Sonam Lhundrup (Chinese: 索南林珠; also rendered 索南伦珠) is a Tibetan political prisoner from Luhuo County (炉霍县), Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. He is serving life imprisonment following the mass protest that took place in Luhuo on January 23, 2012.
On January 23, 2012, a large-scale protest broke out in Luhuo County. Security forces opened fire on demonstrators; exile Tibetan groups reported that several Tibetans were killed or wounded and that hundreds were detained. On April 26, 2012, authorities sentenced 16 of the detained Tibetans. Sonam Lhundrup received life imprisonment, the heaviest sentence among the group; others received fixed terms ranging from one to thirteen years.
The exact criminal charge against him, the court that issued the sentence, and the prison where he is held have not been made public. Human Rights Watch’s 2019 compilation of arbitrarily imprisoned Tibetans records his case and calls for the release of all such prisoners, noting that for most of these cases, the prisoners’ locations, health conditions, and even the precise charges are unknown to the outside world.
As of August 2026, Sonam Lhundrup remains listed among 19 political prisoners serving life imprisonment in the Rights Defense Network’s mainland China political-prisoner roster. Nothing has been verified about any release, transfer, or change in his condition beyond that listing, and no such outcome should be assumed.