Additional Name(s): Soeta, So-tra, བསོད་བཀྲ་, 索扎, 所扎, Woezer
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Tibetan
Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 3 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: November/7/2019
Date of Sentencing: December/14/2020
Current Status: Unknown
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Protesting Religious Freedom Conditions
Nature of Charges: Separatism
Sota was imprisoned for protesting religious freedom conditions.
On November 7, 2019, authorities in Sershul (Shiqu) county, Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, detained several monks, including Sota, from Sershul’s Dza Bonpo Monastery after they had criticized Chinese government policies at a local government office. The monks had reportedly been handing out leaflets and shouting slogans calling for Tibetan independence and human rights in Tibet.
On December 14, 2020, the Ganzi Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Sota to three years in prison for “inciting to split the country."
Sota's sentence should have ended in November 2022.
"Sota" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
"China: Tibetan Monk Dies from Beating in Custody" Human Rights Watch
"China detains six Tibetans over distributing leaflets calling Tibet's independence" Tibet Post International