Dharamshala — Tibetan political prisoners Gangkye Drukpa Kyab and Tsering Dolma are in critical condition and their health has deteriorated in the Chinese prisons. They were sentenced to 14 and 8 years in prison respectively for writing on the 2008 Tibet uprising and staging peaceful protests against the Chinese communist Party(CCP).
According to a reliable source to TPI, on March 29, 2026, the Tibetan political prisoners Gangkye Drukpa Kyab and Tsering Dolma are in a critical condition and their health has deteriorated in Chinese prisons. Their family members are calling on the UN, Human Rights Watch and other international organisations and governments to intervene with the Chinese government to ensure their transfer to a hospital or the implementation of measures to address their critical condition.
In 2024, Gangkye Drukpa Kyab’s family was permitted to visit him at Mianyang Prison in Sichuan. However, all subsequent visits have been denied, and it is unclear whether he is still being held at that prison. With family visits continuing to be blocked and medical care being denied, his family is deeply concerned for his health and well-being.
The source described the torture suffered in Chinese prisons as “cruel and inhuman”; as a result, Gangkye Drukpa Kyab now suffers from cardiac and renal conditions, as well as vision problems, amnesia, and digestive complications.
Gangkye Drukpa Kyab is writer, his pen name is called Gang-metak. He was arrested by Serta County police at around 5:30 pm local time on March 23, 2021, at his home in Serta County, eastern Tibet. Karze (Garze) Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to 14 years in prison for allegedly "inciting separatism" and "endangering state security" in September 2022.
He also arrested by Serta county police on February 15, 2012. After more than one year in detention, Nyachu People’s Court sentenced the Tibetan writer to five and a half years in jail for his writings, which were accused of "inciting secession" and "sending illicit material outside of China." He was later imprisoned in the People's Republic of China's Sichuan Province Prison.
His best-known works, such as "Calling from afar-Jangpo," "Pain in Time-Du-kyi-na-su," "Today's Tear-Dari-gi-Michu," "White-scarf magazine," and "Worded with Red Blood in 2008," are mostly about the 2008 Tibet uprising. The 2008 Tibet uprising was a series of demonstrations and protests in Tibet against China's repressive policies.
On September 16, 2016, he was released from Sichuan Province Prison. However, on the day of his release, he was accused of wearing a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his head and was detained for 17 days by the county police. And after his release, he suffered from serious health conditions as a result of the brutal torture and beatings he endured in prison, including kidney failure, cardiac problems, vision loss, and intestinal issues.
Gangkye Drukpa Kyab was born on August 6, 1981, in Serthar county, Karze, eastern Tibet, from Rag-Tam-Ge-Phen village. His father's name is Thupten Nyima, and his mother's name is Wangthang Dolma. With his wife Wangshu Lhamo, he has a daughter and son.
The same source also reported that the Tibetan prisoner Tsering Dolma was in a critical condition in the Chinese prison. She was arrested on April 2, 2021, in Serthar County and she was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Karze (Garze) Intermediate People's Court. According to the same source, she fractured her hip as a result of beatings inflicted by the Serthar County Chinese police and continues to suffer from severe pain. She is also suffering from memory loss and a heart condition, the consequences of the torture and ill-treatment she endured during her detention.
She was arrested multiple times after staging a peaceful protest in Seta County against Chinese policies in Tibet, from 2008 and 2012. On June 1, 2008, a large number of Chinese police with 13 vehicles arrived in Kangtsa village and detained Dolma and her father without giving a clear reason.
As a result of the horrific torture and beatings she endured in prison, she developed severe health issues after her release, including cardiac problems, vision loss, and an epileptic fit.
Tsering Dolma, is a Tibetan mother of two sons from Kangtsa village in eastern Tibet (Ch: Gang Zha Cun, Serta County, east of Sichuan Province). Her father is called Solo and mother is called Tsokyi. Her whereabout remain unknown, as China is known to transfer prisoners from one prison to another.
