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Author Topic: Popular Tibetan Monk Serving Life Sentence Dies in Chinese Jail  (Read 1313 times)
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July 13, 2015, 07:58:00 PM
 #1

Popular Tibetan Monk Serving Life Sentence Dies in Chinese Jail
2015-07-13  


A photo of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche taken by his monastery in Tibet in the 1990s.
Photo appears courtesy of Wikipedia



A popular Tibetan monk serving a life term in prison in China's Sichuan province has died after being known to be in extremely poor health with a serious heart condition for which he allegedly received no treatment, according to sources and rights groups.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who had been imprisoned since 2002 after what rights groups and supporters described as a wrongful conviction on a bombing charge, died on Sunday, the sources said. He was 65 years old.

"Chinese police informed his relatives that he was seriously ill and when they rushed to visit him, they were told he was already dead," one source inside Tibet told RFA's Tibetan Service.

Another source said Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's body has not been handed over to his family after his death at 4:00 p.m. local time

Two of his relatives had been in Chengdu, Sichuan's capital, for more than a week hoping to visit the ailing monk in Mianyang jail but they were not allowed by the authorities to see him, the source said.



Death sentence

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who was highly respected by Tibetans, was charged with involvement in an April 3, 2002 bombing in the central square of  Chengdu and initially sentenced to death in December that year along with an assistant, Lobsang Dondrub.

His death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment, but Lobsang Dondrub was executed almost immediately, prompting an outcry from rights activists who questioned the fairness of the trial.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) concluded in a report two years after the trial that the legal proceedings against Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had been “procedurally flawed” and that he was charged only in order to “curb his efforts to foster Tibetan Buddhism … and his work to develop Tibetan social and cultural institutions.”

Authorities had begun to perceive Tenzin Delek Rinpoche as a threat as his “local status rose and he successfully challenged official policies on a number of issues,” HRW said in its report.



'Devastated'

Students for a Free Tibet, a global Tibetan group, said Sunday it was "devastated" by his death. "A Tibetan hero has died in Chinese prison," it said.

"Over 13 years of unjust imprisonment and torture in prison left him with critical medical conditions for which he received no treatment," the group said.

It charged that he "has died under suspicious circumstances," calling him "a revered Tibetan Buddhist teacher and outspoken advocate for his people."

"Tibetans inside Tibet are already demanding local authorities to release his body to arrange Buddhist religious rites," the group said.

Recognized by Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as a reincarnated lama in the 1980s, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had been a community leader and a staunch advocate for the protection and preservation of Tibetan culture, religion, and way of life for decades, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) had said.

He had been held in detention for over 13 years "for a crime that he did not commit," ICT said.



Petition

More than 40,000 Tibetans had signed their names to a petition asking for his release, each attesting to their signature by adding a thumbprint in red ink, the ICT said. "Every single one of the 40,000 Tibetan signers knows that they risk their freedom and perhaps their lives by speaking out for the Tenzin Delek Rinpoche."

Tibetans had also been protesting for his release since he was detained in 2002 and many were themselves jailed for the action.

Reported by Lhuboom and Kalden Lodoe for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Kalden Lodoe. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
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July 13, 2015, 08:22:18 PM
 #2

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Lithang Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche or Tenzing Deleg (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་བདེ་ལེགས་, Wylie: Bstan 'dzin bde legs) (1950 – 12 July 2015) was a Tibetan Buddhist leader from Garze[disambiguation needed], Sichuan. He was born in Lithang, Tibet. He was arrested on April 7, 2002 during a raid on Jamyang Choekhorling in Garze, Sichuan, China. He was accused of being involved in a bomb attack on April 3, 2002 on the central square of Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu.[1][2]

He was convicted for alleged involvement in a series of unsolved bombings in his region by the Chinese authorities and sentenced to death in December 2002 along with Lobsang Dhondup, a 28-year old assistant of his. Lobsang was executed almost immediately in late January 2003,[3] marking the first execution of a Tibetan for political crimes in 20 years. Tenzin Delek's trial began on November 29, 2002 before the Local Court in Garze and was sentenced to death with a two-year execution adjournment. Overseas human rights groups and United Nations human rights experts protested that the case against him was seriously flawed, that he did not receive a fair trial, and was mistreated in detention.[3]

His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on 26 January 2005. Many overseas advocates of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche continued to fight for a retrial.

