Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Sentenced to Death by China
A Tibetan religious teacher who had founded
schools and been
involved in charitable activities as well as in the
renovation of
monasteries in the area, has been in custody
since April 2002.
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF SENIOR RINPOCHE
We received reports last night that the fate of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and
Lobsang Dhondup, who were sentenced to death on December 2nd in Sichuan
Province, may be decided this Friday, January 10th. Rinpoche has
reportedly been tortured extensively, and is now in extremely poor
physical condition.
On Monday, Rinpoche was interrogated by Chinese officials who flew in
from Beijing. Rinpoche apparently told them that since they were not
interested in justice, he had nothing further to say to them, and began
a hunger strike at that time.
Both men's appeal hearings are reportedly scheduled for this Friday,
January 10th.
This may be our last chance to prevent the executions. Please e-mail the
message below to the Governor of Sichuan Province, asking him to release
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup.
An SFT press release is copied at the end of this message. Let me know
if you would like any additional information. Anything you can do to help
will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
John Hocevar
Executive Director
Students for a Free Tibet
To: sichuan@mail.sc.gov.cn
Dear Governor:
I am deeply concerned about the treatment of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and
Lobsang Dhondup, who were sentenced to death on December 2nd in Sichuan
Province.
I have heard reports that Rinpoche has been tortured while in custody,
and that his health is now quite poor. He is being denied independent
legal representation, which makes it appear that there is inadequate
evidence to justify the accusation that has been leveled against him.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is a widely respected Buddhist teacher, who has
often taught that people must resolve their differences without
violence.
Please use your leadership to ensure that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and
Lobsang Dhondup are not tortured for the rest of their time in jail, and
that they are given adequate medical treatment. Further, I call on you
to ensure that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup are given
access to independent legal counsel and a fair appeal hearing. As it
appears that they are not guilty as charged, I expect that their appeals
will be upheld and that they will be released promptly.
Sincerely,
-------------------------
Students for a Free Tibet
For Immediate Release
January 8, 2003
Contact: Lhadon Tethong, (917) 418-4181, John Hocevar, (212) 358-0071
CHINA TO DECIDE FATE OF POPULAR TIBETAN LEADER
Death sentence appeal hearing to be held January 10th
(New York) – Chinese authorities are reportedly set to decide the fate
of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup, two Tibetans in Karze, in
eastern Tibet (Ch: Sichuan Province), at an appeal hearing on Friday.
The hearing comes just three weeks after the appeal was filed, giving
many the impression that the case is being rushed through.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a widely respected Buddhist figure, and Lobsang
Dhondup were sentenced to death on December 2 after being found guilty
of participation in a series of bomb attacks. Tibetans and supporters
strongly suspect that the two are being framed in a ploy to remove the
popular leader – over 30,000 Tibetans signed a petition protesting his
arrest last April. Rinpoche is known for his social welfare activities
in Tibet, including the establishment of hospitals, schools, orphanages,
and homes for the elderly. He also founded six monasteries. Rinpoche is
a devotee of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whom he met in India in 1982.
Rinpoche shares the Dalai Lama’s commitment to nonviolence, and has
often taught that people must resolve their differences peacefully.
The two Tibetans are being denied access to independent legal counsel.
Two prominent Chinese lawyers from Beijing, Zhang Sizhi and Li Huigeng,
were refused permission to represent them, on the grounds that they had
already acquired local counsel. "The fact that China is not allowing
independent lawyers to represent Rinpoche shows that they have no case
against him," said Lobsang, a Tibetan from Karze now living in exile.
"The Chinese Government is after him because he is such a popular
leader. They are trying to make Tibetans go against each other, so we
won’t be able to rise up as one."
It has been reported that Rinpoche has been tortured repeatedly, and is
now in extremely poor physical condition. According to reliable sources,
on Monday, Rinpoche was interrogated by Chinese officials from Beijing.
Rinpoche apparently told them that since they were not interested in
justice, he had nothing further to say to them. Rinpoche is also
reportedly on hunger strike.
"For years, China has tried to fool the world into believing that all is
well in Tibet," said Lhadon Tethong, Projects Coordinator for Students
for a Free Tibet. "That a highly respected religious figure, and a man
who has done so much good work for the Tibetan community, is being
targeted so violently, betrays just how oppressive Chinese rule in Tibet
is. The international community must step in now. These two men must not
be allowed to die."
