New Delhi, February 4 – Hundreds of Tibetans living in exile in India took to the streets of national capital on Tuesday protesting the execution of their religious leader Lobsong Dhondup for his alleged involvement in bombings in China.
Activists of Tibetan Youth Congress holding anti-China placards shouted slogans: “Stop killings and genocide in Tibet,” “U.N. We want Justice” while condemning the execution and detention of another religious leader.
Twenty-eight-year-old Dhondup was executed in Ghanzi district of China late last month despite pleas from various human rights groups.
Dhondup, alongwith 52-year-old Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, also a religious leader, was sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a series of bombings in China in 2001 and 2002, blamed on supporters of Tibetan independence.
Their sentencing sparked an international outcry.
Tenzin Samphel, Vice President of the Tibetan Youth Congress, urged the international community to pressurise China to stop such acts in Tibet.
“We strongly condemn China’s execution because despite the international community’s pressure and United Nations Organisation and various human rights groups appeals, China insulted without listening to them and executed Lobsang Dhondup without a transparent and fair trial. We appeal to the international comunity to pressurise China to respect the human value and human dignity,” he said.
According to the Chinese media, Dhondup was executed in an inhuman manner.
In a major shift from its usual practice of carrying out executions by shooting at the back of convict’s head, China executed Dhondup using the torture of unimaginable degree. His ears were cut off, his nose was crushed and his mouth was torn apart.
Tenzin, who carried a death sentence with two years reprieve, started hunger strike on January 6 while in custody. He is believed to be in weak health.
Sichuan Provincial High People’s court rejected his appeal and affirmed a death sentence which had earlier been suspended.
There has been sporadic violence in the Himalyan region of Tibet where many people resent what they see as Chinese occupation since the People’s Liberation Army marched in and imposed Communist rule in 1950.
