A 42-year-old Tibetan man named Kelsang has been detained by Chinese authorities after publicly appealing for access to electricity and water that his family has been denied for over nine years, according to information released by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
Kelsang, a resident of Serdak Township in Tengchen County, Chamdo Prefecture was taken into custody on April 18 after posting a video on Chinese social media documenting his family’s prolonged exclusion from basic public services. He remains in detention at the Tengchen County Police Station, where his family has been denied visitation rights.
The case highlights what human rights observers describe as systematic discrimination. Since 2016, Kelsang’s household has been excluded from township infrastructure development projects that provided electricity and water to most other residents in the area. This prolonged denial has severely impacted his family’s quality of life, forcing his children to withdraw from school due to their inability to study without lighting.
“Even having electricity in a very ordinary home has become like a dream for me,” Kelsang wrote in his March 2025 appeal. “I have appealed to the authorities on many accounts… It has been 9 years.”
According to sources close to the family, Kelsang has submitted at least five written appeals to local authorities since 2016. His most recent public appeal on March 20 led to his first detention on March 24, when he was held for three days and accused of “disrupting social order” and “tarnishing the image of the Party and the country.”
Following his release, authorities reportedly placed Kelsang’s family under surveillance, prohibited community members from visiting them, and pressured him to falsely confess that his claims were fabricated. His social media content was removed, and family members were barred from speaking publicly about their situation.
Sources indicate that Kelsang’s ongoing persecution may be linked to his family’s political history. His grandfather was killed in the 1950s while resisting the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and Kelsang himself was detained for six months in 2008 on suspicion of involvement in anti-government protests, though no formal charges were filed.
TCHRD has called for Kelsang’s immediate release and restoration of utilities to his household, citing violations of international human rights laws, including the right to non-discrimination, education, freedom of expression, and the prohibition of arbitrary detention.
Kelsang’s health is reportedly deteriorating in detention. He suffers from high blood pressure, and his family has expressed serious concerns about his well-being given the lack of information provided by authorities.
