(TibetanReview.net, May18’24) — Less than a month after marking his 35th birthday on Apr 25, Tibetans and supporters in the free world marked on May 17 the 29th year of the Chinese government’s abduction and disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Tibet’s second most prominent religious figure after the Dalai Lama. They demanded that China account for his wellbeing and whereabouts, and free him from such a prolonged unknown state of captivity without any rhyme or reason.
The day saw Tibet supporters holding a protest rally in front of the Chinese embassy in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, while the US State Department issued a press statement, demanding that the disappeared religious figure’s long-deprived human rights be respected. The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at Dharamshala, India, which had organized a high-profile commemoration of his 35th birthday, also issued a statement for the occasion.
In Vilnius on May 17, about a dozen demonstrators participated in a picket outside the Embassy of China in support of Tibet, and drew attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in that region, reported delfi.lt May 17 evening.
The report said the demonstrators held flags of Tibet and Lithuania, as well as banners in English reading “Free Panchen Lama”, “Respect human rights in Tibet”, “Stop Tibetan genocide: close boarding schools” etc., and chanted “Free Tibet”.
The gathering was addressed by Robertas Mažeika, member of the Tibet Group which organized the event. Accusing China of being out to totally destroy the Tibetan identity, he joined the Tibetan communities in Lithuania and abroad to urge all would-be members of the European Parliament to sign a commitment to conduct pro-Tibet policies. The world’s youngest political prisoner in his time was still not free at 35 years of age, it was pointed out.
In his statement for the occasion, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller urged the Chinese authorities to “immediately account for Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s whereabouts and well-being and to allow him to fully exercise his human rights in line with the PRC’s international commitments.”
He expressed US support for “Tibetans’ human rights and their exercise of those rights in connection with their distinct religious, cultural, and linguistic identity.
“Tibetans, like members of all religious communities, should have the ability to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs and without government interference,” he added.
The CTA also asked China to free the Tibetan religious leader, noting how long he had remained disappeared since his abduction on that fateful day in 1995.
“We condemn China’s prolonged enforced disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama and reiterate our call on the PRC government to immediately release the Panchen Lama who has remained in captivity for 29 years,” said Tenzin Lekshay, the spokesperson of the CTA, and Additional Secretary at its Department of Information and International Relations.