17 May 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the enforced disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, Jetsun Tenzin Gedhun Yeshi Trinley Phuntsok Pal Sangpo.

On 17 May 1995, three days after His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama officially recognized six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities abducted the child and his family from their home in Lhari County, Nagchu (Ch: Nagqu) City, Tibet Autonomous Region. To this day, their fate and whereabouts remain unknown. 

The enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima constitutes a serious violation of international human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the People’s Republic of China is a State Party. Over the past three decades, the Chinese government has repeatedly denied independent access to the Panchen Lama, providing only unsubstantiated claims that “Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was “living a normal life” and “does not want to be disturbed by anyone.”

Following the death of the 10th Panchen Lama on 28 January 1989 in Shigatse, Chinese authorities swiftly moved to assert unilateral control over the search and recognition process for his successor. In a blatant violation of the Tibetan people’s right to freedom of religion and belief, the government issued internal directives to govern reincarnation procedures, undermining long-standing religious traditions. 

Despite persistent appeals from Tibetan religious figures, including Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, for the Dalai Lama’s involvement in accordance with established religious customs, Chinese officials systematically excluded him. Chadrel Rinpoche, who had been appointed by the government to chair the official search committee, engaged in clandestine communication with the Dalai Lama’s office in an effort to safeguard the religious integrity of the process.