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Three environmentalist brothers

By Tenzin Norsang | Tibet Sun

Tenzin Norsang in an undated file photo. Photographer unknown

Karma Samdrup, 42 years old, is a prominent idealistic Tibetan philanthropist who established the first environmental non-government organisation in Tibet. He is fluent in Mandarin. He is one of China’s leading collectors of Tibetan art. His two brothers Rinchen Samdrup and Namgyal are also environmentalists.

Rinchen Samdrup, who like his brother Karma had been lauded by the Chinese media in the past, has now been charged with setting up the environmental group illegally. A relative says that Mr Namgyal was tortured before being sentenced to 21 months at a labour camp.

Karma Samdrup’s brothers were arrested after they had accused the local chief of police in Chamdo prefecture last August of hunting protected animals in a Tibetan nature preserve, which is against China’s Wildlife Protection Law, adopted on 8 November 1988.

In January, Karma Samdrup found himself in prison when he tried to defend his two brothers to save them from the labour camp. He was picked up from Sichuan Province and taken far to the western region of East Turkistan (Ch: Xinjiang). He faced accusation of “tomb-robbing”, a charge that had been originally made 12 years ago by the police.

According to his lawyer, Pu Zhinqiang, those charges were then dropped after the police realised that he had a license to buy and sell cultural relics.

On 24 June 2010, Karma was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of grave-robbing and dealing in looted antiquities, as reported by Associate Press. Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher at Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong, said that the authorities were simply trying to silence him.

The entire baseless verdict has shocked the Tibetans all over the world. Instead of investigating the accusations made by the brothers, authorities arrested them and sent them to labour camp.

Chapter II, Article 11, of the Wildlife Protection Law says that the Department of Wildlife Administration at various levels shall keep watch on and monitor the impact of the environment on wildlife. The Department shall conduct investigations and deal with issues jointly with the other departments concerned.

Articles 5 and 38 of this law says that citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall have the duty to protect wildlife resources, and the right to inform the authorities of or file charges against acts of seizure or destruction of wildlife resources.

According to this law, any staff member of a department of wildlife administration who neglects his duty or abuses his power shall be subject to administrative sanction by the department to which he belongs. If the circumstances are serious enough to constitute a crime, he shall be prosecuted for criminal responsibility.

Human Rights Watch reported that in the court hearing, Karma Samdrup said that officers repeatedly beat him and drugged him with a substance that made his eyes and ears bleed — all to extract a confession. He was forced to sign IOUs at extortionist rates for everything provided to him by the prison. He appeared physically weak, and 20 to 30 kilograms lighter.

His wife Dolker Tso said that he looked so different, she could recognise only his voice. “He used to be so tall and so strong, but now he looks so fragile,” reported Anita Chang in an AP story.

Human Rights Watch had submitted a report to the Chinese government requesting them to rescind the accusations against this philanthropist and environmentalist for the Tibetan people. But what actually took place was that on 3 July, the Chinese court sentenced Tibetan environmentalist Karma Samdrup, who had organised villagers to pick up litter and plant trees, to five years in jail for “inciting to split the nation”, reported Lucy, Lim and Yeung from Reuters Beijing.

The question remains: is China able to protect the wildlife of Tibet under its own Wildlife Protection Law? If not, if laws aren’t put into practice, then there is absolutely no use of policies and laws.

Copyright © 2010 Tenzin Norsang

Published in Tibet Sun