UN Experts Urge Vietnam to Release Information on Death in Custody of Tulku Hungkar Dorje
A group of UN human rights experts issued a joint communication (AL VNM 4/2025) to the Vietnamese government demanding clarity and accountability over the detention, disappearance, and subsequent death in custody of Tulku Hungkar Dorje, a prominent Tibetan spiritual leader and the abbot of the Lung Ngon Thubten Choekor Ling monastery in Gade (Ch: Gande) county in the Golok (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province.
According to the letter, Tulku Hungkar Dorje was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on 25 March 2025, then held incommunicado for four days before authorities announced he died of a “heart attack,” despite no known history of cardiovascular illness. His remains were cremated without family consent and without any transparent or independent public investigation.
The experts emphasize that while states may lawfully detain persons, they bear heightened responsibility for those persons’ safety, security, and wellbeing. A failure to conduct prompt, impartial, and effective investigations into deaths in custody not only undermines the right to life (as protected under Article 6 of the ICCPR) but also violates the obligation to prevent enforced disappearances and uphold due process.
They call upon Vietnamese government to provide urgent responses and take the following steps:
- Disclose the legal grounds and authority for Tulku Hungkar Dorje’s arrest, as well as any alleged cooperation with Chinese authorities.
- Detail his conditions of detention, transfers, medical care, and exact circumstances of death.
- Confirm whether an autopsy was carried out per international standards, and whether findings have been shared with his family.
- Produce records of investigations, prosecutions, and any disciplinary measures taken.
- Share disaggregated data on all deaths in custody in Vietnam since 2014, and the outcomes of those cases.
Pending the Government’s credible and transparent response, the experts urge interim measures to prevent recurrence, including preserving all evidence, granting full access to families, and ensuring independent monitoring.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) stands with the UN experts in calling for full transparency, independent inquiry, and justice for Tulku Hungkar Dorje.
