A Tibetan political prisoner, serving an 18-year sentence for acts of peaceful resistance, is critically ill in Chusur (Chinese: Qushui) prison near Lhasa in Tibet.

Jigme Gyatso is a former monk from Kanlho (Chinese: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province and was originally sentenced to 15 years in 1996 for “counter-revolutionary” activities. His sentence was extended by 3 years in 2004 after shouting slogans in support of the Dalai Lama while at Drapchi Prison in Lhasa.

Send an appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, to call for Gyatso’s urgent release on medical grounds.

Fears for Gyatso’s life were raised after he met with the then UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak, during an official prison visit in November 2005. Dr Nowak subsequently called for his release and stated in his report: “Since he has been convicted of a political crime, possibly on the basis of information extracted by torture, the Special Rapporteur appeals to the [Chinese] Government that he be released”.

Gyatso faced severe torture for speaking to the UN official and was hospitalised for several weeks in 2006.

Gyatso’s release date is 30 March, 2014. A recent news report from the Tibetan government in exile stated that Gyatso’s “survival is at stake due to his debilitating condition”. Click here to read report.

International Campaign for Tibet has also issued a detailed report titled Fears for the life of Tibetan political prisoner tortured after speaking to UN Rapporteur.