Tenzin Delek is also widely known for working to develop social, medical, educational and religious institutions for Tibetan nomads in eastern Tibet, as an advocate for environmental conservation in the face of indiscriminate logging and mining projects, and as a mediator between Tibetans and Chinese.[4]

In November 2009, 40,000 Tibetans in Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's home area signed a petition asking for a re-trial. They staged a hunger strike at the county seat of Lithang for a few days, which led to the temporary arrest of about 70 Tibetans.[5] He died on 12 July 2015 in Chengdu, China.[6]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzin_Delek_Rinpoche
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July 14, 2015, 02:27:53 PM
 #3

Please post this information also in this topic:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1103707.0
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July 14, 2015, 06:34:59 PM
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Please post this information also in this topic:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1103707.0



thank you for your nonsense feedback making the thread up!
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July 14, 2015, 07:11:15 PM
Last edit: July 15, 2015, 07:20:19 PM by msc_de
 #5

OME | NEWS | TIBET

Chinese Police Open Fire as Marchers Protest the Death of Popular Tibetan Monk
2015-07-13


Over a thousand Tibetans gathered on Monday in Sichuan province’s Nyagchuka county to mourn the death in prison of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, an influential and well-respected Buddhist monk, with Chinese security forces at one point firing shots to disperse protesters, Tibetan sources in the region and in exile said.

Though police opened fire “to control the crowd,” there were no immediate reports of injuries in the incident, a Tibetan living in Australia told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing local contacts.

Separately, the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) confirmed that shots had been fired near government offices in Nyagchuka (in Chinese, Yajiang) county’s Thang Karma township.

“The security forces shot at the Tibetans. They also lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd,” TCHRD said on July 13, quoting a source.

“Security forces have been deployed in the area and the road between Lithang [Litang] and Nyagchuka counties has been blocked. Travel to the area has been strictly restricted,” TCHRD added.

The protesters had gathered to demand the return to Nyagchuka of the body of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, whose unexplained death at age 65 in the 13th year of a life sentence in prison was revealed by Tibetan sources and confirmed by local Chinese authorities on July 12.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who was widely popular among Tibetans for his efforts to protect Tibetan culture and the environment, had been imprisoned since 2002 following what rights groups and supporters described as a wrongful conviction on a bombing charge.

His initial death sentence in the case was later commuted to life imprisonment, but an assistant, Lobsang Dondrub, was executed almost immediately, prompting an outcry from rights activists who questioned the fairness of the trial.

Two of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s sisters had traveled two weeks ago to Sichuan’s provincial capital Chengdu to visit him in prison, but they were repeatedly blocked by authorities in their attempts to see him, a Tibetan living in Australia told RFA.

“They were told that they could see him next day, or next Monday, or next Sunday, and so on,” RFA’s source said, citing contacts in his native town in the region.

“On July 12, the Chinese authorities told them that they could see Rinpoche at 11:00 a.m., but they were then informed at about 12:00 noon that he had passed away,” the source said.




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July 15, 2015, 07:19:43 PM
 #6

Lack of information

A relative living in South India meanwhile voiced frustration at the lack of information surrounding the well-respected monk’s death, noting that family members had been able to visit him in prison only once, in November 2013.

“Nobody can say for sure whether Rinpoche died this year or last year, or even where he died,” the source, Geshe Lobsang Yonten, told RFA.

“During the last two years, no one was allowed to see him,” he said.

