Dolma Kyab (or Zhuo Shique, Chinese : 卓史确 or 卓玛加(音)) (pen-name Lobsang Kelsang Gyatso), born in 1976, is a writer and teacher in his native

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. He was imprisoned at Chushur (Chinese: “Qushui”) Prison, which is located in a rural area south-west of his native home,

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

, Tibet. On March 9, 2005, he was arrested in Lhasa at the middle school where he was employed as a history teacher. On September 16, 2005, he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Lhasa People's Intermediate Court for the crime of stealing and/or passing on “state secrets.” Dolma Kyab has received an extensive education having attended his local primary school and then his county middle school. He joined a Teachers Training Center in 1995 and taught at a school in Qilian County (in Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture). He later continued his studies at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

where he received a master's degree in 2002. In 2003, he traveled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to learn English and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. He is fluent in both his Native Tibetan and Chinese, as well as

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. As a writer he maintained a commentary manuscript written in Chinese, entitled ''Sao dong de Ximalayshan'' (“Himalaya on Stir”). It has 57 chapters written on various topics such as: democracy, the sovereignty of Tibet, Tibet under communism, colonialism, and religion and belief. He also began writing another manuscript which focused on his increasing concern for Tibet's environment and makes mention to sensitive topics like the geographical alterations that China has brought to Tibet as well as the location of various Chinese Military camps in the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

(TAR). After his arrest on March 9, 2005, he was taken to the TAR Public Security Bureau Detention Center, also known as “Seitru” in Tibetan. He was held and tried for “endangering state security;” (Chinese Criminal Law, Articles 110, 111) and was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. An appeal was made by his family and was rejected on November 30, 2005, upholding the 10-year sentence. While detained at Seitru he contracted tuberculosis and his subsequent transfer to Chushul Prison was barred until he received medical attention. In March 2006 he was reportedly transferred to Chushul Prison after receiving some medical treatment. There is no official information about the charges against Dolma Kyab, but in a letter that was reportedly smuggled out of prison Dolma Kyab states that his sentence is linked to his unpublished book. In the letter, he appeals for help from the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the United Nations System, overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a ...

. A group of well-known Tibetian and Chinese writers have been petitioning for his release. Also, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), the

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

American Center and the Tibetan PEN have been following his case. On 8 October 2015 it was reported that Dolma was released from prison after a decade. After his release from Qushui jail in

, Kyab was then taken to his home town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyab, Dolma 1976 births Living people Tibetan writers Tibetan historians Chinese prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China

See also

References