Over 1,800 Tibetans Reported to be Detained in Chinese Prisons

12-12- 2021

Elle van der Cam

Tibet and Human Rights Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 10th of December 2021, International Human Rights Day, the Dharamshala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) launched an online database of Tibetan political prisoners, and have now announced that 1,809 individuals are currently detained in Chinese prisons. The database also holds information on 5,518 Tibetan political prisoners compiled since 1990. These numbers are a result of reviewing older documents in TCHRD’s archive and cross-checking with similar databases. The data on the 5,518 political prisoners are all verified cases included in the database as a result of sufficient evidence. It was also announced that 3,067 prisoners had been released, showing a significant number of Tibetans political prisoners have either disappeared, died or information is still missing. The data included in this recent database is only from cases procured from open sources, meaning unknown cases are yet to be unearthed. Over 300 cases of detention lie unresolved in TCHRD’s records as they lack information on the prisoners after completed sentences. 

This information alone demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities against Tibetan citizens. The TCHRD calls on the international community to act now to save the lives of Tibetan political prisoners. 

Sources and further reading:

Over 1,800 Tibetans detained in Chinese prisons: Human rights organization, ANI NEWS. 12 December 2021, https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/over-1800-tibetans-detained-in-chinese-prisons-human-rights-organization20211212175223/