When last seen by his family, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had shown signs of ill health, the Washington-based rights group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a July 13 statement.

“They found out that he had had some sort of heart problem, possibly a heart attack, that part of his body was shaking uncontrollably, and that he had lost consciousness on numerous occasions,” ICT said.

ICT added that before being taken into custody in 2002, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had founded schools for nomad children and homes for the elderly, had worked to protect local forests, and was well-known for his efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan culture—activities that may have brought him into conflict with local authorities.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s death is a “shocking development,” Columbia University Tibet scholar Robbie Barnett said.

“This is a case where the authorities never produced any credible evidence in response to widespread doubts about the charges laid against him,” Barnett said.

Reported by Guru Choegyi, Lobsang Choephel, Norbu Damdul, and Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English with additional reporting by Richard Finney.
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July 15, 2015, 07:26:23 PM
 #7

Tibetans Gather in Chengdu to Urge Return of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's Body
2015-07-14



Protest poster outside Chinese consulate in San Francisco, July 14, 2015.
Photo courtesy of an RFA listener



Around a hundred Tibetans gathered on Tuesday outside a prison in Sichuan’s provincial capital Chengdu to call on Chinese authorities to release the body of Tibetan Buddhist monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, while U.S. lawmakers and others slammed China’s treatment of the popular religious teacher and voiced sorrow at his death in prison in unexplained circumstances.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, 65, died on Sunday in the 13th year of a life sentence imposed for what rights groups and supporters have described as a wrongful conviction on a bombing charge. He was widely popular among Tibetans for his efforts to protect Tibetan culture and the environment.

“About a hundred have now arrived at the prison site where Rinpoche died, though it is difficult to give an exact figure,” Jamyang Nyendrak, a Tibetan living in exile in Europe, told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Tuesday.

Nine, including two sisters of the dead monk already present in Chengdu, had traveled there from Lithang (in Chinese, Litang) county in Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Nyendrak said, citing contacts in the region.

Monks and nuns had also arrived from Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s monastery in Sichuan’s Nyagchuka (Yajiang) county, he said.

"Many left for Chengdu secretly on their own," Nyendrak said.

On Monday, Chinese police fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse a crowd of over a thousand who had gathered outside government offices in Nyagchuka to demand the return of the popular religious teacher’s body and call for an explanation of the circumstances of his death, Nyendrak said.

“Many who were injured were transported to hospital for treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, about 50 protesters gathered at the Chinese consulate in New York, briefly shutting it down, said New York-based human rights activist Rose Tang. Another 40 protested outside the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, sources said.

'Speak clearly, impose a price'

Also on Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers in Washington observed a moment of silence to honor Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and called in a hearing for more effective U.S. policies to support human rights in China and Tibet.

Speaking at the hearing called by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch China director Sophie Richardson urged the U.S. government to “speak more clearly and impose a price, and articulate what that price will be to the Chinese government when it does things like refuse to return the body of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to his family and community.”

A scheduled U.S. dialogue with China on counterterrorism should now be canceled, Richardson said.

“To have a counterterrorism dialogue with a government that prosecuted Tenzin Delek Rinpoche on charges of terrorism is appalling,” Richardson said.

Also testifying at the hearing, movie actor and longtime Tibet supporter Richard Gere noted that the popular Tibetan monk had had “tens of thousands of students, Tibetans and Chinese, and I think that was basically the problem.”

“This was someone who was bridging cultures,” Gere said.

“I think that is probably how he crossed the line with the Chinese government.”

Reported by Guru Choegyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English with additional reporting by Richard Finney.
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July 16, 2015, 06:33:21 AM
 #8

UP  Angry
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July 18, 2015, 08:34:38 PM
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 Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's Sister, Niece Are Detained in Sichuan
2015-07-17  



Police in southwestern China’s Sichuan province have detained the sister of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a popular Tibetan monk who died last week in unexplained circumstances in a Chinese prison, also taking into custody the woman’s daughter, Tibetan sources said.

