Latest news with #politicalprisoner
SBS Australia
4 days ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
The mystery of Tibet's missing monk, three decades on
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is one of the most famous missing persons in the world. To many Tibetans, his detainment three decades ago made him the world's 'youngest political prisoner'. Since then, a single photograph has been used to tell his story. In May 1995, a six-year-old Nyima was appointed the Panchen Lama — one of the highest spiritual authorities in Tibetan Buddhism — by a committee of Buddhist leaders. China quickly rejected the announcement and three days later, Nyima and his family were taken into what Chinese authorities described as protective custody. He has not been seen since. But Tibet specialist Kate Saunders believes she may have received an image of the Panchen Lama and his family, taken several years after their disappearance. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is believed to be sitting in the front left. At the top of the photograph, the Tibetan script reads "Photograph of a family reunion". Credit: Hardcash Productions "It seems to show Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. He's got a toy helicopter, he's sitting on his father's lap. He could be around 10, around 11 [years old]," she said. "This looks as though it's in some sort of official compound, and it does show us that the family was still together at that point." Saunders believes the limited evidence of the boy since he was taken by Chinese authorities "shows how successfully China has been able to disappear not only the child, but also his entire family". Since his disappearance, the Chinese government has said Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is not the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, as claimed by the Dalai Lama, instead "he is only a common Chinese citizen" who received his education in China, went to university and has started working. 'A momentous struggle' More than 30 years later, Saunders believes the story of the Panchen Lama's disappearance is one "not only of an individual but of a civilisation". In 1950, Chinese troops marched into Tibet in what China officially termed a "peaceful liberation". A Tibetan resistance movement formed quickly but within a decade Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama had escaped across the Himalayas to India, where he remains in exile. Today, Tibet is governed as an autonomous region within the People's Republic of China. For many modern-day Tibetans, Saunders believes, life is "a momentous struggle between a Communist Party and Tibetan civilisation". Namkyi has been caught up in this unrest from a young age. In 2008, aged eight, she took to the streets demanding the return of the Dalai Lama. Namkyi also recalls seeing protesters setting themselves alight during the wave of demonstrations that swept the Tibetan plateau that year. Approximately 150 monks, nuns and ordinary people have set themselves alight and ultimately died since 2009. "They protested and peacefully sacrificed their bodies by burning themselves. Many of my relatives and friends and neighbours have set themselves on fire," Namkyi said. "Many protesters were arrested and tortured ... We were all together, there was a lot of pain and suffering." The 2008 protests were the biggest against Chinese rule in more than two decades. Seven years later, Namkyi staged another protest — this time armed with photos of the Dalai Lama. "We walked past a police station. They stood around and beat us up. I was worried I would be killed." Namkyi alleges she endured days of interrogation and torture, before being held without trial in a detention centre for the next 13 months. While in prison, Namkyi said she was held in solitary conferment. Her only contact was with a Chinese government officer who she claims forced her to undergo political re-education. Credit: Hardcash Productions According to Human Rights Watch, 479 Tibetans were detained or tried for "political offences" between 2013 to 2015. However, due to limited access to Tibet , the organisation says "the actual number of Tibetans detained and prosecuted during this period for political offences was likely significantly higher". In 2023, Namkyi fled from Tibet. Like the Dalai Lama, she made the dangerous journey across the mountains to India, where she now lives, separated from her family and friends. 'Religion is a poison' It's been 25 years since Tibetan Arjia Rinpoche went into exile in the United States. Before he escaped, the senior Buddhist teacher said he was made to serve the Communist Party in China and was even privy to preparations for the appointment of a new Panchen Lama. "I was named as one of the great secretaries of the committee. The Chinese government said the Dalai Lama's opinions would be taken into consideration. However, the final decision would be made by the Chinese government." After the Dalai Lama announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama, China immediately opposed his pick for the position. "They said it was an illegal act … the Chinese government made him [Nyima] disappear. I witnessed things with my own eyes. We were all shocked." Instead, Gyaltsen Norbu was appointed. He's the son of two Communist