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Tibetans unchain the truth for prisoner release (Wangchen campaign), 2013-2014

Summary

In October 2013, Lhamo Tso, friends and family of Dhondup Wangchen (a Tibetan filmmaker serving a six-year sentence for “inciting separatism” after the documentary “Leaving Fear Behind”), and the Filming for Tibet group launched the “Unchain the Truth” campaign demanding his release. [source: nv-database] On 29 October 2013, the campaign debuted an animation at the Zurich film festival and began organising international origami-crane folding events, drawing on the Japanese legend that folding 1,000 cranes grants a wish — to safely reunite Wangchen with his family. [source: nv-database] After 37 days of events in 11 countries, the US raised Wangchen’s case at the UN Human Rights Council on 20 March 2014; on 5 June 2014, Wangchen was released and reunited with his family. [source: nv-database]

Tactics used

Background

In August 2008, Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen was arrested in Beijing during a press screening of his documentary “Leaving Fear Behind,” which featured Tibetans criticising the Beijing Olympics and praising the Dalai Lama. [source: nv-database] He was sentenced to six years alongside his filming assistant, senior monk Jigme Gyatso; while in Xining City Detention Centre and Labor Camp, prison guards beat him, placed him in solitary confinement, and denied food and medical care for a Hepatitis B infection. [source: nv-database] Amnesty International arranged a visa for his wife Lhamo Tso, who toured the world soliciting support for his early release. [source: nv-database] After five years, with the expected release date of 25 March 2014 postponed to June, Tso, friends, family, and Filming for Tibet founded Unchain the Truth. [source: nv-database]

What happened

On 29 October 2013, an animation debuted at the Zurich film festival showing chained hands breaking free and forming a bird; the campaign instructed the crowd in paper-crane folding, with the wish that Wangchen be safely reunited with his family. [source: nv-database] That same day, members in Dharamsala held a crane-making event and invited people worldwide to fold cranes for International Human Rights Day on 10 December. [source: nv-database] Friends started a petition on unchain-the-truth.com to collect signatures, to be presented to the prison director on 10 December. [source: nv-database] As the campaign spread, Students for a Free Tibet Poland held awareness events; on 3 December Students for a Free Tibet UK held a vigil in London; on 7 December a peaceful demonstration was held in a busy Tokyo square; Young Tibetans of Bhö-JÖ Tibeter Jugend Österreich held events in Austria; and Friends of Tibet organised film screenings throughout Bulgaria. [source: nv-database] On 10 December (International Human Rights Day), more than 200 paper birds were placed in the Swiss Parliament, with meetings with the Austrian Foreign Ministry, and hundreds more were sent to the prison director in Tibet along with the petition; simultaneous events were reported from Costa Rica, India, Germany, Poland, UK, Brazil, USA, Australia, Bulgaria, and Japan. [source: nv-database] In San Francisco, Lhamo Tso worked with activists in front of the Chinese consulate; activists at the First Unitarian Church of Providence, Rhode Island wrote about 400 letters by hand. [source: nv-database] On 10 February, the Dalai Lama met with Wangchen’s four children to voice his support; on 5 March, the children were permitted to enter the US as political refugees and reunited with Tso after 18 months of separation. [source: nv-database] On 10 March, Students for a Free Tibet held rallies in New York and San Francisco; on 15 March the St. Gallen chapter of Amnesty International made cranes at the Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association’s general body meeting, and on 20 March the US government called for Wangchen’s release at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. [source: nv-database] On 25 March, friends of Wangchen in Tibet positioned origami birds directly in front of the Xining prison with a “Thank You” banner — described as possibly the “first action ever in front of a prison or labour camp where Tibetan political prisoners are being held.” [source: nv-database] On 26 March, Wangchen’s cousin and former political prisoner Jamyang Tsultrim spoke at the UN in Geneva; on 4 April the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers launched a “30 Days for Freedom” countdown and Unchain the Truth announced the 2014 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent for Wangchen. [source: nv-database] On 18 May, Golog Jigme left prison; on 5 June 2014, Dhondup Wangchen was released and reunited with his family. [source: nv-database]

Key people & organizations

  • Dhondup Wangchen (Tibetan filmmaker, prisoner) [source: nv-database]
  • Lhamo Tso (Wangchen’s wife, campaigner) [source: nv-database]
  • Filming for Tibet (Wangpo Tethong, spokesperson) [source: nv-database]
  • Unchain the Truth (organising group) [source: nv-database]
  • Amnesty International (and St. Gallen chapter) [source: nv-database]
  • Students for a Free Tibet (UK, Poland, Bulgaria, US) [source: nv-database]
  • Bhö-JÖ Tibeter Jugend Österreich [source: nv-database]
  • Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association [source: nv-database]
  • Tibet Initiative Deutschland [source: nv-database]
  • International Tibet Network [source: nv-database]
  • The Dalai Lama, Yoko Ono [source: nv-database]
  • US government (UN Human Rights Council statement, 20 March 2014) [source: nv-database]
  • World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, Committee to Protect Journalists [source: nv-database]
  • Human Rights Foundation (2014 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent) [source: nv-database]
  • Golog Jigme (released 18 May 2014), Jamyang Tsultrim (Wangchen’s cousin) [source: nv-database]

Outcome

Verdict: won.

Dhondup Wangchen was released from Xining prison on 5 June 2014 and reunited with his family, and his co-prisoner Golog Jigme had been released on 18 May 2014. [source: nv-database] Per the source’s scoring rubric, the campaign scored 6 out of 6 points on achieving specific demands/goals, 1 out of 1 on survival, and 3 out of 3 on growth (10 out of 10 total). [source: nv-database] The campaign also produced the symbolic first public action in front of a Tibetan political-prison labour camp on 25 March 2014. [source: nv-database]

Lessons

  • A single concrete, repeatable symbol (the origami crane) lowers the barrier to participation for global sympathisers who cannot travel to Tibet [source: nv-database]
  • A family-centred frame (Wangchen’s children, his wife, the 18-month separation) humanises a political prisoner and makes the demand feel morally non-negotiable to outside audiences [source: nv-database]
  • Pairing grassroots events with formal diplomatic pressure (the 20 March 2014 US statement at the UN Human Rights Council) creates multiple pressure points on a regime that can ignore street rallies but cannot ignore state-to-state criticism [source: nv-database]

Sources

Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.

Sources & verification

  • nv-database — grounding: primary — license: link-only
  • Rewritten: 2026-07-04 via t6_build.py

Last verified: 2026-07-09