Tibetans and supporters in New York and San Francisco are planning to
hold demonstrations at the United Nations and Chinese consulate. Other
demonstrations are likely.
Tools and information available at:
http://www.tibet.org/sft/action/rinpoche_dhondup.html
Senior Rinpoche and supporter face execution for "bombing" offences
December 6, 2002
{ Updated
Information from Tibet Information
Network
A Kardze court official told the news agency Agence France-Presse
on 13 December that Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dondrub
have appealed against their sentences. The same official
told AFP that the Sichuan Higher People's Court is now
reviewing their appeals.}
A senior lama, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, 52, and one of his Tibetan supporters, Lobsang Dondrub, face execution after being sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court in Karze (Chinese: Ganzi), Sichuan province, on 2 December. Lobsang Dondrub was sentenced to death for "committing crimes of explosions, inciting separatism and illegal possession of guns and ammunition" and Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, from Lithang (Chinese: Litang) county in Kardze prefecture, was sentenced to death with a two year suspension for "causing explosions and inciting separatism", according to a report published on the Chinese website Zhong Xin Sichuan Wang yesterday (5 December). The severe sentences, which call into question the ongoing communication between China and the Tibetan government in exile on a possible dialogue, are the first reported instances for many years of the death penalty being imposed against Tibetans for offences with a political background.
The Chinese official report on the trial linked the sentences to a bomb that exploded in the main Tianfu Plaza in Chengdu on 3 April (see TIN News Update 24 April 2002), stating that Lobsang Dondrub (named as Luorang Dengzhu) escaped from the scene after causing the explosion. The report also states that the two Tibetans were involved in similar attacks in Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding) and Lithang county, and that leaflets advocating "the separation of Tibet from the motherland" were found at the scene of each of the bombings. One fatality had resulted from the series of explosions, according to the same report, which gives no indication of the nature of evidence against the two Tibetans.Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a religious teacher who had founded schools and been involved in charitable activities as well as in the renovation of monasteries in the area, has been in custody since early April and there has been no official information on his whereabouts and the charges against him until now (see TIN News Update 5 May 2002).
Until his arrest, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche enjoyed considerable influence and popularity in the area of Lithang, a part of the traditional eastern Tibetan area of Kham. However, he was at the same time a highly controversial figure due to his resolute campaigning against the worship of the protective deity Shugden, the cult of which has been discouraged by the Dalai Lama in recent years. Parts of the clergy in the Lithang area are known to be particular fervent adepts of the deity. The authorities in Kardze are known to have followed Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche's activities with great suspicion. For years, rumours in the region attributed criminal activities to Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and there have been at least two attempts in 1998 and 2000 to detain him prior to last April. On both occasions, however, his local followers took the risk of signing their names on a petition in his support.
Chinese journalists have recently been discussing the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche on various websites. Wang Lixiong, the Chinese historian and author of the well-known book about Tibet, "Sky Burial", expressed concern about the Rinpoche soon after his detention in an article which was published online from 14 April onwards on various Chinese news websites including the New York-based Duo Yei website, one of the most popular in China, and in Chinese publications. In the article, Wang expressed concern that the Rinpoche was found guilty before any trial took place; he wrote in April: "At present, although the courts have not yet formally pronounced judgment, Ganzi prefecture has already launched a campaign to 'expose A'an Zhaxi' * (…) I heard the following threat made to the masses by a village head in Yajiang [county], acting as required by the higher authorities: 'Whoever says a word to help A'an Zhaxi will be treated as a criminal in the same case.' If this is the situation, even if A'an Zhaxi really is guilty, tens of thousands of the local people will never believe it, and will hand it down as another historical example of the Han government oppressing the Tibetan people."
The death sentences imposed on Tenzin Deleg and Lobsang Dondrub are particularly significant because in recent years the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has been the only part of China where prisoners are known to have been sentenced to execution in cases related to political issues. Since the terrorist attacks in New York on 11 September 2001, the Chinese government has increasingly sought to seek international support for its linkage of "ethnic separatism" with "terrorism", mainly with regard to Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang.
