The Tibet Post

The monk is from Tende village in Ba County, Tso-ngon, north-eastern Tibet.  Thupten was brought in Ba County by his father Kadho Gyab, and mother Kako, in a family with two sisters and five brothers.

On the 14^th of March of this year a number of monks from Shingtri monastery protested against the Chinese government's policies in Tibet. During the protest many monks and lay people were arrested by the Chinese police and most were released after a certain period of time.

However, the Chinese authorities declared that Thupten Yeshe was the leader of the protest and therefore he was arrested. According to Gyatso, Thupten disappeared after his arrest.

Gyatso explained that after the arrests had been made on the 23 of May, two of the arrested monks were sentenced for over a year's imprisonment and also four monks named Yeshe Dorjee, Tenzin Rangshar, Tsultrim Rinchen, and Lobsang have disappeared.

According to the Chinese authorities the monks were said to be 'serious criminals'. The relatives are said to be very concerned about the disappearance of these individuals.

It is difficult to gather photos and further information about disappeared monks since the Chinese censorship and control over the media in Tibet. During those mass protests in 2008, more than 200 Tibetans were killed and thousands jailed and another thousand just disappeared, according to various sources from inside Tibet.

Tibetan people in their homeland still live with the daily realities of hardship and suppression under China's military invasion since 1959, as well as, the threat of imprisonment and torture.

Since 27 February 2009, there have been confirmed reports of 46 self-immolations in all three traditional provinces of Tibet, according to the Tibetan writer, Tsering Woeser and a foreign reporter who recently visited eastern Tibet.