PROFILES IN COURAGE: DAY 36 – February 3th

Runggye Adak
Age: 54
Nomad; Sentenced to 8 years in prison for publicly calling for the return of the Dalai Lama

Runggye Adak is a respected local leader from Yonru Kharshul, a village near Lithang, Kham. He is a nomad and father of eleven children.  On August 1 2007, he was arrested after he publicly called for the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. Adak stepped on stage at a Chinese government function commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army to present a ceremonial kata (white scarf) to the chief lama of Lithang monastery.

He then boldly grabbed the microphone and addressed the crowd of several thousand Tibetans who had gathered for the annual Lithang horse-racing festival. He said: “If we cannot invite the Dalai Lama home, we will not have freedom of religion and happiness in Tibet.” Before he was detained, he also called for the release of the Panchen Lama and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. Tenzin Delek, a revered Buddhist teacher and community leader also from Lithang, is currently serving a life sentence for crimes he did not commit.

Runggye Adak was later sentenced to eight years for “provocation to subvert state power.” Adak’s nephew, Adak Lupoe, a senior monk from Lithang monastery, was sentenced to ten years in prison and Tibetan art teacher and musician Kunkhyen to nine years, both for attempting to provide pictures and information to ‘overseas organizations’ which were judged to ‘endanger national security’. A fourth Tibetan, Jarib Lothog, was sentenced to three years linked to the same case.

An eyewitness described the protest:
“It all happened so fast – Runggye Adak just came onstage and started speaking. Although his voice did not carry very far, because it could have been that they switched the microphone off, I could see Tibetans nodding their heads about what he was saying about the Dalai Lama and freedom. Quite a few people were cheering him. Then a few men came up onto the stage, and it seemed to me that they could have been Tibetans trying to help him, trying to get him offstage so he wouldn’t be in more trouble. But then uniformed officers arrived and I could see them moving through the crowd quickly towards the stage. Many Tibetans tried to block their way to prevent them from reaching Runggye Adak, but they had no chance. Quite a lot of people followed him when they took him away, and other people around me were saying how scared they were about his fate.”

In response to Adak’s arrest, over two hundred Tibetans congregated outside the Lithang police station to appeal for his release; some managed to get inside and demand to speak to local officials. Eye-witness reports describe how police and soldiers violently dispersed local gatherings in Lithang by using tear gas, stun grenades and metal batons. Hundreds of local government officials have been ordered to attend meetings to condemn Adak’s actions.

On August 21, 2007 Chinese authorities also detained three of Adak’s nephews, Adak Gyaltso, Adak Nyima and Adak Lupoe from the village of Yonru Kharshul in Lithang.

On October 20, Runggye Adak was charged with “provocation to subvert state power” and the Chinese government labeled his actions a “major political incident.” A month later, Runggye Adak was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment for “inciting to split the country” and for “severely disrupting public order”. Adak Lupoe was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for “colluding with foreign separatist force to split the country and distributing political pamphlets”.

Runggye Adak told the court: “I wanted His Holiness to return, and I wanted to raise Tibetan concerns and grievances, as there is no outlet for us to do so. That made me sad and made me act.”

In a heartfelt appeal issued by Adak’s son and nephew who live in exile in India, they describe Adak as a soft-spoken and deeply religious man who “broke the silence by speaking the truth, the truth that remains suppressed in the hearts of his fellow countrymen.”

Adak’s actions came days before the one year countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Less than nine months later, protests erupted across the Tibetan plateau, displaying the same strong sentiments of the Tibetan people’s right to freedom and human rights.

TAKE ACTION for the release of Runggye Adak, Adak Lupoe and the others unjustly sentenced.