In the shadowed valleys of Tibet, where the Drichu River (Yangtze) winds through ancient monasteries and centuries-old villages, two monastic leaders now sit behind prison walls for the crime of protecting their homeland.
On June 16, 2025, Chinese authorities sentenced Sherab, the abbot of Yena Monastery, to four years in prison. Gonpo, the monastery’s chief administrator, received a three-year sentence. Both men were charged for leading peaceful protests against the construction of the massive Gangtuo hydropower dam project a part of China’s 13-dam cascade planned for the upper reaches of the Drichu. The Gangtuo dam alone is designed to generate 1,100 megawatts of electricity, but at the cost of drowning six monasteries and displacing roughly 4,000 Tibetan residents.
The protests began in mid-February 2024, when over 1,000 monks and villagers gathered in Wangbuding township, Derge County. With thumbs raised in silent appeal a traditional Tibetan gesture of respect, they begged visiting officials to reconsider the destruction of their sacred sites. Yena, Wonto, Kadho, Rabten, Gonsar, and Tashi monasteries stood directly in the dam’s path, many housing murals, scriptures, and relics dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries.
But Beijing’s response was swift and brutal. Over 1,000 Tibetans were arrested during the protests. Entire villages were sealed off by roadblocks and checkpoints. The region was placed under an iron lockdown, with nearly 4,000 people trapped in their homes and monasteries, forbidden from traveling without special permits. Reports soon emerged that dozens of detainees including monks were severely beaten in custody. Many required hospitalization for injuries inflicted during interrogation sessions. Gonpo himself was transferred in critical condition to Chengdu’s West China Hospital, reportedly after suffering torture.
Behind closed doors, authorities were particularly enraged that Yena Monastery sought legal assistance a move seen as a direct political challenge to the Party’s authority. According to sources cited by Radio Free Asia, officials specifically targeted Sherab and Gonpo because they “hired lawyers and sought justice through legal channels.” Such actions, though entirely peaceful, are interpreted by Beijing as subversive acts warranting harsh punishment.
While hundreds of detained villagers were eventually released, senior monastic figures such as Sherab, Gonpo, and Wonto’s senior administrator Tenzin Sangpo remained imprisoned for over a year before receiving their formal sentences.
International concern has grown since the crackdown. In February 2024, U.S. Special Coordinator Uzra Zeya publicly expressed alarm, emphasizing the cultural significance of the threatened monasteries and calling for Beijing to respect freedom of expression and religious rights. Yet China proceeded undeterred, pushing forward its hydropower ambitions in the name of national development and energy security.
This entire episode is more than a simple land dispute, it is part of a deeper, ongoing campaign to crush any form of Tibetan autonomy, even in its most peaceful forms. What took place at Yena Monastery is not isolated. It is part of Beijing’s broader strategy: environmental exploitation, cultural erasure, and political repression converge on the Tibetan Plateau with increasing force.
