Radio Free Asia-Reported by Lobsang Choephel
Two Tibetan monks arrested by authorities in western China’s Sichuan province are incommunicado five months after being taken into custody, with family members increasingly worried about their well-being, RFA has learned.
Tenzin Norbu and Wangchen Nyima, who are brothers, were arrested on Aug. 15, 2021, and are being held in a prison in Tawu (in Chinese, Daofu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a Tibetan living in exile in New York said.
“It has been five months since their arrests, but the reasons for their arrests and their current situation are still unknown,” RFA’s source said, citing contacts in the region and speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The two monks are nephews of Tulku Choekyi Nyima, abbot of Nenang Monastery in Sichuan’s Drago (Luhuo) county, where Chinese authorities at another monastery recently demolished two large statues revered by Tibetan Buddhists. Tibetans who objected to the demolition were arrested and beaten. Click here to read more.