Dhondup Wangchen

Dhondup Wangchen
Dhondup Wangchen

Dhondup Wangchen (born 17 October 1974) is a Tibetan filmmaker currently imprisoned by the PRC government on charges related to his documentary Leaving Fear Behind. Numerous international human rights organizations have protested his detention, and Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience.

Contents

Background

Dhondup Wangchen was born into a farming family in 1974, in Bayen in the Tsoshar region of Amdo.[1] His family later moved to the capital of Lhasa. There Dhondup Wangchen witnessed a pro-independence demonstration repressed by security authorities, an experience that a relative would later describe as critical to his "political awareness".[2] In 1993, he and a cousin crossed the Himalayas into India on foot, walking over 5,000 miles to receive the blessing of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.[1] He returned to Tibet shortly after to act as an activist for the Tibetan independence movement, but was forced to flee and seek political asylum with Switzerland in 2002.[1]

Leaving Fear Behind

In 2006, Dhondup Wangchen and friend Jigme Gyatso, a senior Tibetan monk, conceived of a documentary interviewing ordinary Tibetan people on their views of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government in the year leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[3] The documentary was to be called Leaving Fear Behind. The pair coordinated their efforts with a Dhondup Wangchen's cousin Gyaljong Tsetrin, who remained in Switzerland.[1] In preparation for likely reprisals by the Chinese government, Dhondup Wangchen moved his wife, Llamo Tso, and their four children to Dharamsala, India.[2][4]

Between August 2007 to March 2008, Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso gathered interviews from 108 Tibetan individuals discussing the political situation, all of whom agreed to have their faces shown on camera.[5][6] They had completed filming and just smuggled the tapes out of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, when riots erupted and began to spread through Tibetan-majority areas of China.[5] As part of the government response that followed, both Jigme Gyatso and Dhondup Wangchen were detained on March 28 in Tong De, Qinghai Province.[7]

The 25-minute documentary resulting from Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso's footage was described by The New York Times as "an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government".[2] The film was compiled from 40 hours of interview footage[2] shot by a single camera.[3] The documentary premiered on the opening day of the Olympics and was clandestinely screened for foreign reporters in Beijing.[8]

Trial and imprisonment

Following Dhondup Wangchen's March 2008 arrest, he was held for several days in unofficial detention at Gonshang Hotel.[9] While there, Chinese security forces allegedly beat him and deprived him of food, water, and sleep.[9] He was later moved to Xining City No. 1 Detention Centre, where he was held incommunicado until April 2009, when he was allowed to meet with his lawyer, Li Dunyong.[9] Three months later, however, Li Dunyong dropped his case, reporting that he had been ordered to do so by judicial authorities.[2] Another lawyer was reportedly threatened with the closing of his law firm if he chose to defend Dhondup Wangchen.[10]

On 28 December 2009, Dhondup Wangchen was sentenced to six year's imprisonment for "subversion", following a secret trial in Xining.[9] On 7 January 2010, he was reportedly denied the right to appeal his sentence when he was not allowed access to his lawyer.[11]

His family stated that he has contracted Hepatitis B while imprisoned, and his health is said to be failing.[10] In April 2010, he was transferred to Xichuan Labour Camp in Qinghai Province. Work at the camp reportedly includes the manufacture of bricks, concrete, and aluminum-alloy windows.[12]

International response

Jigme Gyatso and Dhondup Wanghcen's arrests have been condemned by numerous human rights groups. Amnesty International protested the arrests of both men, noting Jigme Gyatso to be at risk of further torture[13] and naming Dhondup Wangchen a prisoner of conscience.[14] Human Rights Watch,[15] Front Line,[7] The Committee to Protect Journalists,[16] Reporters Without Borders,[4] and the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy[6] have all advocated on Dhondup Wangchen's behalf.

In Spring 2011, Boston's American Repertory Theater and System of a Down's Serj Tankian dedicated their production of Prometheus Bound to Dhondup Wangchen and seven other activists, stating in program notes that "by singing the story of Prometheus, the God who defied the tyrant Zeus by giving the human race both fire and art, this production hopes to give a voice to those currently being silenced or endangered by modern-day oppressors".[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Dhondup Wangchen". freetibetanheroes.org. http://www.freetibetanheroes.org/home.php/profiles/dhondup-wangchen. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Andrew Jacobs (30 October 2009). "China Is Trying a Tibetan Filmmaker for Subversion". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/world/asia/31tibet.html. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Denchen Pemba. "The story of Dhondup Wangchen, filmmaker jailed in China". Committee to Protect Journalists. http://cpj.org/blog/2009/12/the-story-of-dhondup-wangchen-a-filmmaker-jailed-i.php. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
  4. ^ a b "Free Dhondup Wangchen!". Reporters Without Borders. 17 June 2009. http://en.rsf.org/china-free-dhondup-wangchen-17-06-2009,33443. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  5. ^ a b Jane Macartney (8 January 2010). "Film-maker Dhondup Wangchen jailed for letting Tibetans tell their tale". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6978798.ece. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  6. ^ a b "Chinese authorities re-arrest Jigme Gyatso". Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. http://www.tchrd.org/publications/hr_updates/2009/hr200904.html. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  7. ^ a b "China: Arrest of human rights defender Mr Jigme Gyatso, and detention of human rights defender Mr Dhondup Wangchen". Front Line. 8 January 2010. http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1861. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  8. ^ Michael Bristow (6 August 2008). "Clandestine Olympic protests". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7544645.stm. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
  9. ^ a b c d "CHINA MUST RELEASE TIBETAN FILMMAKER". Amnesty International. 7 January 2010. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/china-must-release-tibetan-filmmaker-20100107. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
  10. ^ a b Andrew Jacobs (27 May 2010). "Tibetan Gets Suspended Death Sentence in China". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/world/asia/28tibet.html. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
  11. ^ "Tibetan filmmaker denied appeal to 6-year sentence". Committee to Protect Journalists. 7 January 2010. http://www.cpj.org/2010/01/tibetan-filmmaker-denied-appeal-to-6-year-sentence.php. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
  12. ^ s. "Free Dhondup Wangchen". freetibet.org. http://www.freetibet.org/campaigns/free-dhondup-wangchen. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 
  13. ^ "People’s Republic of China -Tibet Autonomous Region: A year of escalating human rights violations". Amnesty International. 6 March 2009. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA17/011/2009/en/a750242a-f2e7-4fc1-89aa-aaf91ed849f8/asa170112009en.pdf. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  14. ^ "CHINA: TIBETAN FILM-MAKER MAY FACE UNFAIR TRIAL, DHONDUP WANGCHEN". Amnesty International. 17 July 2009. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/033/2009/en. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  15. ^ "China: Ensure Fair Trial for Tibetan Filmmaker". Human Rights Watch. 3 August 2009. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/03/china-ensure-fair-trial-tibetan-filmmaker. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  16. ^ "Security officials re-arrest Tibetan filmmaker Jigme Gyatso". Committee to Protect Journalists. 18 March 2009. http://www.ifex.org/china/tibet/2009/03/19/security_officials_re_arrest_tibetan/. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  17. ^ "About the Prometheus Project". American Repertory Theater. 15 February 2011. http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/inside/articles/prometheus-bound-program-program-notes-prometheus-project-about-prometheus-project. Retrieved 16 May 2011. 

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