The monks from Aba’s Kirti monastery, home to about 2,500 monks, were taken into custody on April 21 on military trucks, according to two exiled monks and a writer, who said their information was based on separate accounts from witnesses who live in Aba.
‘Patriotic religion’ re-education for monks
"These days, soldiers, police, and special police forces – inside and out, and armed with a variety of weapons – are maintaining their blockade of Kirti monastery," India-based Tibetan monk Kanyag Tsering said, citing contacts in the region, Radio Free Asia reports.
"They divide monks 
from the same dormitory into groups of 20 and hold so-called ‘patriotic religion’ re-education meetings in the monks’ dormitory buildings," Tsering said.
"They ask lots of questions, and when the monks cannot give the answers that the officials want to hear on many issues, it seems that they detain them."
The latest was detained on May 12, Tsering said.
Two monks sentenced to three years each in jail
Two Kirti monks – Lobsang Dargye and Konchog Tsultrim – were recently sentenced to three years each in jail by the Ngaba County People’s Court, Tsering said.
"The crime for which he was sentenced was that during ‘patriotic religion’ meetings, he spoke his own mind in front of the officials and soldiers, and told them what he thought."
Such a large number of monks seized for the first time
Kirti Rinpoche, the head of the Kirti monastery, told Reuters by telephone that it was the first time that Chinese security forces had seized such a large number of monks at a time, and that he had no information on their whereabouts.
"The situation is getting more and more repressive," said Kirti Rinpoche, who is based in India’s Dharamsala, the seat of the exiled Tibetan government, and receives his information through a network of contacts inside Aba.
"The restrictions imposed on the monastery and the monks are getting more intensified. It’s literally a suffocating situation where monks are not allowed to do anything at all," he added.
Monk set himself on fire
Tension has been high since a 21-year-old monk Phuntsog (right) set himself on fire last month in an apparent anti-government protest.
Instead of putting out the flames, Chinese police beat the young monk, creating huge resentment in the monastery, according to exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The Aba government said in late April that after the burning incident, it had decided to give monks "legal education," due to the "illegal activities" committed by some monks that included visiting prostitutes, getting drunk, gambling and pornography, state news agency Xinhua news agency reported.
Clashes with Tibetans
Chinese security forces clashed with residents who were trying to prevent the monks from being taken away for "re-education".
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) says an elderly man and woman were killed trying to prevent police arresting monks at the Kirti monastery, BBC Asia-Pacific reports.
As the monks were being driven away, the police beat a group of people who had been standing vigil outside Kirti, resulting in the deaths of two Tibetans aged in their sixties, ICT said, citing exile groups in contact with people in the area.
"People had their arms and legs broken, one old woman had her leg broken in three places, and cloth was stuffed in their mouths to stifle their screams," an exiled Kirti monk was quoted as saying by the rights group.
Atmosphere less tense at the moment
A Tibetan resident of Ngaba said the atmosphere in the township is now less tense than before.
"There are still sentry posts and patrols between them," he said.
"The monks who are coming out of Ngaba county now are saying that there are a lot of armed police, but it’s not as bad as it was before."
"There aren’t sentries stationed inside the monastery, just guarding it from the outside," he added.
Tension in Aba prefecture have risen to their highest levels since protests turned violent in March 2008, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, and were put down by police and paramilitary units.
Demonstration in Oslo
The Norwegian Tibet Committee organized a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy on 23 May in solidarity with the 300 monks from the Kirti Monas
tery.
On that day China was celebrating 60 years of "peaceful Liberation of Tibet".
“For 60 years China has exerted and still exerts so much repression against Tibetans in Tibet. China does not dare to open Tibet to the world. What are they afraid of? For 60 years China has not managed to win the Tibetan heart, what does that say about China?” says Norwegian Tibetan Committee.
International Tibet Network urges world to condemn crisis in Kirti
A coalition of the international groups for Tibet has urged the governments around the world to condemn the crisis in Tibet’s Ngaba County in general and the Kirti monastery in particular, which has been under siege since March.
International Tibet Network, which is a coalition of around 200 Tibet support groups, appealed the governments around the world to put pressure on China to end the stalemate at Kirti monastery that has been a centre of political dissent and crackdown for a long time.
“Governments need to tell China’s leaders at every possible opportunity that paramilitary forces must be withdrawn from Ngaba, all detainees must be unconditionally released and unfettered access must be granted to international observers and media,” a statement issued by ITN said.
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