Kiran Tirado, a student at Institut Florimont in Geneva, presented the empty chair for the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, at the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2026.
Full Remarks:
My name is Kiran Tirado, and I am a student at Institut Florimont in Geneva.
The empty chair on this stage is dedicated to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. On May 14, 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized Nyima as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. In Tibetan Buddhism, this is the second-highest spiritual authority, and this recognition is sacred, rooted in centuries of religious tradition.
Just three days after Nyima was recognized as the 11th Panchen Lama, the Chinese Communist Party forcibly disappeared him along with his family. He was only six years old, making him the youngest political prisoner in the world. Thirty years later, he remains missing.
The goal was clear: to erase the Panchen Lama from public life and assert state control over Tibetan religious succession. Since that day, no independent observer has been allowed to see Nyima.
The Chinese authorities asserted that the Dalai Lama had no right to designate the reincarnation without state approval. They forced another group of monks to appoint a different child, whose parents were loyal members of the Chinese Communist Party, to become the Beijing-approved reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.
The enforced disappearance of the true Panchen Lama was not only an attack on one child, but an assault on the religious freedom of all Tibetans.
Nyima has never been charged or tried. Year after year, human rights organizations have called on China to provide proof of life. These calls have been met with silence, deflection, propaganda.
Today, this empty chair reminds us of what is at stake. It represents a stolen childhood, a silenced faith, and a regime that will go to any lengths, even kidnapping a child, to suppress the religious autonomy of Tibetans. [Remake the entire par to sound better. In particular, I don’t like the line “what is at stake”; and the chair shouldn’t “represent” the regime, rather only the victim, though the regime can be part of what we think about.]
To the Tibetan community, we say this: Your struggle for freedom has not been forgotten. We stand with you, and we will continue to demand the release of the 11th Panchen Lama, and accountability for those who orchestrated his disappearance. He must be freed now.
