Tibet
Breaking WeChat ban: Three Tibetan teens go missing, one hospitalised
Lhasa: Three Tibetan teenagers went missing and even one remained hospitalised with two broken legs after reportedly failing to register a WeChat text group chat with local authorities, as per a report published by a Tibetan advocacy group.
On the evening of 17 February, three Tibetan teenagers, Kansi (a nickname), and two students Dadul and Sangye Tso, were arrested by police in Kyegudo, eastern Tibet. The area is administered as part of Qinghai Province, reports Tibet Watch.
Following his arrest, Dadul was severely beaten and tortured by Chinese police, resulting in his hospitalisation.
His two legs are broken due to severe beating and he is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in the city of Xining. Dadul’s family was summoned by the police and asked to not bring more than two family members and 40,000 yuan (around £6,000 US dollars) to the hospital, ostensibly to pay for surgery.
Tibet Watch added that the family was threatened not to tell anyone about the episode.
There is currently no information on Kansi and Sangye Tso, it claimed.
The three youths were the founders of a WeChat group titled ‘Zari Karmoi Gongtsok’. WeChat is a messaging app, similar to WhatsApp, used widely across Asia, reports Tibet Watch.
They reportedly created the group before Losar, the Tibetan new year.
“These young people have been brutalised for exercising a right that most of us take for granted on a daily basis. I’d ask everyone to imagine if they had to invite a government official to every one of their chat groups or face imprisonment and broken limbs,” said John Jones, Campaigns and Advocacy Manager, at Free Tibet.
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