Dolkar Lhamo, 55, and Nyima Lhamo, aged about 25, were detained in the provincial capital Chengdu at about 8:00 a.m. on July 17 by police sent from their native Lithang (in Chinese, Litang) county, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Friday.

“No reason was given for their detention, but local people believe they were suspected of having shared information related to the death of Rinpoche with other people,” Geshe Lobsang Yonten said, citing contacts in the region.

Separately, Geshe Jamyang Nyima, another source in exile with connections to the family, confirmed the women had been detained.

No information was immediately available on their current whereabouts.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, 65, died on July 12 in the 13th year of a life sentence imposed for what rights groups and supporters have described as a wrongful conviction on a bombing charge. He was widely respected among Tibetans for his efforts to protect Tibetan culture and the environment.

Around 140 Tibetans—including family members, monastic representatives, and residents of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s home county of Nyagchuka (Yajiang)—later gathered in Chengdu to demand return of his body.

His remains were cremated by prison authorities on July 16 against the wishes of his family


'Actively involved'

Dolkar Lhamo was “actively involved in the case of Tenzin Delek right from the day he was initially detained and sentenced,” Yonten said, adding, “She was the first one to see her brother in the jail and also the main person to appeal for his release.”

In the days following the popular Tibetan monk’s death in prison and before his cremation, Dolkar Lhamo had presented a five-point appeal to authorities calling for an explanation of the circumstances surrounding his death.

She had also submitted  abstracts from China’s constitution on required procedures following the death of a prisoner belonging to a minority nationality group, Yonten said.

“But the authorities refused to accept those representations.”

Many now suspect that the cause of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s death "has some connection to the prison,” the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said in a July 17 statement.

“There is no evidence of any Chinese legislation that the body of a deceased prisoner cannot be taken home by their family members,” TCHRD said.

“If the prison authorities cannot explain clearly the reasons for the death, there must be an investigation of Rinpoche’s death in accordance with his family’s and followers’ wishes.”

Reported by Kalden Lodoe for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
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July 18, 2015, 08:58:04 PM
 #10

The problem is as long as china is the worlds biggest workshop where everything gets produced nothing will change at all.
And the chinese gov knows that and that is why they give a shit about what the west is saying about human rights and democracy.
The only hope i see that there will be a change coming from the bottom.
china is prospering and more people then ever before will have access to school and universities.

Either it will end in a good democracy or mega capitalism atleast 2x worst then we ever saw in the US.

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July 19, 2015, 09:58:16 AM
 #11

The problem is as long as china is the worlds biggest workshop where everything gets produced nothing will change at all.
And the chinese gov knows that and that is why they give a shit about what the west is saying about human rights and democracy.
The only hope i see that there will be a change coming from the bottom.
china is prospering and more people then ever before will have access to school and universities.

Either it will end in a good democracy or mega capitalism atleast 2x worst then we ever saw in the US.

They refuse political reformation then revolution or mass chaos from bottom will be inevitable!!
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July 19, 2015, 12:37:33 PM
 #12

The blame is now on the monk!
Apparently, he suffered a heart attack after refusing to take medicine or see doctors.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/07/19/china-tibet-monk-idINKCN0PT05920150719
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July 19, 2015, 09:11:25 PM
 #13

The blame is now on the monk!
Apparently, he suffered a heart attack after refusing to take medicine or see doctors.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/07/19/china-tibet-monk-idINKCN0PT05920150719


if you believe Beijing-based Xinhua News agency or CCTV  then you can believe Adolf Hitler
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July 20, 2015, 07:30:18 PM
 #14

The problem is as long as china is the worlds biggest workshop where everything gets produced nothing will change at all.
And the chinese gov knows that and that is why they give a shit about what the west is saying about human rights and democracy.
The only hope i see that there will be a change coming from the bottom.
china is prospering and more people then ever before will have access to school and universities.

