Hà Nội Remains Silent on the Mysterious Death Of Tibetan Lama Tulku Hungkar Dorje

A year after the mysterious death of Tibetan lama Tulku Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche in Hồ Chí Minh City in April 2025, the governments of Việt Nam and China have yet to release a public investigative report.

This ongoing silence persists despite repeated calls for accountability and a transparent, independent inquiry from the United Nations.

In October 2025, United Nations human rights experts urged both governments to clarify the full sequence of events surrounding the lama’s arrest, disappearance, and sudden death. 

This intervention was the second of its kind within a year; two months prior, in August 2025, the organization sent two communications demanding explanations from Việt Nam and China. [1] 

Within these communications, experts voiced concerns that his death could be linked to “arbitrary detention” and “coercion,” which may have led to his death in custody. [2]

Various international bodies, including the Tibetan government-in-exile, have reminded both nations of their commitments under the Minnesota Protocol (2016). 

This legal framework mandates that authorities conduct prompt, independent, and transparent investigations into any deaths that occur in detention. 

Furthermore, according to Phayul, these experts emphasized that “international law does not accept any justification for enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing under any circumstances.”

Following the public announcement of Dorje Rinpoche’s death in April 2025, Việt Nam and China were reportedly given 60 days to investigate, compile findings, and issue a response to the international community. 

To date, however, neither country has provided an official response. [3]

A Religious Figure’s Flight into Exile

At 56 years old, Tulku Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche served as the abbot of Lung Ngon Thubten Choekor Ling Monastery in Gade County, Golok region, Qinghai Province, China. 

As a spiritual leader within the Nyingma tradition, the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism, he faced increasingly tight control by the Chinese Communist Party. [4] This pressure ultimately forced him to flee Tibet for Việt Nam in September 2024.

He reportedly lived in seclusion for several months before being arrested around March 2025 at a hotel in Hồ Chí Minh City by individuals believed to be Vietnamese and Chinese security forces. 

Just four days after his detention, Vietnamese authorities announced that he had died of a “heart attack,” despite his lack of any prior history with such an illness. 

Subsequently, his body was secretly cremated in Hồ Chí Minh City on the night of April 20, 2025, entirely without the presence or consent of his relatives from Lung Ngon Monastery. 

Compounding the tragedy, his mother, Dugkar Dolma, passed away shortly afterward, reportedly due to grief over her son’s sudden death. [5]

The passing of Tulku Hungkar Dorje quickly became a closely watched issue within the international community, particularly among human rights organizations and the Tibetan diaspora. 

Yet, instead of launching a transparent investigation, the involved governments have maintained a prolonged silence. 

For Việt Nam, this unusual incident occurred just one month before the country hosted Vesak 2025, a United Nations-recognized Buddhist celebration. 

This timing has further amplified public questions regarding how the authorities handled the death of a foreign religious figure under such unclear circumstances.

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Huệ Nhã wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on March 20, 2026. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.