17. Sep 2005
Potala monk detained
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that Sonam, a monk from Toelung Dechen county, was arrested by Chinese security forces on or about 21 August 2005 at the vehicle entrance at the rear of the Potala Palace in Lhasa. HRW sources describe the detention as politically motivated. According to observers, Sonam was quietly taken away in an unmarked vehicle while arriving at the palace where he acts as a care-taker. No one has seen Sonam since the incident. Reports that two other Potala monks were detained at about the same time as Sonam, and possibly subsequently released, could not be confirmed.