RFA BREAKING NEWS: Three Tibetans Die in Burning Protests

Three Tibetans Die in Burning Protests APRIL 24, 2013— Three Tibetans—two monks and a woman—set themselves ablaze and died Wednesday in Sichuan province’s Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in one of the worst fatal self-immolation protests to date against Chinese rule, sources in the region and in exile said. The burnings bring to 119 the number of Tibetan self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in February 2009. The two monks from the Tagtsang Lhamo Kirti monastery in Dzoege [in Chinese, Ruo’ergai] county set themselves alight and died near the monastery, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing sources in the region. They staged “a fiery protest against Chinese policy in Tibet,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They died at around 6:30 p.m. local time near the main assembly hall of the monastery.” Sources identified the monks as Lobsang Dawa, 20, and Konchog Woeser, 23. Lobsang Dawa came originally from Dzaru Menma village in Dzoege country, while Konchog Woeser was a native of Tsakho village in the Kirti Kangchu township in Ngaba (Aba) county, one source said. Monks hold prayers Their bodies were moved to the monastery, where monks held prayers for them, said India-based monks Kanyag Tsering and Lobsang Yeshe, citing contacts in the region. Lobsang Dawa, 20, was the son of Dorje Khandro, 62, while Konchog Woeser, 23, was the son of Tsering Norbu and Samdrub Drolma, according to Tsering and Yeshe. They will be cremated on Thursday, the two monks said. Also on Wednesday, at about 2:00 p.m., a 23–year-old Tibetan woman set herself on fire and died in a protest against Chinese rule in Sichuan’s Dzamthang (Rangtang) county, Tibetan sources said. The woman’s name and other details of her protest are still unknown. Well-known Tibetan poet and blogger Woeser confirmed the woman’s protest, describing her in a blog entry as a “shepherdess.” No options? Tibetans resort to self-immolations because they are left with no options in their demand for better rights, according to rights groups Though self-immolation protests by Tibetans under Chinese rule are no longer unexpected, “each individual’s choice to undertake this most extreme form of protest remains deeply important,” said Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren, director of the London-based advocacy group Free Tibet. “All the Tibetans who resort to self-immolation do so because they feel they have no other way to make China and the rest of the world listen to their country’s call for freedom,” Byrne-Rosengren said in a Wednesday statement. “As yet, China is still turning a deaf ear, but the rest of the world must not,” Byrne-Rosengren said. The last time a triple Tibetan self-immolation protest occurred on the same day was on Nov. 7, 2012, when three teenage monks from Ngoshul monastery, also in Ngaba, set themselves on fire to protest Beijing’s rule in Tibetan areas. Chinese authorities have tightened controls in Tibet and in Tibetan prefectures in Chinese provinces to check the self-immolations, cutting communication links with outside areas and jailing Tibetans they believe to be linked to the burnings. More than a dozen have been jailed so far, with some handed jail terms of up to 15 years. Reported by Lumbum Tashi and Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/three-04242013160540.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.