Either it will end in a good democracy or mega capitalism atleast 2x worst then we ever saw in the US.

in coming decade China won't be the biggest workshop worldwide since employment cost recently go up that stir up foreign investment fleeing China.
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July 21, 2015, 08:24:14 PM
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Chinese Authorities Snatch Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's Ashes from Tibetans

The ashes of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche were forcibly taken from Tibetans who were carrying the revered monk's cremated remains to his home county of Nyagchuka, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Monday.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, 65, who died on July 12 in the 13th year of a life sentence imposed for what rights groups and supporters have described as a wrongful conviction on a bombing charge, was cremated by prison authorities on July 16 against the wishes of his family.

Four Tibetans who stayed in the Sichuan capital, Chengdu, to receive the ashes were carrying them back to Nyagchuka (in Chinese, Yajiang) and stopped over night at a town in Jagsamka (Luding) county on July 16.

"At that time, the Chinese authorities came to them in the night and forced them to give back the remains. They even threatened to throw the ashes into the local river in Luding," Geshe Jamyang Nyima, a source in exile with connections to the monk's family, told RFA.

"We don’t know whether they actually dumped the ashes in the river or not, but it was an unfortunate incident,” he added.

The death in prison of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who was widely respected among Tibetans for his efforts to protect Tibetan culture and the environment, added to simmering tensions in Tibetan parts of Sichuan and beyond.

The cremation in defiance of his family's request that his remains be returned to them was followed by the detention of the sister of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and that  woman’s daughter. Dolkar Lhamo, 55, and Nyima Lhamo, aged about 25, were detained in the provincial capital Chengdu at about 8:00 a.m. on July 17 by police sent from their native Lithang (Litang) county.

“It was extremely horrible action on the part of the Chinese authorities. Even if the body was not handed over to the relatives and students, snatching the remains of the cremated body of Rinpoche after it was handed over was unimaginable," said Geshe Jamyang Nyima.

"They should at least leave the relatives alone in peace. But his sister Dolkar Lhamo and her daughter were taken away by Lithang police from Chengdu town on July 17, and nothing has been heard about them, too. It is sheer bullying and unreasonable," he added.

Reported by Lobsang Choephel for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
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July 22, 2015, 09:56:05 PM
 #16

Condition of Tibetan Monk's Corpse Raises Suspicions About His Death in a Chinese Prison


Descriptions of the body of deceased Tibetan monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche provided by monks preparing his remains for cremation early Thursday have heightened suspicions surrounding the manner of his death, with some fearing the popular religious figure may have been poisoned, sources said.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, 65, was cremated on July 16 by prison authorities in Sichuan’s provincial capital Chengdu against the wishes of relatives and supporters who had wanted the widely respected spiritual teacher’s body returned to his native county for traditional rites.

Word of the impending cremation was received only hours before the event, a relative living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Thursday.

“On July 15, officials announced that Rinpoche’s body would be cremated next day at 7:00 a.m.,” Geshe Lobsang Yonten said, citing contacts in Chengdu.

“So 20 Tibetans, coming mainly from Rinpoche’s own monastery, came to view the body,” Yonten said, adding that all were thoroughly searched before entering the prison complex.

“They removed Rinpoche’s prison uniform and washed and cleaned his body, which was very lifelike in appearance,” he said.

“However, his nails and lips were black.”

After the group recited prayers until about 6:00 a.m., Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s body was cremated in an “electric oven,” Yonten said.

Suspicions

Separately, a second exile source confirmed that a group of monks had been allowed to prepare Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s body for cremation.

“About 17 lamas and monks were allowed inside the prison to handle the body and conduct ritual prayers,” Geshe Jamyang Nyima said, citing sources in the region.

“They changed his clothes and washed his body, and performed prayers in the prison till the early hours of dawn,” he said.

