By Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamsala, December 18 – Seven Tibetans arrested earlier for holding protest demonstration on December 5 to petition the release of a jailed Tibetan religious figure in Tibet’s Nyagchuka County had been released Tuesday, the Voice of Tibet radio service reported today citing a source with contacts in the region.
Tsering Dorjee, a Tibetan residing in exile, told the radio service that the seven Tibetans had been beaten up severely in detention, and the condition of one of them was “extremely serious” with a head injury and is receiving treatment in a hospital at a place called Gara (spelled as pronounced). The seven are Tsering Sangpo, Jinpa, Lhamo Choedup, Tsagey Atha, Jamdrel and two others, said Dorjee.
Around twenty Tibetans are still held in detention following protests by hundreds of local Tibetans from nearby villages demanding the release of Trulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, currently serving life sentence in Mianyang Prison in Sichuan.
According to Dorjee, the local Tibetans suspect that the authorities are withholding the detained Tibetans’ release as they might have been “severely tortured and beaten” and that their condition might provoke reprisal from relatives and locals.
Despite the release of the seven Tibetans the situation in Nyagchuka County continues to be grim with the authorities deploying armed paramilitary forces and police in the areas affected by the protests, the International Campaign for Tibet said in a report citing exile sources with contacts in the region.
The Tibetans in Nyakchuka County argue that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche had been jailed in a “fabricated” case and that there is no proof with the authorities against Rinpoche.
The authorities offered some concessions as a result of requests by some local Buddhist leaders who feared the Tibetans might rise up in protest. However, it is not known if the Chinese authorities will actually implement the concessions, according to the ICT.
One source cited by ICT said that the absence of Trulku Tenzin Delek (a reincarnated Lama revered by Tibetan Buddhists), there has been a rise in the number of “thieves, trouble makers, hunters and alcoholics in their region” and that “there was nothing the government could do to improve the situation” without Rinpoche being released.
He was hugely popular for his humanitarian works including setting up of schools, elderly people’s homes, working with local officials to protect forests and his efforts to preserve Tibetan culture.
On December 2 2002, the Kardze Intermediate People’s Court in the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, sentenced Lobsang Dhondup, a relative of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, to death for “inciting separatism”, “causing explosions” and “illegal possession of guns and ammunition”. He was executed on January 26, 2003, despite international outcry. On the same day, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was sentenced to death with a two year reprieve for “causing explosions” and “inciting separatism”. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, based at a monastery in nomad-dominated Othok, had his sentence commuted to life in 2005.
