Dharamshala: Lobsang Choephel, a Tibetan monk from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba (Ch: Aba), was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by the Chinese authorities in early October 2022, according to a reliable source.

According to the source, the Chinese authorities arrested him in the summer of this year and held him in custody until he was sentenced in October. At this time, the source says that the reason for his arrest, as well as his current location and well-being, remain unknown.

In 2011, Lobsang Choephel was arrested for resisting and protesting against the “patriotic education campaign” or “legal education” that the Chinese authority had forced on monks along with an indefinite ban on normal religious activities at the monastery, reported the Central Tibetan Administration. As part of the patriotic education session, Tibetans are forced to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Lobsang Choephel hails from Chakhog Chukleygap in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Ngaba (Ch: Aba), in the traditional province of Amdo. His parents are Gatse and Nekyi, and since childhood, he has been a monk at Kirti Monastery. His younger brother Lobsang, a monk at Kirti monastery, had previously been imprisoned by the Chinese police.

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