This archive collects the published sources documenting the case of Sonam Lhundrup (索南林珠 / 索南伦珠), the Tibetan political prisoner from Luhuo County serving life imprisonment since April 2012.
Key records
- Human Rights Watch, “China: Free Tibetans Unjustly Imprisoned” (May 21, 2019) — The compilation’s case entry records that Sonam Lhundrup of Luhuo County, Ganzi, Sichuan, was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 26, 2012, for involvement in the January 23, 2012 mass protest in Luhuo. The report calls for his release and notes the systematic lack of transparency around such cases. Full report
- Rights Defense Network / 维权网, Issue 131 political-prisoner roster (August 31, 2026) — Lists 索南林珠（藏） among the 19 political prisoners serving life imprisonment on the mainland. Roster (Issue 131)
- CHRD Prisoners of Conscience Database (tenchu.org) — Biographical record (entered December 18, 2019): 索南林珠， also known as 索南伦珠， Tibetan from Luhuo County, Ganzi, sentenced to life imprisonment on April 26, 2012, after the January 23, 2012 protest; the 16 sentences issued that day included one life term and fixed terms of one to thirteen years. Charge and detention facility recorded as unknown. Cites a Radio Free Asia report of April 29, 2012. Database search
- Radio Free Asia (Mandarin), April 29, 2012 — Report on the sentencing of the 16 Luhuo detainees, cited as the underlying source in the database record above. (URL recorded for verification: https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/dz-04292012121749.html)
Source notes and limitations
- The two Chinese renderings 索南林珠 and 索南伦珠 refer to the same person (the database record equates them); they are variant transcriptions of the same Tibetan name.
- No official judgment, court record, or prison-location document for this case has been located. No portrait photograph of Sonam Lhundrup has been found.
- Do not merge with other Tibetan prisoners sharing the Tibetan name: 索南公保 / Sonam Gonpo (Nyarong 2009 case, life sentence 2009-11-17), 索朗贡布 Sonam Gonpo (Wonpo Monastery monk, sentenced 2013, released 2016), or 索南次帕 / Suonancipa — all different people.