Tibetan Monastic Leader Missing Following Arbitrary Detention in Chumarleb, Yushu
Chinese authorities have reportedly detained Lobsang Lungrik, a Tibetan Buddhist lama and senior religious official in Qinghai province, with his whereabouts remaining unknown since December 2024.
Lobsang Lungrik, 51, is the head lama of Ba Gön Monastery, a Gelug monastery located in Chumarleb (Ch: Qumalai) County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.
According to information received by TCHRD, Lobsang Lungrik’s detention may be linked to allegations that he assisted a Geshe (senior Buddhist scholar) who had returned from India and was residing at Ba Gön Monastery as a scripture teacher. The Geshe, originally from the Tsawa area of Chamdo, was reportedly expelled from his home monastery and later fled to Chumarleb after Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for him.
Sources informed TCHRD that the Geshe later died of natural causes at Ba Gön Monastery, although the exact date of his death remains unclear. Despite this, authorities have reportedly accused Lobsang Lungrik of providing assistance to the Geshe and of sending funds abroad, allegedly to India, charges frequently used against Tibetans accused of maintaining overseas religious or cultural ties.
On 26 December 2024, Qinghai Daily announced that “Luosong Longri” (罗松龙日), the Chinese name used for Lobsang Lungrik, had been removed from his position as a Standing Committee Member of the Qinghai Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and that his CPPCC membership qualifications had been revoked. The report stated that the decision was taken at the 11th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th Qinghai Provincial CPPCC.
While two other officials named in the same announcement, Ma Fengsheng and Zhao Xuezhang were publicly accused of disciplinary violations, no offence was specified in relation to Lobsang Lungrik. The absence of any publicly stated charges suggests that his removal from office and subsequent detention may be political in nature.
Prior to his detention, Lobsang Lungrik held multiple state-recognised senior positions, including Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Qinghai Province, Executive Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Yushu Prefecture, and Vice Chairman of the Yushu Prefectural CPPCC. He was appointed Board Member of the Yushu Buddhist Association in 1999.
Lobsang Lungrik was born on 25 August 1975 in Chumarleb County. In 1982, he was recognised as the 11th incarnation of Bartri Gyuchen. He studied for more than 21 years at Sera Monastery in Lhasa. In July 2002, he was appointed advisor to the Kangyur and Tengyur Collation Office of the China Tibetology Research Center. He graduated from the Advanced Tibetan Buddhist Institute of China in 2003 and later obtained a Master’s degree from Qinghai Normal University in March 2015.
Chinese authorities have not disclosed the legal grounds for Lobsang Lungrik’s detention, nor confirmed his location or access to legal counsel. His incommunicado detention amounts to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. Enforced disappearance violates fundamental human rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and security of person, freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, the right to humane conditions of detention, and the right to a fair trial.
