Monk detained and disappeared for keeping banned contents on mobile app

Chinese authorities are holding Lobsang Dawa, 38, a monk from Tsenden Monastery, at an undisclosed location because he is believed to have kept banned contents on his mobile messaging service in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

According to exile Tibetan media sources, Lobsang Dawa was detained on the night of 20 March from his monastic quarter and taken into police custody without any explanation. The monk’s whereabouts remains unknown.

Sources report on active suppression of information and communication channels to block any information from going out of the area. In Nagchu, local authorities have ramped up the monitoring and surveillance of the popular mobile text and voice messaging service WeChat. This Chinese-owned voice messaging service has a growing customer base in Tibet despite security risks identified by experts. Some local Tibetans think that the arrest of the monk Lobsang Dawa was probably connected to something that security personnel found in his WeChat folders: images and documents that the government considers criminal.

Prior to his detention, Lobsang Dawa was a staff in charge of the monastery’s housing maintenance section. He was born and raised in Bechen Village in Rawag Township, Sog County.

Sources have also reported on the detention of many monks who had gone to study at monasteries in Amdo region of Tibet located outside TAR. Due to extreme restrictions on information, it is not immediately possible to get specific details of the cases.