The 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet: Child Prisoner

The Controversy                                  

Gendun Chokyi Nyima was born on April 25, 1989 to a nomad family from the Lhari District of Nagchu, Tibet. On May 14, 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized this 6 year old child as the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet. Three days after the Dalai Lama's announcement, Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his family disappeared from their home. Their whereabouts remain unknown to this day. If still alive, Gendun Chokyi Nyima will be 13 years old on April 25, 2002. He has lived most of his life as a prisoner, deprived of his childhood and his human rights.

The Panchen Lama is Tibet's second highest spiritual leader. The issue of his reincarnation poses a political threat to China, which views his endorsement by the Dalai Lama as a direct challenge to its control over all aspects of Tibetan affairs. China's response to the Dalai Lama's selection of the Panchen Lama has been to dispute its legitimacy and proclaim another child to be the real reincarnation - an unprecedented and bizarre act for the officially atheist government.

Protest in Tibet

The abbot of the Panchen Lama's monastery at Tashilungpo, Chadrel Rinpoche, was arrested on May 17, 1995, the same day as the disappearance of Gendun Choekyi Nyima. Chadrel Rinpoche, who had led the search inside Tibet for the Panchen Lama, was later sentenced to 6 years imprisonment on charges of "leaking state secrets", and "colluding with separatist forces".

In protest of the Chinese government's selection of its own Panchen Lama and the arrest of Chadrel Rinpoche, monks at Tashilungpo publicly supported the Dalai Lama's endorsement of Gendun Choekyi Nima as Panchen Lama. As a result, Chinese soldiers entered Tashilungpo Monastery on July 11, 1995 and arrested and subsequently imprisoned 60 monks and lay people who were suspected of being involved in or supporting the selection process of Gendhun Chokyi Nyima. (DIIR press release, August 10, 1995 - WTN archive).

Although scheduled for release in May 2001, Chinese authorities continue to hold Chadrel Rinpoche without charge or judicial basis. In August 2001, Gyaltsen Norbu, Tibet's former governor, admitted to a visiting Polish delegation that the Tashilungpo abbot was still in detention. No further official information has been made available on his whereabouts or his state of health. Unofficially however, sources say he being held outside the Tibet Autonomous Region in a high-security prison located in Sichuan province.

Where is the Panchen Lama?

Although the Chinese government initially denied knowing anything about the disappearance of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, in May 1996 Chinese delegates at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child admitted that the boy and his family were being held in custody "for their own protection". Since then, Chinese authorities have repeated variations on that theme to many government and United Nations representatives.

In September 1996, delegates of the Chinese "Ethnic Affairs Commission" confirmed in a meeting held at the Canadian Human Rights Foundation in Montreal, that Chinese authorities were holding Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his family. They assured the representatives of Canadian non-governmental organizations who had enquired about the child, that he was "healthy and that he is studying to become a monk". When asked if an international delegation could visit the child to verify this information, no reply was given.

In September 1998, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, visited China and submitted a request for information on the case. Chinese officials declined to answer her questions (Agence France Press, September 14, 1998).

In 2000, during a bilateral dialogue meeting on human rights, European Union and British officials were shown 2 photographs of a young boy which proved, according to the Chinese officials, that Gendun Choekyi Nyima was alive and well. There was no way, however, to immediately verify the authenticity of these photographs and Chinese delegates would not leave copies with EU officials for later verification. The photographs were not shown to other bilateral dialogue partners such as Canada.

In August 2001, a Polish delegation to Tibet was promised copies of these same photographs but were later told that the boy was "far away" from Lhasa and so the pictures could not be obtained immediately. The Polish delegation was also told that Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his family were being held in "protective custody". (TIN News Update, August 23, 2001)

In October 2001, an Australian delegation was told that the parents of Gendun Choekyi Nima were insisting that no foreign delegations be allowed to meet with him. According to Chinese authorities, the parents have said that "they want their privacy respected, that they don't particularly want people to have access to the child and they want him to live a normal life and they don't want to be bothered by people". (South China Morning Post, October 31, 2001)

The Significance of the Panchen Lama in Tibet

The Panchen Lama, meaning "great scholar", is the second highest spiritual leader in Tibet and his release has become synonymous with survival of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama have an extraordinary relationship, which dates back to the 16th century. The Panchen Lama has been described as the moon to the Dalai Lama's sun and together they form the spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism. Throughout history, the Panchen Lama has been primarily a religious leader, while the Dalai Lama is both a religious and a secular leader. For centuries, they have been students and teachers of each other and most importantly, they play a key role in the selection of each other's reincarnation. By choosing the reincarnation of the 11th Panchen Lama, the People's Republic of China (PRC) hopes to control the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama and consequently the spiritual lineage of Tibet. The move is a direct violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which protects religious freedom.

