human rights defender
Sonam Wangchuk
© WION
Organization affiliation
- Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL)
HRD's year of birth
1966
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- NGO member
- Social and community leader
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Environmental rights
- Indigenous peoples’ rights
HRD's geographical origin
Rural
Current Status
End of prosecution (charges dropped)
HRD's bio and work
Sonam Wangchuk is an Indian engineer, innovator, education reformist, and climate activist from Ladakh. He is the founder of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), established in 1988. He is internationally recognized for his work in sustainable architecture and ecological innovation, notably inventing the "Ice Stupa" artificial glacier technique to address spring water scarcity in the Himalayas. In recent years, he has led Ladakh's civil movement demanding statehood, ecological protection, and constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Detained since
Sep 26, 2025
Date of release
Mar 14, 2026
Charge(s)
- Creating disturbances
- Damage to public property
Sentence
Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980 (preventive detention for activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order).
Latitude: 26.281073403403145
Longitude: 73.02698132488312
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Asia: Southern Asia
Location of detention - City/Town
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Location of detention - Facility
Central Jail, Jodhpur
Recent case update / evolution
On March 14 2026, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs revoked the detention orders under the National Security Act against Sonam Wangchuck.
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