Media Profile & Archive — Sonam Gonpo. This archive preserves the documented record behind the Sonam Gonpo (索南公保) profile: the 2009 case in Nyarong County that led to his life sentence, the advocacy responses, and the current roster listing, with provenance and limitations noted.
Case chronology
- February 28, 2009. The township government office in Tangkyi (Tongxiao), Nyarong (Xinlong) County is attacked: slogans and handbills described as “inciting splitting the nation” are posted and the office building is set on fire; reported losses exceed 200,000 yuan. (Ganzi Daily, March 18, 2009, quoted in translation in the International Campaign for Tibet report.)
- March 11, 2009. Sonam Gonpo is detained at dawn after a “criminal investigation” (Ganzi Daily via ICT); Human Rights Watch records his arrest for alleged involvement in the attack.
- November 17, 2009. Sentenced to life imprisonment for “inciting separatism” and “disturbing social order,” following a secret, summary trial with no legal representation. Co-defendants: Pema Yeshi (suspended death sentence), Tsewang Gyatso (sixteen years). Families notified only after sentencing. (ICT; Central Tibetan Administration.)
- March 1, 2010. The Tibetan Parliament in Exile issues a press release condemning the sentences.
- May 21, 2019. Human Rights Watch publishes “China: Free Tibetans Unjustly Imprisoned,” calling for Sonam Gonpo’s release and recording his life sentence.
- August 31, 2026. The Rights Defense Network / 维权网 monthly report (Issue 131) lists 索南公保（藏） among nineteen life-imprisonment political prisoners in custody.
Source list
- Human Rights Watch, “China: Free Tibetans Unjustly Imprisoned,” May 21, 2019 — entry on “Pema Yeshe and Sonam Gonpo”; life sentence November 17, 2009; Tangkyi township, Nyarong county. Full report
- International Campaign for Tibet, “Protests and harsh sentences continue in Tibet” — fullest case account: ages, occupations, sentencing date, Ganzi Daily translation, farming-boycott / “No Losar” protest context. Full report
- Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetan Parliament in Exile press release, March 1, 2010 — condemnation; charges; secret trial without representation. Press release
- Human Rights Watch (Chinese), “中国：应释放遭不当监禁藏人,” May 21, 2019 — same entry in Chinese: 索南贡波（Sonam Gonpo），无期徒刑. Full report
- Rights Defense Network / 维权网, Issue 131 monthly report, August 31, 2026 — 索南公保（藏） in the 无期徒刑 (life imprisonment) group; roster anchor. Roster
Identity exclusion
A CHRD case file (December 17, 2013) documents a different Sonam Gonpo (索朗贡布), a monk of Wonpo Monastery sentenced on September 11, 2013 to four years for “desecration of the national flag” and released March 12, 2016. It is used here only as the name-exclusion anchor and is not merged into this profile.
Evidentiary limits
No official sentencing judgment or PRC state-media account of the trial beyond the Ganzi Daily incident report has been located; case details rest on the rights-organization and exile-government sources above. The pre-sentencing detention facility named in the 2009 ICT report (Deyang) and the current place of custody are not confirmed. No portrait photograph was found. Nothing is asserted about his status beyond the August 31, 2026 roster listing.
See also
The profile page for Sonam Gonpo (索南公保) gathers the case narrative, advocacy responses, and current status in full.