A file photo of Tsering Tso hospitalized in 2017. Photo/TCHRD
Dharamshala: A Tibetan woman was detained and intimidated for “illegal” WeChat posts by the Chinese authorities, reported Radio Free Asia’s Chinese news station, who had spoken with her.
As per TCHRD’s report, Tsering Tso was arbitrarily detained on 12 November 2020 by local Chinese officers from her Xining home and was taken to the Trikha (Ch: Guide) County detention centre. Later, she was subjected to a ten-day administrative detention and charged with a monetary fine of 1000 yuan. During her detention, Tsering Tso was subjected to ill-treatment and inhumane interrogation, according to RFA.
Tsering Tso’s detention was unjust and wrongful and even now she remains under intrusive surveillance due to her fearless advocacy for the ideals she believes in. She has been very active and vocal in exposing the corrupt local Chinese officials in Qinghai Province which also brought her to the attention of the local authorities.
Tsering Tso reportedly said she has been under constant surveillance because she is an alumnus of “International Visitor Leadership Program” (IVLP), a premier professional exchange program initiated by the US State Department. Since her return from a short stay in the US, her name has been blacklisted. She received frequent summons as well as warning and threats from the local police.
Tsering Tso was charged with causing “other provocative acts” as listed in Article 26 of the Public Order Administration Punishments Law (POAPL).
Article 26 of the POAPL states, “A person who commits one of the following acts shall be detained for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days and may, in addition, be fined not more than 500 yuan; and if the circumstances are relatively serious, he shall be detained for not less 10 than days but not more than 15 days and may, in addition, be fined not more than 1,000 yuan:
(1) gang-fighting;
(2) chasing or intercepting another person;
(3) forcibly taking and obstinately seizing, or willfully damaging and occupying public or private property; or
(4) other provocative acts.”
Tsering Tso completed the ten-day sentence in the custody of Trikha County PSB along with paying the monetary fine of 1000 yuan but it was never explained to her what precisely constituted “stability-related” issues in her WeChat posts.
According to reports, Tsering Tso was detained in the interrogation room of the PSB of Yushu Prefecture in 2017 after she advocated for the rights of the local Tibetans to apply for passports in accordance with the law in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. She was brutally beaten up by an officer named Jamga of the Immigration Administration Division of Yushu PSB.
China’s stability maintenance policy aimed at strengthening the one-party system must be scrutinized. The paramount importance placed on the Party’s stability should not override and contradict universal Human Rights values. Detention and torture have become entrenched in Tibet as part of the price that Tibetan political activists must pay.
– Filed by UN, EU and Human Rights Desk, DIIR
Police notices issued to Tsering Tso. Photo/TCHRD