Party members and is known by some Tibetans as the Panchen Zuma — meaning 'fake Panchen'. Arjia Rinpoche said he was inside the temple when China selected the 11th Panchen Lama. Credit: ITV "I was being forced to have faith in someone I didn't believe in and do things I didn't want to," Rinpoche recalls. He alleges the Chinese Communist Party refers to Tibetan religion as a "poison". "I managed to escape from the danger of the dragon's mouth," he says, referring to his decision to leave Tibet. As surveillance technology has evolved, UK-based cybersecurity expert Greg Walton believes life for many Tibetans has become increasingly challenging. Tibet is monitored in ways that no one [outside] of North Korea probably can really understand. Greg Walton "Everyday activities such as language preservation, passing on traditional Tibetan practices, these are being criminalised. Surveillance is at the heart of this process of subjugating the Tibetan people, of making them Chinese. "The government has concentrated surveillance resources on having facial recognition cameras in monasteries like no other aspect of Tibetan life. The desire [is] to control, to instil a sense of fear." Cybersecurity expert, Greg Walton believes the government is focused on monitoring religious life. Credit: Hardcash Productions The Chinese Embassy in London has responded that these allegations are "filled with bias and false accusations". "Xizang [Tibet] has been part of China since ancient times, has seen continued and sound economic growth, social harmony and stability, and significantly better life for its people. "The human rights conditions in Xizang are at their historical best." Breaking with tradition? Earlier this month, the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, celebrated his 90th birthday. To mark the occasion, he issued a statement that also laid out his plan for the future of the Buddhist institution. But as Gedhun Choekyi Nyima's disappearance remains controversial and China's pick for the position continues to be contested, the selection of the next Dalai Lama may break with tradition. On 6 July, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso celebrated his 90th birthday with a large gathering of Tibetan religious leaders, Indian politicians and monks. Source: AP / Ashwini Bhatia The Dalai Lama announced his charitable foundation, Gaden Phodrang , will be the only authority to choose his successor. The announcement ended speculation that the current Dalai Lama would be the last person to hold the title. According to Rinpoche, China's battle for Tibet will continue. "In the future, they will interfere with the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. It's [all] about the struggle for power to gain authority." The Chinese government has responded that it respects "the reincarnation of Living Buddhas, [and the] procedures [that] have been established over the centuries. The religious rituals, historical conventions [and] Chinese laws need to be complied with in this process".
LBCI
6 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Georges Abdallah says resistance must continue as Israel faces ‘final chapter'
Pro-Palestinian Lebanese activist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, upon arriving in Beirut, said that a political prisoner's strength 'comes from comrades leading the fight,' adding that Israel 'is living the final chapter of its existence.' In remarks shared after his release, Abdallah credited 'collective action' for securing his freedom. He stressed that the resistance must press on, criticizing Arab silence over events in Gaza. 'Some Arabs remain unmoved by what is happening,' he said, while saluting fallen resistance fighters: 'The resistance is not weak — its leaders are martyrs, not traitors.'
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Lebanese militant lands in Beirut after 40 years in French jail: Airport source
A Lebanese pro-Palestinian communist militant arrived in Lebanon Friday following his release after more than 40 years in detention in France. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, 74, was serving a life sentence for complicity in the murders of two diplomats, one American and one Israeli, in Paris in 1982. The Paris Court of Appeal ruled last week that Abdallah, who has been imprisoned in France since his arrest in 1984, could be released on the condition that he leave the country and never return. Abdallah was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for complicity in the assassinations of US Army Lt. Col. Charles Ray, who was stationed in Paris as an assistant military attaché, and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov. He became eligible for parole in 1999 but multiple requests he filed since then were denied. In Lebanon, many saw Abdallah as a political prisoner. While there was no official event marking his return, a crowd of supporters, including a number of members of Parliament, gathered outside of the Beirut airport to wait for him. Some banged on drums and held up Palestinian and Lebanese Communist Party flags and a banner reading, 'George Abdallah is free — a Lebanese, Palestinian and international freedom fighter on the road to liberating Palestine.' The crowd broke out in cheers upon hearing the plane carrying Abdallah had arrived.
