Tibet: Nephew makes plea against China death sentence

NEW DELHI - The nephew of one of the two Tibetan separatists sentenced to death by China last week made an impassioned plea Tuesday to the global community to intervene in the case.

At a press conference in New Delhi to coincide with International Human Rights Day, Jamyang Tenzin described as "unfair" the trial in China of his uncle Trulku Tenzin Delek and distant relative Lobsang Dhondup.

The two men were sentenced on December 2 by a court in Ganzi, in southwestern China's Sichuan province, for carrying out three bombings that killed one person and left three injured.

Dhondup was sentenced to death and Trulku to death with a suspension of two years, which is likely to be commuted to life in prison.

Chinese criminal law grants defendants the right to appeal within 10 days of sentence, but successful appeals are rare.

The deadline expires today.

Although there have been earlier cases of arrests of religious Tibetan leaders, this is the first time that the Chinese government has sentenced a Tibetan leader to death.

Jamyang, who served as his uncle's assistant for five years, said the Chinese authorities had arrested and tried the two men to counter their growing popularity among locals in Ganzi.

Ganzi is part of the area Tibetans traditionally call Kham, which has been absorbed by China into Sichuan province.


Jamyang said the trial against his uncle was unfair. "People in his area said there was no evidence of explosives in his house," he said.

"I appeal to the international community and the media to spread awareness about the case," he said.


The authorities had also charged Trulku with possessing explosives.

Jamyang claimed the Chinese authorities had planned to arrest Trulku on two previous occasions -- in 1997 and 2000 -- on charges of constructing monastries without permission and for interfering in disputes between local people.


In the first case, he said, Trulku was let off on condition he would not engage in any political activity. The second time Trulku managed to flee after being told of the plan to arrest him by an informant.


"He (Trulku) would have been awarded for community service in any other country," said Tenzin Chokey, an activist of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), which called the news conference.


Chokey said Trulku was not allowed to be represented by a lawyer and when he protested during the trial, the authorities had gagged him.


The 52-year old Trulku, a "Rinpoche" or Tibetan holy man, once studied with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.


In a strong criticism of the sentences, leading rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights in China had urged the authorities to immediately stop the execution of Dhondup and to commute both sentences.


China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951, has been accused of trying to wipe out its Buddhist-based culture [i.e. genocide] through political and religious repression and a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration. [i.e. colonialism, imperialism]. //ENDS



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