Phuntsok Wangdu was born in July 1969 in Drushor, Talatsi District. He became a monk and joined the Ganden Monastery where he studied Buddhist philosophy. Phuntsok Wangdu remained in the Ganden Monastery until the Chinese authorities forced him out and he had to flee to India for fear of his life. In India he joined the Buddhist Dialectic School based in Dharamsala. He remained in India until the winter of 1993 when he returned to Tibet to visit his 90 year old grandmother.

On his return to Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region intelligence officers arrested and detained him in Sithru Prison. There was no apparent justification for his arrest, but the Chinese authorities kept Phuntsok Wangdu detained for six months without any official proceedings. When eventually released, he remained subject to severe restrictions.

These restrictions lasted until 1997, when Phuntsok Wangdu was arrested again on the eve of the Tibetan New Year; He was detained along with his brother, and a 19 year old cousin. They were held in the Gutsa Detention Centre, where they were reportedly subject to excessive police brutality. In May 1997 Phuntsok Wangdu was taken to a police station in west Lhasa, where the Chinese forcibly beat a confession out of him. Following an unfair trial, Phuntsok was sentenced to 14 years and is currently at the Drapchi Prison in Tibet.

He has been the victim of various forms of torture whilst imprisoned, and has reportedly tried to commit suicide to escape the harassment and torture of the Chinese authorities.

(Sources: Tibet Information Network, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Gu-Chu-Sum, Free Tibet Campaign, Jamyang Tsultrin.)

Name: Phuntsok Wangdu 
Age: 36 
Arrested: 7 February 1997
Reason: "Espionage" 
Sentence: 14 years 
Expected release: 2011
Prison: Drapchi Prison

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