World's Youngest Political Prisoner Turns 17

By REUTERS
Published: April 23, 2006
Filed at 11:31 p.m. ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Tibetan youth considered by rights groups to be the world's youngest political prisoner turns 17 on Tuesday, 11 years after disappearing from public view when he was named the Himalayan region's second-ranking religious figure.
The whereabouts of Gendun Choekyi Nyima -- who human rights watchdogs say has been living under house arrest since Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, appointed him the 11th Panchen Lama -- is one of China's most zealously guarded state secrets.
A senior Canadian official pressed for access to Nyima during a visit to Tibet this month, but it fell on deaf ears.
Chinese officials parroted their assertion that Nyima was ''safe and comfortable and wishes to maintain his privacy,'' said the Canadian, who requested anonymity.
The Chinese cabinet spokesman's office did not reply to a list of questions submitted by fax a week ago.
The Dalai Lama's unilateral announcement embarrassed and enraged China's atheist Communists, who dropped Nyima's name from a shortlist of candidates and endorsed Gyaltsen Norbu as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989.
Tibetan Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that the soul of a ``living Buddha'' migrates to a boy born shortly after the holy monk's death. The reincarnation is identified through a mystical search that includes a series of ancient and rigorous tests such as picking out items that belonged to the late lama.
While Nyima languished in limbo, Norbu has studied Buddhism for years and made his debut on the world stage this month at China's first international religious forum since 1949.
Security is extremely tight wherever Norbu goes, apparently to prevent any assassination attempt against the 16-year-old, who is reviled by Dalai Lama loyalists as a pretender.
``China made a huge gamble in 1995 when it decided to appoint its own Panchen Lama. It seems this has failed completely so far,'' said Robbie Barnett, a Tibetologist at Columbia University.
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