The International Campaign for Tibet has learned of the death in police custody of Samten, a 25-year-old monk from Ditsa Geden Tashi Choedingling Monastery. Local sources suspect that he was beaten to death during interrogation by Chinese officials.
Tibet’s global freedom score is zero for the third year in a row, according to the Freedom in the World 2026 report released by the watchdog group Freedom House on 19 March, and Tibet remains “not free.”
The International Campaign for Tibet actively engaged in the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where it highlighted ongoing human rights violations in Tibet and raised concerns regarding China’s assimilationist policies targeting Tibetan identity, language and culture.
Chinese state media reported extensively regarding the launch of Deepzang, a Tibetan large language model ostensibly intended to propagating China’s position and propaganda to entrench its narrative on Tibet.
EU Statement at the 61th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Item 4 – Human Rights situation that require the Council’s attention
16 March 2026
This reports highlights the threats faced by Tibetans in Tibet who celebrate the birthday of their Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and urges the international community — including United Nations bodies, national governments, parliaments, and civil society organizations—to call on China to cease its repressive actions.
The People’s Republic of China’s hydropower and dam projects are increasingly leading to massive human rights violations and environmental damage in Tibet. Since Asia’s largest rivers originate in the Tibetan plateau, the construction of hydroelectric dams in Tibet also threaten the water supply, livelihoods and health of up to 1.8 billion people across China, South and Southeast Asia.
This report shows how the Buddhist Association of China (BAC), a supposedly non-political organization, is becoming a key instrument in the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy to assimilate and transform Tibetan Buddhism – particularly in relation to the search for and recognition of reincarnate lamas.
