A Tibetan village chief who was detained in May for championing Tibetan language preservation, died three days after his release on Dec. 15, with electrical burn and torture marks found on his body during the cremation service, suggesting he was abused in police custody, two sources said.
Gonpo Namgyal, leader of Ponkor Village in Qinghai province’s Dharlag county, or Dari in Chinese, was arrested with the abbot of Shangtoe Monastery and over 20 other Tibetans in May for engaging in activities to promote the preservation of Tibetan language and culture, said the two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns. “The electric burn and torture marks on Gonpo Namgyal show he suffered severe abuse and repeated torture in the past seven months under Golok prefecture police,” said the first source, referring to Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where the county is situated.The arrest and detainment of Namgyal and the others come amid heightened efforts by the Chinese government to limit the use of the Tibetan language and to expand the use of Mandarin among Tibetans.
