Tibet Support Group: The circumstances of the death of a high Tibetan religious leader need a transparent investigation

“We are deeply concerned about the reports of the arrest of high Tibetan religious leader Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje on 25 March 2025 at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) during a joint operation involving Vietnamese police and Chinese agents, and the subsequent announcement of his death by his monastery Lung Ngon on 3 April 2025,” the Support Group writes in a joint statement.

The Support Group points to reports which indicate that a group of officials from the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, the Religious Affairs Bureau of Gade County Government, the National Security Bureau of Golok Prefecture government and the Intelligence Department of Qinghai Province arrived in Vietnam on the morning of 5 April.

According to the information available to the Tibet Support Group of the Riigikogu, in August 2024, the authorities of the communist People’s Republic of China conducted an interrogation of high Tibetan religious leader Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje, allegedly in connection with the failure of religious leader Hungkar Dorje to provide a sufficiently warm welcome to the (internationally unrecognised) Panchen Lama appointed by the Chinese government, and Hungkar Dorje’s commitment and work to preserve Tibetan religion, culture and language through local schools that are independent of the state authority.

The Support Group’s concerns are compounded by conflicting accounts of the circumstances surrounding the death of the religious leader, including the facts that the initial cause of death of Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje according to the Vietnamese authorities was a heart attack, and that the Chinese authorities briefly showed Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje’s death certificate to Lung Ngon Monastery in Tibet, but did not allow the monastery to retain or make copies of the documents.

“We emphasise the obligation of states to take responsibility in cases of death in custody and stress that a failure to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation constitutes a violation of the right to life. The right to life is one of the fundamental human rights and is guaranteed in all universal international human rights instruments,” the Support Group underlines in its statement.

“We call upon the international community to urge the Vietnamese Government to uphold its international legal obligations and ensure a credible and transparent investigation of this deeply concerning case.”

The Tibet Support Group of the Riigikogu is chaired by Juku-Kalle Raid; members of the group are Annely Akkermann, Anti Allas, Ester Karuse, Ando Kiviberg, Eerik-Niiles Kross, Leo Kunnas, Hanah Lahe, Tõnis Lukas, Evelin Poolamets, Anti Poolamets, Henn Põlluaas, Marek Reinaas, Urmas Reinsalu, Riina Sikkut, Kalev Stoicescu, Tarmo Tamm, Toomas Uibo, Kristo Enn Vaga and Jaak Valge.

For more information, please contact:

Juku-Kalle Raid
Chair of Tibet Support Group of the Riigikogu
+372 631 6562
juku-kalle.raid@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Tibet Support Group: The circumstances of the death of a high Tibetan religious leader need a transparent investigation

Source: Parliament of Estonia