Additional Name(s): Go Sherab Gyatso, ཤེས་རབ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, 喜绕加措(音)
Gender: Male
Current Location: Lhasa
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Tibetan
Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan
Health Concerns: Chronic lung condition
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes
Sentence: 10 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: October/26/2020
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Adherence to a Religious Figure Criticizing Religious Freedom Conditions Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role
Nature of Charges: Separatism
Go Sherab Gyatso is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On October 26, 2020, authorities arrested Sherab Gyatso - a Tibetan monk, religious philosopher, and advocate of a more liberal approach to religious education and belief in Tibet - in Chengdu Municipality, Sichuan Province, after accusing him of "inciting separatism."
In December 2021, it was reported that the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court sentenced Sherab Gyatso to ten years in prison.
Sherab Gyatso reportedly suffers from a chronic lung condition and was in Chengdu to receive medical treatment at the time of his detention. Current reporting indicates that he is in poor health and that he is not receiving adequate medical care while in prison.
Sherab Gyatso has previously spent time in prison for his religious freedom advocacy. He reportedly detained in 1998 and 2008 and subsequently served time in prison for adhering to the Dalai Lama's religious authority and criticizing government controls in monastic education and literature.
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USCIRF Press Release: USCIRF Calls for Panchen Lama’s Release May 13, 2022
"China: Imprisoned Tibetan Monk’s Health in Peril" Human Rights Watch
"Sherab Gyatso" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
"Tibetan writer given 10-year prison term in secret trial" Radio Free Asia (RFA)
"Reply from China dated 27 August 2021 to OHCHR joint communication [AL CHN 7/2021] of 16 July 2021" Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China
UN Inquiry Letter into the Detention of Rinchen Tsultrim and Go Sherab Gyatso UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights