UPDATE 29 DECEMBER: Sonam Tso, one of the three Tibetan teenagers arrested after local authorities for setting up a WeChat group has been released in severe health condition "barely able to walk".
Chinese authorities have escalated a new crackdown across Eastern Tibet, with a number of prominent Tibetan writers, activists, and former political prisoners arrested. The grounds for their arrest, current whereabouts, and health condition remain unknown.
Those arrested include Tibetan writer and former teacher, Drubpa Kyab (Tibetan: འབྲུག་པ་སྐྱབས།, Chinese: 支巴加), who has been targeted by the Chinese authorities for his writings and activism since 2012 when he was imprisoned, and Tsering Dolma (Tibetan: ཚེ་རིང་སྒྲོལ་མ།, Chinese: 次仁卓玛) who was previously imprisoned for participation in the 2008 Uprising and has been under tight surveillance ever since.
We are extremely concerned for their well-being; fears heightened by the recent wave of Tibetan deaths in custody.
TAKE ACTION: Send an urgent message to Chinese leaders Sichuan Party Secretary, Peng Qinghua 彭清華, and Qinghai Party Secretary, Wang Jianjun 王建军