USCIRF Commissioner Dr. Tenzin Dorjee urges China to release the Panchen Lama/ENG

2018. április 19./Phayul.com/TibetPress

eredeti cikk

By Tenzin Dharpo

DHARAMSHALA, April 19: The Commissioner of the United States Commission (USCIRF) on International Religious Freedom on Wednesday called for the release of “prisoners of conscience” in repressive regimes including Tibetan spiritual figure Panchen Lama, currently under Chinese captivity.

Commissioner Dorjee was speaking at the ensemble panel at Harding Hall in Washington D.C on the commission’s 20-year anniversary. He said that China should now assume a relaxed position on the Panchen Lama and release the Tibetan religious figure after over two decades in captivity.

Dorjee who is the first Buddhist and Tibetan-origin to chair the commission said that the issue of Panchen Lama is of great importance to the religious sentiments of the Tibetan people and that China should release immediate visual evidence of his current condition.

International Campaign for Tibet’s Bhuchung Tsering told Radio Free Asia that the case of the Panchen Lama being repeatedly broached by both the United States' people and government is in the larger context, a reflection of the current state of religious freedom inside Tibet.

The USCIRF urged the cases of seven people from countries like China including occupied Tibet, Vietnam, Xinxiang and Pakistan who are incarcerated for life, for so-called crimes including separatism, demonstrations and allegedly leaking state secrets.

The event at Harding Hall in Washington DC was attended by 200 dignitaries including religious freedom advocate Vice Chair Kristina Arriaga, ICT President Matteo Meccaci and representatives from government offices and NGOs.