Tibetan monk tortured to death in Chinese custody, monastery ordered to stay silent

Ditsa Geden Tashi Choedingling Monastery, one of the four major Buddhist centres in Palung County. The monastery has around 400 monks and a long tradition of Tibetan-language education. (Photo: Tibet Times)

Tibetan Buddhist monk Samten, aged 25, died in Chinese police custody in December 2025. His body was returned to his monastery — Ditsa Geden Tashi Choedingling, in Shongshan Township — on 18 December 2025. Sources close to the monastery allege he was tortured to death during a police interrogation. News of his death only began to circulate in March 2026.

Official account versus eyewitness testimony

Chinese authorities stated that Samten “suddenly fell ill” and died during an emergency transfer to an unspecified hospital. No further explanation was given about the cause of death, the name of the hospital, or the exact date of his detention. Sources close to the monastery directly contradict this official account, stating that Samten died after being severely beaten during interrogation by Chinese officials.

When the body was returned, monks at the monastery were explicitly ordered not to disclose any information about Samten’s death. The current situation of his family members remains unknown.

Previously detained for a WeChat message

This was not Samten’s first encounter with Chinese authorities. In 2021 he was arrested after being accused of sharing photographs and news via WeChat related to the elections of the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government in exile. Following his release he remained under continuous police surveillance, as did his monastery.

Ditsa Monastery under pressure

Ditsa Geden Tashi Choedingling Monastery, founded in 1903 by Je Shamar Pandita Gendun Tenzin Gyatso, is one of the four major Gelugpa religious centres in Palung County (Hualong Hui Autonomous County, Haidong, Qinghai). It houses around 400 monks and was traditionally a centre for Tibetan-language education and monastic training.

In October 2021, Chinese authorities took drastic measures: approximately fifty monks under the age of eighteen were expelled from Ditsa, and a further thirty young monks were expelled from the nearby Jhakhyung Monastery. These expulsions are part of a broader campaign aimed at denying Tibetan children a religious education.

Repression around the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday

Samten’s arrest and death coincide with an intensification of repression in the lead-up to the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday in July 2025. During that period, Chinese authorities raided monasteries to confiscate images of the Dalai Lama, imposed mandatory “political re-education” sessions on monks, and carried out widespread arrests and intimidation of Tibetans.

This campaign claimed other victims as well. The 52-year-old monk Shersang Gyatso of Tsang Monastery died by suicide in August 2025 under the pressure of the repression. The 48-year-old monk Zega Gyatso was arrested around the birthday celebrations and released only in January 2026 after six months in detention — he now faces strict movement restrictions.

A pattern of enforced disappearances

Tibet Watch and the International Campaign for Tibet have for years documented a systematic pattern of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture in Tibetan monasteries. Samten’s case fits squarely into this pattern: a young monk arrested for a religious or political “violation,” held without legal process, dead in custody, and a monastery subsequently silenced.

China’s “Sinicisation” campaign under President Xi Jinping restricts Tibetan in education, coerces monks into denouncing the Dalai Lama, and criminalises the practice of ordinary religious customs. The death of Samten is a direct consequence of that policy.