China Sentences four Puru-na Nuns in Kardze County

According to a reliable information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Kardze Court recently sentenced four nuns of Puru-na Nunnery, Su-ngog Township, Kardze County, Sichuan Province to varying prison terms.

The nuns were part of fifty nuns from Puru-na Nunnery in Kardze County which on 14 May 2008 staged a peaceful demonstration at Kardze County Headquarter against the illegal detentions and arrests of Tibetan people by the Chinese authorities.
The nuns were identified as Tashi Lhamo, sentenced to two-year prison term, Serka sentenced to two-year prison term, Rinzin Choetso sentenced to three-year prison term and Youghal Khando sentenced to two-year prison term.

The four nuns were currently serving their sentences in a prison in Chengdu City, the provincial capital of Sichuan Province. In addition, the whereabouts of seven other nuns of Puru-na still remain unknown.

TCHRD deeply regrets the sentence passed by Kardze Court on the four nuns for merely exercising their freedom of expression and self-determination as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as well as in the Chinese constitution. The Centre also expresses serious concern at the continuous disappearance of the seven other nuns of Puru-na Nunnery.