LBCI
17-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
After 40 years behind bars, Georges Abdallah set to walk free—will politics stand in the way again?
Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Mariella Succar He spent more than half his life behind bars, accused of involvement in the assassinations of American and Israeli diplomats on French soil. But to many, he is seen as a hero who dedicated his youth to a cause he believed in. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the longest-held political prisoner in Europe, is set to walk free after more than 40 years behind bars. Abdallah's story begins during Lebanon's civil war, when he was a young leftist with Marxist and nationalist beliefs. He saw the Palestinian resistance as a natural extension of his struggle against occupation and colonialism. He joined the armed struggle as a member of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), a group accused of carrying out attacks targeting Western diplomats, most notably the 1982 assassinations of U.S. military attaché Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yaakov Bar-Simantov in Paris. Abdallah was arrested in 1984 in the French city of Lyon while carrying a fake Algerian passport. After three years of investigations and trials, he was sentenced to life in prison, beginning a long chapter of legal and political battles. He has been eligible for parole for 25 years, but French authorities—under internal and international political pressure—have rejected 12 previous requests submitted by his lawyers. Each time, the case returned to square one, despite French law allowing the conditional release of life-sentenced prisoners after a set period, especially when the prisoner demonstrates good behavior. Nearly four decades later, a Paris appeals court has broken the stalemate, issuing a ruling to release him starting July 25, on the condition that he be immediately deported to Lebanon and permanently barred from returning to French territory. Will this mark the final chapter in Georges Abdallah's story, or will politics once again intervene to block his release?
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Mandela Day: Why was the South African president so important?
On 18 July 1918, Rolihlahla Mandela was born in the small village of Mvezo in South was the son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba Nelson – as he later came to be known – gave up his Chieftanship, instead choosing to become a eventually became one of the world's most-famous leaders and campaigners for equal rights for black South African people. His protests in the 1950s and 60s against a system called apartheid angered South Africa's ruling government, and led to him becoming a political spent 27 years of his life in prison, but remained an important and popular figure for anti-apartheid a few years after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela become the first black president of South Africa. When is Nelson Mandela Day? Who was Nelson Mandela? Nelson Mandela worked to bring about significant changes to the lives of many South became a lawyer and created South Africa's first black-owned law practice before moving into politics. What was apartheid? When Nelson Mandela was still a young man, a system called apartheid was created in South Africa. It was designed so that white people and black people would lead separate lives. White people, who were a small proportion of the population, were in charge of people had fewer rights and couldn't people controlled which jobs black people could have, and even where they also had access to better schools and more about apartheid here. Why was Nelson Mandela in prison for 27 years? Nelson Mandela wanted South African apartheid to end and protested against 1964 Mandela was convicted of treason and trying to damage the government. He was sentenced to life in prison, during which he spent time on Robben island, off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa, was the site of a prison for 300 inmates, including Nelson Mandela, were black men imprisoned for political this, many people around the world supported Nelson Mandela's cause and campaigned for his release. How did Nelson Mandela become President of South Africa? In 1990, after being in prison for 27 years, the South African President FW de Klerk - a white man - allowed Mandela to go free, signalling a new era in the had become a symbol of resistance against apartheid and his release saw celebrations not only in South Africa but across the in South Africa ended a year later in years after that, South Africa held its first fully-democratic elections in which black people, as well as white, were allowed to Mandela was elected president and set about trying to bring people of different races together. What is Nelson Mandela's legacy? In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - the highest honour of its kind - for his 1995, South Africa held its first major sports competition - the Rugby World gave his support to the South African rugby team, made up mostly of white men, so that it would unite the country. The team, known as the Springboks, went on to lift the for many years he was regarded as a dangerous opponent by the apartheid authorities, today he is held with deep respect by South Africans of all backgrounds. When he died in 2013, South Africans of different heritages - both white and black - came together to mourn him. Mandela has gone down in history as one of the most famous world leaders ever and is remembered by many for promoting a message of forgiveness and equality.
