A leading human rights group in Asia has urged China to unconditionally release a Tibetan environmental activist who was jailed after he published a video on illegal sand mining in Sichuan Province.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), in a Dec. 16 statement, expressed “deep concern” over China imposing an eight-month jail term on environmental activist Tsogon Tsering.

The rights group asked the Chinese government “to immediately and unconditionally release” Tsering.

Tsering was jailed on Oct. 27, accused of “disturbing social order” after he published the video on illegal sand and gravel mining in Tsaruma village, Kakhog County, Ngaba Prefecture.

The group said Tsering’s social media account was taken down, and all search terms related to his name were blocked. His whereabouts remained unknown until his sentencing.

Tsering’s case is similar to Anya Sengdra’s, who is serving a seven-year sentence after exposing illegal mining in Gade County in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Earlier in 2024, four Tibetan environmental activists were arrested in a village in Chamdo Prefecture for raising concerns about alleged illegal land grabbing by Chinese authorities, the statement said.

The group’s executive director Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso expressed “solidarity with the people of Tibet,” who face socio-cultural repression and environmental challenges.

Chinese authorities have been targeting Tibet and its people since 1950s, when China annexed Tibet, claiming it to be an integral part of Chinese territory.

“Fearing retaliation and reprisals, Tibetans including environmental human rights defenders and journalists – have been effectively silenced, allowing China to govern the region with total impunity,” the rights group alleged.

Chinese authorities continue to “criminalize legitimate expressions of concern over Tibetan people’s fundamental freedoms” under the guise of national security and ethnic unity, the rights group said.

It asked the Chinese government to stop the arrest and imprisonment of Tibetan environmental rights defenders peacefully advocating for their rights.

It also demanded that China adhere to international human rights standards, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Source: Union of Catholic Asian News