Update: Jigme Gyatso was released from prison on 15 October. Read more here.

Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso were arrested following the completion of their documentary film ‘Leaving Fear Behind’ in March 2008. The film was shot inside Tibet and smuggled out at great risk. Their whereabouts are unknown. 

Source: Filming for Tibet
You can view a trailer of the film here
“It is very difficult [for Tibetans] to go to Beijing and speak out there. So that is why we decided to show the real feelings of Tibetans inside Tibet through this film.” Dhondup Wangchen

The case
The film Leaving Fear Behind was shot by Dhondup Wangchen, assisted by his friend Jigme Gyatso. They began as complete amateurs, with no filming experience, but with extraordinary determination and courage.
The filmmakers traversed thousands of miles in Tibet, asking ordinary Tibetans what they really feel about the Dalai Lama, China, and the Olympic Games. They gave their subjects the option of covering their faces, but almost all of the 108 people interviewed agreed to have their faces shown on film, so strong was their desire to express their feelings to the world. For the filmmakers, revealing their own identities was always a part of the plan. Fully aware of the risks they took, they rejected anonymity as an option. In order for the film to be made, fear had to be truly left behind.

Dhondup Wangchen was detained by Chinese security authorities on 26 March 2008, only days after delivering his taped interviews to a safe location. He was held in Ershilipu Detention Center, in Xining (Qinghai) for three months. From there he was moved to unofficial detention in Guangsheng Binguan, in Xining. He was last seen in Guangsheng Binguan around 12 July, 2008. On 31 August, Wangchen Dhondup’s brother-in-law went to Ershilipu Detention Centre to meet him but was denied access. He was told that Dhondup Wangchen had committed a serious crime and was a very special case. The trial of Dhondup Wangchen, as well as of Jigme Gyatso, is pending.

Jigme Gyatso a Tibetan Buddhist monk, assisted his friend Dhondup Wangchen in the making of the film. He was last seen in a detention center in the town of Kachu (Chinese: Lingxia, Gansu). His whereabouts are unknown.

Both Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso have been tortured. They were tied to a chair for four days and interrogated. The torture was so severe that it left a numb feeling in their hands even weeks later.

Background information on the film makers
Dhondup Wangchen was born in 1974 in Hualong, the northeastern province of Tibet Born into a farming family, he received no formal education. In 1993 Dhondup Wangchen and his cousin Gyaljong Tsetrin made an arduous journey out of Tibet to India, traveling on foot over 5,000 meter passes to meet the Dalai Lama. Soon thereafter he returned to Tibet motivated to work for the benefit of the Tibetan people. He has three children.

During the project, Dhondup Wangchen assumed a code name: Jigme – which means "fearless" in Tibetan. His code name inspired the film’s title: Leaving Fear Behind (in Tibetan, Jigdrel).
Jigme Gyatso (nickname Golog Jigme) was in 1969 in Golog Serthar, in the Kandze region of Kham, the southeastern province of Tibet. He was a monk in Labrang Monastery, Gansu.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

The welfare and whereabouts of Dhondup Wangchen remain unknown.

1. Write to Dr Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign Affairs. (France holds the current EU Presidency and will be hosting the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue later this year.) Ask the European Union to raise the detention of Dhondup Wangchen and the torture of Jigme Gyatso with the Chinese government.

Please raise the following points:

- Under the United Nations International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights (ICCPR), Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso were exercising their rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 18) and to freedom of expression (Article 19). Therefore Dhondup Wangchen should be released immediately and unconditionally.

- Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso were subjected to torture and ill treatment. China must also investigate the torture allegations and bring those responsible to justice.

• China must provide accurate information on Dhondup Wangchen’s whereabouts and allow him unconditional access to lawyers and his family.

Dr Bernard Kouchner
Minister of Foreign Affairs
c/o French Embassy in the United Kingdom
58 Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7JT

2. Write to the Chinese Ambassador with the following points:
- Express your outrage at China’s violation of basic human rights. Freedom of thought and freedom of expression are guaranteed by Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of which China is a signatory.

- Tell China that the continued arbitrary detention, lack of judicial process and torture of Dhondup Wangchen is a violation of Articles 7, 9 and 14 of the ICCPR of which China is a signatory.
- Call for the immediate and unconditional release of Dhondup Wangchen
- China must guarantee Dhondup Wangchen’s well- being and safety and investigate the allegations of torture for both filmmakers and bring those responsible to justice.

Madame.Fu Ying
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United Kingdom
49-51 Portland Place
London
W1B 1JL
Fax: 020-76362981

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