Confirmed Tibetan Writer Serving 4-Year Prison Sentence

A Tibetan writer arrested by Chinese police nearly three years ago has been confirmed to be serving four years in prison for “separation and spreading rumors in Internet chat groups,” according to Tibetans with knowledge of the situation.

Zangkar Jamyang, now 45, disappeared on the night of June 4, 2020, when authorities in Kyungchu County of Ngaba, a Tibetan region in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, took him away without a trace.

For a long time, his family had no idea of ​​his whereabouts, or even that he had been arrested, said a Tibetan from the interior of the region.

Eventually, they found out that he was arrested and charged with “inciting ‘separatist’ acts and participating in online discussions on various topics,” the source told Radio Free Asia.

He is being held in Menyang prison, and his family and relatives cannot see him, he added, referring to the detention center near Chengdu city in Sichuan province.

Chinese authorities frequently detain Tibetan writers and artists who promote Tibetan national identity and culture, and many are sentenced to long prison terms.

Tibetans have at times resisted Chinese efforts to suppress their language and culture by organizing large-scale protests, which are usually suppressed by force.

Jamyang, who is fluent in Tibetan and Chinese, wrote a book and contributed to Tibetan literary magazines, including Damn.

Around March 2020, Jamyang started talking about the importance of teaching the Tibetan language in schools. He criticized the Chinese government when officials began implementing policies to eliminate teaching of the region’s native language in schools.

Jamyang, who is married with two children, encouraged Tibetans to denounce the Chinese government’s efforts to prevent Tibetans from using and teaching their own language.

Authorities questioned the writer many times and searched his laptops and mobile phones, said another Tibetan with knowledge of the situation. He was also stopped a couple of times..

“Jamyang was actively sharing information about the greatness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the preservation of the Tibetan language in online chat groups,” the source said, referring to the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

In 1998, Jamyang left Tibet and learned English while living in Dharamsala. India, residence of the Dalai Lama and seat of the Tibetan government in exile.

But in 2002, he returned to Tibet and provided translation services to United Nations organizations and US NGOs. He also worked as a tour guide and translator for visitors to the region.

In 2019, his visa application to go to the United States was approved, but he was unable to travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 4, 2020, he suddenly disappeared, and only after a long time was his family informed of his arrest by Chinese police, the second source said.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.