Dharamsala, March 2: Condemning the latest suspended death sentence known to have been issued to a Tibetan farmer and lengthy prison terms given to two others by Chinese court in Eastern Tibet, Tibet’s Parliament in exile has urged the individuals and rights groups to pay attention to what it considers a worsening human rights situation inside in Tibet.
Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) last week said Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan had issued a two-year suspended death sentence to a Tibetan man, identified as Pema Yeshi, 28; and sentenced Sonam Gonpo, 24, and Tsewang Gyatso a.k.a Tsok Tsok, 32, to life term and 16 years imprisonment respectively for” inciting separatism” and “disturbing social order”.
“We strongly condemn this regression of the basic human rights and call upon all right thinking individuals and groups to raise their moral voice against this severe punishment,” the Tibetan Parliament said in a statement issued here Monday.
According to TCHRD’s report, the three accused were arrested on 11 March 2009 under suspicion of “pasting and distributing pamphlets calling for Tibet independence on roads of Thangkyi Township, Nyarong County and setting fire to the Thangkyi Township government building causing damages worth around 200,000 yuan to the government” in Feb 2009, almost a year after the massive 2008 uprising against Chinese rule took place across Tibet.
The centre said all three from Thangkyi Township, in Nyarong County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” (‘TAP’) in Sichuan Province, were sentenced by the Court on 17 November 2009.
However, the family members were informed by the local officials about their court verdict only around 10 December 2009, TCHRD had said, citing sources.
Under such circumstances, TCHRD said, it was highly probable that the accused were completely denied even the basic legal rights of fair and open trial guaranteed under the Chinese laws.
“In the on-going aftermath of the Tibetan Peoples’ Uprising against the Chinese government in 2008, people who took active part in the same are being gradually punished with the severest of sentences without the due process of law in Tibet,” the Tibetan parliament said in the statement.
“In fact, these three brave Tibetans had taken an active part in the ‘Farming Boycott Movement’ and ‘No Losar’ or boycott of the celebration of Tibetan New Year to show solidarity with Tibetan martyrs and those who continue to languish in the Chinese prisons since the 2008 demonstrations.
“They have been sentenced, denied of even the basic legal rights guaranteed under the Chinese laws and with a summary secret trial without any representation from their side,” the statement said.