Violations of Religious Freedom in Tibet

The interference in the selection of the 11th Panchen Lama is but one of the many forms of religious repression in Tibet. The "Patriotic Re-education" campaign began in April 1996 and enforces certain beliefs on the monks and nuns in Tibet, such as the recognition of the unity of Tibet and China, the denial that Tibet should be independent, the denunciation of the Dalai Lama, and the recognition of the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama. If monks and nuns refuse to agree to these points they may suffer harassment, expulsion, and arrest. The effect of this campaign has been to depopulate many religious institutions.

China's intent to destroy the influence of Buddhism in Tibet was clearly expressed in May 2000 when Legchog, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, stated on Tibet Television that "we must comprehensively and correctly implement the Party's religious policy and ? reinforce our management over monks scattered in society and religious goods in the market?" (TIN News Report. No.29). The statement preceded what many Tibetans have termed a "second cultural revolution" in Tibet.

For more information on religious persecution in Tibet, see Religious Persecution in Tibet at http://www.tibet.ca/pub/persecution.htm.

The International Campaign to Free the Panchen Lama

The detention of the Panchen Lama has sparked widespread international activity, including requests by the United Nations that an official delegation be allowed to visit the boy and his family. Appeals by Amnesty International concerning his safety, the safety of his family, Chadrel Rinpoche and the monks of Tashilungpo Monastery have been supported by protests and demonstrations in several world capitals. In 1996, 1000 people from 20 different countries including Canada, participated in a 3 day fast in support of the campaign to free him.

The Canada Tibet Committee has repeatedly raised this issue with representatives of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Initially, it appeared that the department questioned whether or not the child had been detained at all. A letter sent to the CTC by then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy (April 18, 1996), stated that "reports of the detention have not been verified". Following China's own admission just a month later at the UN that it indeed held the boy, government officials assured the CTC that they had raised the issue of the Panchen Lama with the Chinese authorities on several occasions dating back to 1995.

In 1998, the Government of Canada agreed to deliver over 1000 birthday cards addressed to Gendun Choekyi Nyima, to authorities in Beijing. The cards were signed by children from across Canada in response to a CTC national campaign. Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, wrote to the CTC on May 7, 1998 saying, "I have agreed to forward the birthday cards to the Chinese authorities through our embassy in Beijing? we cannot be assured that the cards will be delivered, but the fact that Canadians have not forgotten the Panchen Lama will be noted." A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade referred to the action by Canada as a "rare step" and something that Canada had never before undertaken (Montreal Gazette, May 4, 1998).

In June 2001, the International Tibet Support Network (ITSN) launched a year-long campaign to free the Panchen Lama. The campaign ends in Ottawa, on 25th April 2002, Gendun Chokyi Nyima's 13th birthday. By then, the boy will have been in detention for almost 7 years.

Currently, Gendhun Choekyi Nima's name tops the list of political prisoners submitted to Chinese officials within Canada's bilateral human rights dialogue process each year. Still Canada has not been unable to obtain even the slightest piece of information from Chinese authorities about the boy's safety or his whereabouts. His case remains a focus for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Conclusion

The Government of the Peoples' Republic of China has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. At international meetings, China consistently argues that it promotes and protects the rights of the Tibetan people to religious freedoms. Yet it denies all requests from governments and human rights organizations, even requests from the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, to visit Gendun Choekyi Nima and his family. The Government of China continues to imprison Chadrel Rinpoche even though he has served the entirety of his sentence for his part in the recognition process of Gendun Choekyi Nyima.

The Government of Canada must, as a matter of urgency, insist that an international delegation of eminent persons be permitted to visit with the child and his family. At the same time, if Gendun Choekyi Nima is not to be charged with a crime, pressure for his immediate release must be renewed and strengthened. Democratic countries such as Canada must pursue this issue on every possible occasion. It must become a condition for continued participation in the bilateral dialogue process or other bilateral negotiations with China on various policy issues.