Additional Name(s): Tashi Wangchuk, བཀྲ་ཤིས་དབང་ཕྱུག་, 扎西旺珠(音), 扎西文色, 扎西旺楚
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Tibetan
Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Appeal: Rejected
Sentence: 5 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: January/27/2016
Date of Sentencing: May/22/2018
Date of Release: January/28/2021
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Language Rights Religious Identity
Nature of Charges: Separatism
Tashi Wangchuk was imprisoned for his religious and ethnic identity.
On January 27, 2016, authorities arrested Tashi, a Tibetan cultural and linguistic rights advocate, in Yushu (Kyegudo) city, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Yushu TAP), Qinghai province, two months after he appeared in a New York Times article and video about Tibetan language education. He was charged with "inciting separatism" (Art. 103 CCL).
In December 2017, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released an opinion, calling for Tashi's release.
On May 22, 2018, the Yushu TAP Intermediate People's Court sentenced Tashi to five years in prison and five years of deprived political rights.
On June 6, 2018, several UN human rights experts condemned Tashi's sentence.
On August 13, 2018, the Qinghai High People's Court rejected Tashi's appeal.
On January 28, 2021, Tashi was released.
"Tashi Wangchug" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
"A Tibetan Tried to Save His Language. China Handed Him 5 Years in Prison." New York Times (NYT)
"China: UN human rights experts condemn 5-year jail term for Tibetan activist" UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
"Opinion No. 69/2017 concerning Tashi Wangchuk (China)" UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
USCIRF Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee, Testimony, July 12, 2017