A Buddhist monk who provided a rare first-hand
account of China's crackdown on Tibetan protesters says he has gone into
hiding.
A report published Monday by the Associated Press said the monk,
who identified himself only as Jigme, went into hiding after security agents
visited his home in the northwestern province of Gansu last week.
Earlier
this month, the Voice of America's Tibetan service aired a video from Jigme
about his nearly two-month detention and a crackdown on monks at Labrang
monastery. The video showing his face was made available on the Internet (VOA
and YouTube) at Jigme's request.
In the statement, Jigme, whose name
means "fearless" in Tibetan, said he was arrested in late March and accused of
participating in protests by Tibetans in the town (Tibetan: Sangchu, Chinese:
Xiahe) where the monastery is located.
The monk said he took no part in
protests which rocked the the town where his monastery, Labrang, is located. The
AP report said Chinese authorities contacted by phone had no information on
Jigme's case.
Jigme says he was released for medical reasons after
several weeks of interrogation and abuse. Jigme says he was hospitalized twice
for injuries sustained during his detention. He said 180 monks from the age of
14 to 60 were also detained.
Monks and other Tibetans in Sangchu
(Chinese: Xiahe) took to the streets in large numbers in March to show
solidarity with Tibetans demonstrating in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
In
April, monks at Labrang monastery disrupted a government-sponsored media tour.
The monks denied official reports on the demonstrations and called for the
return of the Dalai Lama.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
