(TibetanReview.net, Aug05’26) – A Tibetan Buddhist monk arrested and tortured by China two years ago for peacefully protesting against the building of a controversial dam which was going to inundate his Yena Monastery in Dege County of Kardze Prefecture, Sichuan province, is still only barely alive, lying in hospital in the provincial capital Chengdu, said Washington-based advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Aug 4, citing sources.
Gonpo Tsering, 46, an administrative staff of his monastery, was taken away by Chinese authorities, accused of helping to lead the Feb 2024 protests against China’s planned construction of the Kamtok (Gangtuo) hydropower dam. Local Tibetans and monks opposed the project, which threatened to destroy centuries-old monasteries, including the Yena and Wonto Monasteries, and inundate several villages and sacred religious sites.
After being subjected to severe physical abuse and torture while in custody, Gonpo Tsering had to be rushed to West China (Huaxi) Hospital in Chengdu, where he has remained in critical condition for two years, the report said.
He is currently bedridden, unable to stand or speak, and is fed through tubes. He is unresponsive to family members and unable to recognize people around him. Devastated by his son’s detention and condition, his father, Lobsang Dorjee, passed away on Sep 21, 2025, ICT said, citing sources.
Far from investigating his ill-treatment, or paying for his medical care, or providing compensation, Chinese authorities maintain strict and constant surveillance at the hospital, restricting visitors, monitoring those caring for him, and prohibiting photos or videos from being taken or shared, the report said.
“Gonpo Tsering’s case is not an isolated incident. It is proof of a systemic pattern of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and impunity in Tibet that demands a coordinated international response,” ICT President Tencho Gyatso has said.
“ICT urges governments to move beyond expressions of concern and press China to release all Tibetans arbitrarily detained for exercising their fundamental rights, account for those who have been disappeared, investigate allegations of torture, and grant independent UN experts meaningful access to Tibet,” she has added.
The Feb 2024 protest had led to the arrest of over 100 Tibetans at the time, including Gonpo Tsering.
Later in mid-2024, Chinese courts sentenced Jamyang Lekshe, the head of Yena Monastery, to four years’ imprisonment to be served at Ya’an Prison in western Sichuan on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.”
Gonpo Tsering was jailed for three years on similar charges, although his severe injuries from police abuse required him to seek emergency hospitalization.
While the construction on the Kamtok Dam and forced relocations are reportedly paused currently, Chinese authorities are stated to be actively intimidating and imposing political demands on local monastic communities. Monks at both Yena and Wonto monasteries are routinely forced to sign written pledges agreeing not to disrupt government construction projects and to strictly obey official directives, the report said.
The Kamtok Dam is part of a larger plan by the Chinese government to build 13 hydroelectric dams along the upper reaches of the Drichu (Yangtze) River. Nine of these border the Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province. The one bordering Dege and Jomda counties is primarily led by China Huadian Corp through a consortium of several state-backed entities, including China Huadian Group Co. Ltd. (48%), Tibet Development and Investment Group Co. Ltd. (20%), Sichuan Tietou Kangba Investment Co. Ltd. (20%), and Huadian International Power Co. Ltd. (12%), said the ICT report.