DHARAMSHALA, July 16: A Tibetan monk was beaten to death by Chinese security personnel after he was stopped at a security checkpoint in Riwoche, Kham, eastern Tibet.

According to sources in exile, Pema Norbu, a monk from Lhopu Monastery, studying at the Dege Dzongsar Institute, was returning to his hometown of Riwoche when he was apprehended by Chinese forces at one of the many checkpoints in the region.

Norbu was searched like all the other Tibetans passing through the checkpoints. According to one source, the deceased monk was found carrying “several CDs and a variety of books” in his bag.

According to reports, Norbu tried to escape but he was overpowered and severely beaten by Chinese security personnel.

Although Pema Norbu was later taken to a hospital in Chamdo, he eventually succumbed to his injuries.

The nature of the books and CDs as well as the exact date and time of the incident are not known.

Pema Norbu is from Lha Khang Tachu Ma village in Riwoche. His father is Agyal and his mother's name is Delha.

Just last month, another Tibetan monk was tortured to death by the Chinese police in Nyagrong (Chinese: Xinlong) County, Kardze.

Karwang, 36, a monk at the Nyagrong Monastery, was detained mid-May on charges of putting up pro-independence posters on the walls of a Chinese government building in the region.

Karwang was taken to Dartsedo where he was detained for around eight days. The authorities tried to force him to confess to having put up the posters but the monk denied.

Karwang was then beaten and tortured as a result of which he died in detention a few days later.

The exile Tibetan leadership has condemned China’s repressive policies in Tibet, blaming them for the ongoing wave of self-immolations.

“It is clear that the root of the self-immolations is the continuing occupation of Tibet. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration are not the problem but the solution,” Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay had written in an op-ed for The Washington Post in November last.

“We urge the United Nations and the international community to send fact-finding delegations to Tibet and view the situation firsthand. Independent media and liberal Chinese intellectuals should also be allowed access. The international community must press the government of the People’s Republic of China to restore freedom and resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue for the mutual benefit of the Tibetan and Chinese peoples,” the elected Tibetan leader wrote.