Tibetan authorities here on Tuesday urged the international community to help them secure the release of the Panchen Lama, one of the most revered religious leaders in Tibet, who mysteriously disappeared 20 years ago.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) spokesperson Tashi Phuntsok said this May 17 will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
"The CTA calls upon the international community to join us in an appeal for his release. This year will mark the 20th anniversary of his going missing at the age of six. Till date, his whereabouts and well-being remain unknown," he told reporters here.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama recognized Nyima on May 14, 1995, as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Within three days of the announcement, he was abducted making him one of the youngest political prisoners in the world.
Declaring his case an enforced disappearance in April 2011, the United Nations' Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances held China responsible for his disappearance. It stated that the Chinese authorities have "continually refused to divulge any information about him or his whereabouts, making his case an enforced disappearance".
According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, there are currently over 2,000 Tibetan political prisoners.
The CRA's appeal letter said a number of human rights bodies, including the UN Committee against Torture and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, have called for the Panchen Lama's whereabouts to be made known.
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However, China has turned a deaf ear to these pleas to allow contact with the Panchen Lama.
"The case of the Panchen Lama is not only the story of an innocent six-year old child disappearing for 20 years, but also a blatant symptom of political repression and lack of religious freedom," Phuntsok added.
The Dalai Lama has been living in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan-in-exile administration is based in this northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.