long interrogation, torture, political re-education and march-past drills by Chinese authorities.
Despite these releases, three monks who were arrested on 3 September, still remain in detention. One of them, rearrested on 26 September, was amongst the four released from the at least 121 arrested, the source confirmed.
Upon the release of the 117 detainees, a stone memorial honouring the history of local Tibetan freedom fighters was found to be destroyed. Several officials elected in 2020 had already issued orders for it to be destroyed but it had remained in place until late September this year, having been previously granted authorisation from higher offices in 2016 when it was built. It is located in the vicinity of Dza Wonpo Monastery, Gaden Shedrub Dhargye Ling, where local Tibetans killed many soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army during their invasion in 1959. The source explained that the memorial was built at the request of local Tibetans who strongly identify themselves with its engraving, “Courageous/Indomitable Wonpos’ (Tib:དཔའ་ངར་ཅན་གྱི་དབོན་པོ།). It was installed at a time when the construction of highway, bridge and dam were underway in the region.
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