We, the undersigned Tibet organisations, express our profound concern regarding the sudden death of 56-year old Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje, the Abbot of Lung Ngon Monastery in Gade County, Golog, Amdo, Tibet [CH: Gande County, Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province] while in detention in Vietnam in late March 2025. We note with alarm the lack of clarity around both the circumstances and exact cause of his death.

According to reports, Tulku Rigzin Hungkar Dorje faced interrogation by Chinese officials in August 2024, allegedly linked to his failure to provide a sufficiently warm reception for the Chinese government-appointed Panchen Lama, and his commitment to preserving Tibetan religion, culture, and language through independent schools.

We are deeply troubled by the reports of his arrest from a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City [Saigon] on 25 March 2025, in a joint operation involving Vietnamese police and Chinese agents, and the subsequent announcement of his death by his monastery, Lung Ngon, on 3 April 2025. Reports further indicate that a group of Chinese officials from the United Front Work Department, Religious Affairs Bureau of Gade County government, the National Security Bureau of Golok prefecture government, and the Qinghai Provincial Intelligence Department, arrived in Vietnam on the morning of 5 April.