Though Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had been thin and in poor health when last seen by family members in 2013, his body showed signs of having recently gained weight, and he appeared to have been in better health before his sudden death, Yonten said.

“This raised suspicions among those present,” he said.

Saying that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had in fact been well, but had suddenly passed away, officials showed three family members closed-circuit footage showing the monk eating a meal in apparent good health, but then “appearing to be ill,” Yonten said.

A family member named Tendar then accused authorities of having killed him with food poisoning, he said.

“The officials warned him not to spread rumors of this kind, and then detained all three for about two hours,” he said.

Reports of torture

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died in the 13th year of a life sentence imposed for what rights groups and supporters have described as a wrongful conviction on a bombing charge. He was widely popular among Tibetans for his efforts to protect Tibetan culture and the environment.

During his detention, “credible reports repeatedly emerged that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was being tortured and that he was in deteriorating health,” the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said on July 16.

“Known throughout the Tibetan community for his work from the late 1980s through the 1990s building schools, a monastery, and an orphanage, it appeared to have been his attempts to stop the clear-cutting of forests that especially irked local authorities,” ICT said.

Reported by Guru Choegyi, Kalden Lodoe, and Lobsang Choephel for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
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July 25, 2015, 07:09:29 AM
 #17

free Tibet
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July 25, 2015, 07:29:37 PM
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July 26, 2015, 10:20:02 PM
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Tibetan Political Prisoner Dies After 14 Months in Custody
2015-07-23


Lobsang Yeshi (inset) was jailed after protests over a mining compound in Dzogang County in May 2014.
Photo courtesy of an RFA listener.
UPDATED at 6:35 a.m. EST on 2015-07-24

A Tibetan village chief being held in prison for his role in protests against a Chinese gold mine died in a Lhasa hospital,  a Tibetan source living in exile told RFA's Tibetan Service.

Lobsang Yeshi, a father of eight in his 60s, died on July 19 at Lhasa Hospital, where he had been taken after his health deteriorated in Ngulchul prison in Lhasa, the source told RFA.

The cause of the man's death was not immediately clear. But the website of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan exile government in India, said he had been tortured since his detention in May 2014 after a protest in his village.

"Due to severe beating in the prison, Lobsang Yeshi sustained grievous injuries and suffered dizziness as a result of poor health," said the CTA report.

Lobsang Yeshi, who was the head of Gewar village in (In Chinese, Changdu) prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, near where a Chinese mine was being built, and two other village men were sentenced to two years in jail for their roles in protests that rocked the village a year earlier.

On May 7, 2014, Gewar village resident Phakpa Gyaltsen died in a solitary protest after stabbing himself and jumping from a building in Tongbar town to oppose Chinese plans to mine gold in an area of Dzogang (Zuogang) near Madok Tso called Ache Jema, according to Tibetan sources at the time.

"At that time, the Tibetans, led by some elderly Tibetans including Lobsang Yeshi who was head of the village, protested at Dzogang county center. The protest continued even after threatening warnings given by Chamdo and Dzogang police," the exiled Tibetan source told RFA.

"The leader and others continued with frequent protests and refused to budge under the threat. The tension was eased when the county level officials tried to mediate between the police and the protestors and allowed the Tibetans to go home without any action," the source added.

Later, however, Lobsang Yeshi was one of seven Tibetans taken into custody by the authorities and detained in Dzogang county for almost one year, he said.

Tibetan areas of China have become an important source of minerals needed for China’s economic growth, and mining operations have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms of disrupting sites of spiritual significance and polluting the environment as they extract local wealth.

“None of the relatives and friends of Lobsang Yeshi was allowed to see his body. Only a monk was finally allowed in to see his body and conduct prayer," the exile source said.

Lobsang Yeshi's body was cremated on July 21, with two of his brothers attending the cremation, the source said.

Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that Ngulchul prison is in Chamdo, instead of  Lhasa
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July 28, 2015, 02:25:52 AM
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