(TibetanReview.net, Dec05’20) – A young Tibetan woman advocating democracy and rule of law had been taken away by Chinese police in Xining, Capital of Qinghai Province, on Nov 12, but released 10 days later after severe ill-treatment and a penal fine, said Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy Dec 5.
The centre said Tsering Tso was taken away from her home by a force of 10 officers on the night of Nov 12 and taken to the Trikha (Chinese: Guide) County detention centre. She was subsequently given a 10-day administrative detention sentence to be served at the same detention centre and was also made to pay a fine of 1,000 yuan.
Speaking to an overseas media organizations, Tsering Tso has said she survived on steamed buns and boiled water during her detention, and was subjected to ill-treatment and intimidation designed to compel her to give up her vocal advocacy for democracy and rule of law.
She has spoken of having been under surveillance for a long time partly because she was an alumnus of the “International Visitor Leadership Program”, a professional exchange program initiated by the US State Department.
Following a visit to the USA under the program, Tsering Tso was reported to have been blacklisted as “an individual who requires special attention”. It earned her frequent summons, warnings, and threats from the local police for her “ideas and actions”.
The charge for her Nov 12 detention and subsequent administrative detention was stated to be that she had violated the fourth clause of illegal acts listed in Article 26 of the Law on the Public Order Administration Punishments Law which simply said “other provocative acts”.
