Tibetan Writer Held Without Trial for 11 Months

Tibetan author Gendun Lhundrup, also known as Lhamkok

On 2 December 2020, Gendun Lhundrup was arrested by Chinese authorities in Rebgong County, following the publication of his latest book ‘Korwa’ in October that year. Since then authorities have revealed nothing on his whereabouts or wellbeing to the public or his family. 11 months after his arrest, very little is known about his condition or the official reason for his detention.

Sources – whose identities are protected by anonymity for their personal safety – report that Gendun Lhundrup’s family was telephoned by authorities on 27 September 2021. In this phone call, his family were informed that a trial date for the writer was to be set soon. However, there has been no follow-up on this. It is presently unknown if Gendun Lhundrup’s trial has taken place in secret, behind closed doors, or if he is still being held without legal representation.

Further sources report that Gendun Lhundrup is currently being forced to undergo political re-education. Such programmes teach a Sinicized form of Buddhism in the Chinese language, alongside other ‘classes’ in Mandarin Chinese. The purpose of such re-education is to weaken individuals’ sense of Tibetan identity and remove elements seen by the Chinese Communist Party as dangerous. It is feared that these political re-education programmes will see wider use in the near future, under the authority of the newly-appointed Party Secretary of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, Wang Junzheng.

Gendun Lhundrup’s most recent book was published in October 2020, two months prior to his arrest.

Information supplied by Tibet Watch