By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, FEB. 22: The niece of the Tibetan Lama Tulku Tenzin Delek who passed away in a Chinese prison in July 2015, yesterday recounted the accounts of her uncle’s mysterious death at the 9th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy’s session on “the Fight for Freedom and Democracy”.
The poignant and crucial testimonial by Nyima Lhamo who escaped Tibet last year, was felicitated as one of the ‘UN Human Rights Heroes’ present at the event besides representatives from countries with poor HR records including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Vietnam among others.
Nyima Lhamo said “I stand here today, with the hope that international community who stands for human rights, freedom and justice will ensure that what China did to my uncle will not happen to another innocent Tibetan or to any individual in this world.”
The 26 year old and mother of a daughter she left behind in Tibet, said her uncle and many other Tibetans suffered brutality and gross human rights violations under the repressive Chinese government inside occupied Tibet without regard to any international laws.
She also recounted how the Chinese authorities denied her uncle a fair trial and medical parole even as his health deteriorated, and the mysterious circumstances leading to his death. She said that the family was even denied the right to perform the post-death Buddhist rites. “I stand here today, with the hope that international community who stands for human rights, freedom and justice will thoroughly investigate and press China to come clean on the circumstances that led to the death of my uncle in prison. No country including China is immune to international pressure. Therefore international pressure alone can make China accountable for its gross human rights violations in Tibet,” Lhamo said.
Earlier the niece of Tulku Tenzin Delek as well as representatives of the exile Tibetan government, known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration lobbied various permanent missions of various countries in Geneva.
“Nyima Lhamo along with other guest speakers held a closed-door meeting with UN Diplomats at the office of permanent mission of Canada. Nyima Lhamo briefed the diplomats about the pressing human rights abuses facing Tibetans in Tibet and urged the diplomats to engage with China to ameliorate the deteriorating human rights situation inside Tibet,” CTA run Tibet.net mentioned.
Tulku Tenzin Delek who was posthumously awarded the ‘Democracy Service Medal’ by National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in June, died in Chaundong prison in Chengdu on July 12, 2015 while serving the 13th year of a life sentence accorded on charges of “causing explosion” and “inciting separatism”. His death sentence was commuted to life sentence following international outcry. Tulku’s advocacy to develop social, medical, educational and religious institutions for Tibetan nomads in eastern Tibet and his work for environmental conservation in the face of indiscriminate logging and mining projects had pegged him as a figure of resistance and Tibetan identity.
