International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.: China has announced the sentencing of Chatrel Jampa Trinley a.k.a Chatrel Rinpoche, the head of the original search committee for the 11th Panchen Lama, to six years in prison for "colluding with separatist forces abroad." Two other Tibetans, Jampa Chung, a monk at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and assistant to Chatrel Rinpoche, and Samdrup, a businessman who managed a commercial enterprise of the previous Panchen Lama, were also sentenced to four years and two years of prison term respectively for "disclosing state secrets." The sentences were passed by the Intermediate People's Court of Shigatse.

"Colluding with separatist forces abroad" is an indirect reference to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. The Dalai Lama's announcement of a six-year-old boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama was followed by vehement denunciations from Beijing.

"This blatant action is a direct attack on the core religious belief of the Tibetan people, and will further alienate the Tibetan people from the Chinese rulers," Lodi Gyari, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, said. "Chatrel Rinpoche only followed customary Tibetan religious tradition in his efforts to find the true reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama," Gyari added.

All three officials of the former Panchen Lama were detained in mid- May 1995, soon after the Dalai Lama announced his recognition of the 11th Panchen Lama. While Chatrel Rinpoche and Jampa Chung were detained in Chengdu, Samdrup was detained in the town of Dhingri. The trial which took place in late April was not open to public because it "related to state secrets," the court announced.

"China's sentencing of Chatrel Rinpoche is the latest indication that the Chinese authorities have no plans to loosen their control in Tibet, " said Gyari. In recent months, the Chinese authorities have launched a series of repressive measures in Tibet aimed at denying religious freedom to Tibetan people and undermining the influence of the Dalai Lama.

The sentencing took place around the time when the Dalai Lama was meeting President Clinton in Washington, D.C. The President had assured the Dalai Lama that he would raise the Tibetan issue with Chinese President Jiang Zemin during their forthcoming summit. The sentencing was announced as the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, was beginning his first trip to China.

On December 13, 1995, the United States Senate passed a resolution which among others condemned China's detention of Chatrel Rinpoche for refusing to denounce the Dalai Lama's recognition of the 11th Panchen Lama. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a hearing on Tibet on May 13, 1997 and the sentencing of Chatrel Rinpoche is likely to figure prominently.