Tibet Watch has learned that Rinchen Tsultrim, a 29-year-old Tibetan monk, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

The sentence was handed down by a court in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. Rinchen’s parents were called on 26 March this year to inform them of the decision. The Chinese authorities said that his family members may visit him; however, details of the charges for his imprisonment were not explained. He is reportedly held in Xinduqiao, or Miyang Prison, located near Chengdu.

On 1 August 2019, Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) County Public Security Bureau arrested Rinchen on suspicion of “separatism” at Kardo in Ngaba County, Sichuan Province. During the entire period of his arbitrary detention, which lasted more than a year, his exact location was never disclosed, leaving his family and close relatives in protracted uncertainty and fear.

In December 2020, Tibet Watch obtained an official notice issued by Ngaba Public Security Bureau, dated 23 March 2020, stating that Rinchen was charged with inciting separatism, a state security crime. According to Tibet Watch’s sources, he was accused of publishing articles on Tibet issues on his WeChat account.

Under constant pressure from Chinese authorities

Son of Tashi Dhondup and Tsomo, Rinchen hails from a humble farming family, with five siblings in Kashul village, Ngaba County, Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. He enrolled at Nangshe (or Nangshik) Monastery of Bon religion at the age of six. The Chinese authorities label his sister, who is in India, as an activist in exile and is under close scrutiny. The Chinese authorities had last year posted the photo of her detained brother on his WeChat account as a warning. Rinchen’s family is said to be under constant pressure from the Chinese authorities.

Even before 2016, the cyber-surveillance authorities had frequently suspended Rinchen’s WeChat accounts. Rinchen continued to reconnect on social media and reopened an online account under the name of “niren1959”.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 and this year is profoundly etched in the memory of Tibetans. The symbolic and unforgettable year is reflected in the email ID, passwords, and profile names of Tibetans on social media.

On 25 April 2019, the birthday of the 11th Panchen Lama who was disappeared by the Chinese government at the age of six, Rinchen’s telephone conversation with Tibetans outside Tibet was monitored and recorded. In 2018, the Public Security Bureau warned him twice for his online social media posts. His personal website entitled in Tibetan “བོད་དུ་ཆད་ལྟ་བ།” (“Skepticism on Tibet”) was also shut down. He is well-known for his commitment to preserving the Tibetan language. A Tibetan religious scripture he had obtained from abroad by post was perceived as a threat and its delivery in remote areas of Tibet was tracked by the post office.

Rinchen Tsultrim’s final post on 30 July 2019 on his account “niren1959” says:

“ངེས་དོན་གྱི་འདུལ་བ་པ་ཞིག་གིས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་མཁྱེན་དཔྱོད་གླེང་གིན་འདུག དད་པའི་ཡུལ་ཡིན། འདི་ཕྱིའི་སྐྱབས་ཡིན།”

“The one who has realised the truth of discipline/morality speaks the wisdom of Buddha

The one who is the source of faith

The one who is the refuge of this life and afterlife”