EU Parliament members seek release of 11th Panchen Lama

On the occasion of the 36th birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, members of the European Parliament appealed to the Chinese government to immediately disclose his whereabouts and release him.

The Central Tibetan Administration (CAT) in a press release issued here yesterday said that the members of the European Parliament have stated that the 11th Panchen Lama turned 36. But there was no news regarding his whereabouts and China was answerable to the world for this.

The CTA said that the message from the European Parliament members was both powerful and poignant and it echoed the growing international demand for transparency and justice. The European Parliamentary Group for Tibet had tabled a written question to the High Representative in the European Parliament on the Panchen Lama.

The CTA said while a birthday was typically a time of joy and celebration with loved ones, the 11th Panchen Lama had been denied this fundamental right. He was abducted by the Chinese authorities in 1995 at the age of six, just three days after the Dalai Lama recognised him and he had not been seen since then. "His enforced disappearance remains one of the most troubling cases of religious and cultural repression in modern times," it added.

The CTA said that Panchen Lama’s case was a stark reminder of China’s ongoing suppression of Tibetan identity, religion and culture. "Despite being a member of the United Nations and a signatory to key international treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), China has failed to uphold its obligations. The convention guarantees every child the right to enjoy civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. These rights were stripped from the Panchen Lama, and continue to be denied to countless Tibetan children inside Tibet," it added.

Selected in accordance with ancient Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the 11th Panchen Lama was a vital spiritual figure, and his disappearance represented a grave violation of religious freedom, human rights, and the principles of freedom of thought, conscience, and belief, the CTA said. The members of the European Parliament have joined international voices in urging the Chinese government to end this decades-long silence on the Panchen Lama. It was time for China to reveal the truth and allow the world to know the fate of Tibet’s stolen child, it added.

Meanwhile, in the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement in south India, the spiritual and cultural seat of the Panchen Lama in-exile, commemorated the 36th birthday of the 11th Panchen Lama on Thursday and reiterated its demand for his immediate release from the Chinese custody.

Zeekyab Rinpoche, the abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, delivered a powerful appeal to the United Nations and the global community, stating, “For 30 years, he has remained the world’s youngest political prisoner and a forcibly disappeared Tibetan spiritual leader. His fundamental rights and freedom must be restored without delay.”

He urged the international community to increase pressure on the Chinese government for the release of Panchen Rinpoche, his parents and all other unjustly imprisoned Tibetan political detainees. Rinpoche also condemned China’s long-standing refusal to provide credible information about the Panchen Lama’s whereabouts, denouncing its interference in Tibetan religious affairs.