Front Line is deeply concerned about the enforced disappearance of human rights defender Wangdue, arrested by the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau (PSB) on 14 March 2008. His whereabouts remain unknown. Wangdue is a Project Officer with the Tibet office of the Burnet Institute, an NGO which promotes public awareness and education on the issue of HIV/AIDS in Lhasa City.
Further Information
posted 14/10/08 On 14 March 2008, Lhasa City PSB officials reportedly arrested Wangdue in his residence in Lhasa. His family has not heard from him since and it is not known where he is being held.
Wangdue is a former political prisoner who had been arrested for his involvement in the March 1989 protests in Lhasa and was later sentenced to three years of "Re-education through Labour" in Sangyip Prison. His prison sentence was further increased by four years by the Lhasa City Intermediate People's Court for his involvement in a protest in Sangyip in May1991. He was later transferred to the Drapchi Prison in Lhasa where he completed his remaining prison term.
Following his release in 1995, Wangdue has worked with an HIV/AIDS awareness program in Lhasa City and worked to create HIV/AIDS awareness in various brothels around Lhasa City and in schools in neighbouring counties and towns. The NGO has also published and printed numerous education booklets, posters and pamphlets on HIV/AIDS awareness in Tibetan and Chinese language for free distribution to educate the general public on the disease. In the past, HIV/AIDS activists have been targets of repression in China especially those who question the public authorities' responsibility in the evolution of the epidemic.
Front Line believes that Wangdue has been targeted as a result of his legitimate human rights activities, in particular his work to defend the rights of those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Tibet.
Action Finished:
This Urgent Appeal has now ended. No further action is requested at this point. Thank you for taking action on this case.
Front Line issues Urgent Appeals on behalf of human rights defenders at risk on a daily basis. These Appeals normally remain active on our web site for a period of up to six weeks, depending on the situation. After this time they will be archived. Front Line maintains a watching brief on all these cases but no further action is requested after the six weeks, unless there is a significant development in the case.
