Tibetan organisation demands release of Panchen Lama

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) today asked China to disclose the whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Tibet's XIth Panchen Lama.

"It is Nyima's 18th year in Chinese custody at an undisclosed location after he and his parents disappeared in 1995, when he was only six years old," spokesperson of TCHRD Tsering Tsomo said today.

Tsomo called for the immediate and unconditional release of Nyima.

Tsomo alleged that for the last 18 years, the Chinese authorities have wilfully misled the international community on the actual whereabouts of Nyima and his family members.

The Chinese government has continued to rebuff any requests from UN human rights mechanisms and other international bodies in this regard, she said.