Dharamshala — A high-ranking Tibetan lama, Tulku Palden Wangyal, from Choegyal Monastery in Gonjo County, eastern Tibet, died in a Chinese prison on July 19, 2025, after suffering brutal torture and inhumane treatment for seven to eight years. China had arrested him for working for the welfare of the local Tibetan community, advocating for the preservation of Tibetan culture, Tibetan identity, and teaching the importance of unity by discouraging internal conflicts among Tibetans.
According to a report of Central Tibetan Central, Tulku Palden Wangyal, head lama of the Choegyal monasteries in Botoed (འབོ་སྟོད་གྲོང་), Gardhab (སྒར་འདབ་གྲོང་), Ngyagle (ཉག་ལེ་གྲོང་) and Shungkor (གཞུང་སྐོར་གྲོང་) in Gonjo County (Ch: Gongjiue), in eastern Tibet, died on July 19, 2025, in a prison in Gansu Province at the age of 53, after being detained in Chinese prison for seven to eight years.
Chinese police arrested Tulku Palden Wangyal around 2018 and 2019, then detained him at the Gonjo County Detention Centre before transferring him to Chamdo County and then to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, over the past seven to eight years. In recent months, he was transferred to a Chinese prison in Gansu Province, where he died on July 19, 2025. Due to the Chinese government's strict control over information from Tibet to the free world, the date and year of his detention and the location where he has been held in China to date remain unknown.
According to local Tibetans, Tulku Palden Wangyal was deeply involved in the welfare of the local Tibetan community. He actively campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture and identity, and taught the importance of unity by discouraging internal conflicts among Tibetans. For this reason, local Tibetans placed great trust in him and respected him enormously. However, the Chinese authorities disliked his respected position and teachings, which led to his arrest and torture, and ultimately to his death.
When the Chinese police arrest and detain Tibetans, they give no reason and bring various criminal charges against those who exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, those who promote unity among Tibetans, protect the Tibetan environment and preserve Tibetan religion, language and identity. Tulku Palden Wangyal is an example of such a case. Chinese police and authorities beat, torture and treat Tibetans inhumanely, especially Tibetan prisoners, even going so far as to kill them during their detention and imprisonment. Many former Tibetan prisoners have testified to the unbearable suffering inflicted by the Chinese police and authorities during their detention and imprisonment, such as beatings, kicking and electric shocks to the body. Tulku Palden Wangyal also suffered these tortures, which led to his death.