According to Article 48 of the Chinese Criminal Law, the death penalty "is only to be applied to criminal elements who commit the most heinous crimes". Article 48 also states that all sentences of death must be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval, and that: "Sentences of death with suspension of execution may be decided or approved by a high people's court". Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche's sentence needs approval from the province level court in Chengdu, and Lobsang Dondrub's sentence from the Supreme People's Court before implementation. According to Article 50 of the Criminal Law, when a prisoner "does not intentionally commit a crime during the period of suspension, he is to be given a reduction of sentence to life imprisonment upon the expiration of the two-year period (…) if there is verified evidence that he has intentionally committed a crime, the death penalty is to be executed upon the approval of the Supreme People's Court."
The death sentences imposed by Kardze Intermediate People's Court on the Rinpoche and Lobsang Dondrub may prove to be of wider significance with respect to relations between the Chinese authorities and the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala. So far this year, there has been the unprecedented early release by China of six Tibetan political prisoners. The Dalai Lama's Special Envoys also participated in talks in Beijing and Lhasa, the first formal contact between the Tibetan leader and China since summer 1993 (see TIN News Update http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/2002/0110.htm ). The harshness of these sentences is in stark contrast to these earlier developments. These sentences have also been imposed at a sensitive time in US-China relations: the US government is holding its first human rights dialogue session since October 2001 with China in Beijing on 17 December.
* A'an Zhaxi is a Chinese transliteration of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche's lay name, Ngawang Tashi
Senior Rinpoche
detained on "bombing" charges
May 5, 2002 - Tibet Information
Network
A charismatic senior Tibetan religious teacher, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche
(layname: Ngawang Tashi) has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in
bomb explosions in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
in Sichuan province (a part of the eastern Tibetan region of Kham). The
Rinpoche's arrest comes at a time of tightening control on religious activities
in Eastern Tibet.
Fifty-two year old Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, from Lithang (Chinese: Litang) county in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was detained in early April and his current whereabouts and condition are not known. At least three of his students may also have been detained. Reports from the area suggest that the authorities might have already charged the Rinpoche with involvement in three bomb explosions in the Kardze prefecture, and also with a minor bomb explosion that occurred in Chengdu on 3 April (see http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/2002/2404.htm). A Tibetan source told TIN: "The authorities' accusations seem to be very vague - they are not saying that he planted the bombs but that he was involved in some sort of conspiracy."
The authorities in Kardze are known to have been concerned for some time about Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche's influence in the area, and they may also have suspicions of his connections to the Dalai Lama. The Rinpoche first came under close political scrutiny after a five-year stay in India from 1982 to 1987, when he studied at Drepung monastery in south India. During this time he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a senior religious teacher at Lithang monastery. Following his return from India, the Rinpoche had faced various obstacles from officials. When local authorities objected to him setting up a new monastery called Jamyang Choekhor Ling in his home area, Nyagchu (a nomadic area, named after the river that runs through the county) in Lithang, the Rinpoche travelled to Beijing and obtained permission from the 10th Panchen Lama a year before his death in 1989.
During the 1990s, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche supported local people in the reconstruction of various smaller monasteries and a nunnery, and he was involved in activities to provide homes and education for children from poor local families. The county authorities refused him permission to build a school and an old people's home for the nomads. In the late 1990s, however, he successfully set up a school in Lithang for both Tibetan and Chinese children, mostly orphans, providing education in Tibetan, Chinese, mathematics, music and games to at least 130 pupils.
The local authorities made a first attempt to detain the Rinpoche in 1998 on the grounds that he had established new monasteries "in a private capacity by holding aloft the banner of 'Lamaism' without approval of the state government" and because he had "violated the established policies of the state" (a Tibetan language report on the website Tibetan Freedom, the Tibetan government in exile, 22 April). They also suspected that the Rinpoche had secretly been the leader of a popular protest against deforestation in the area by a timber company.
Local people took the risk of issuing a petition, a copy of which has been obtained by TIN, in support of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche. The document is typed in Chinese and refers in the first line to the positive impact the Rinpoche had on social problems afflicting the area. It praises the Rinpoche's teachings and his skills as an arbitrator, stating that there has been a decrease both in crime and in tension between local Tibetans and Chinese settlers. "He never says that one particular nationality is good and another is bad. Generally speaking, the aim of his scriptural teaching was: firstly, to educate us to do good deeds, and not to do bad deeds, secondly, to teach us to respect the old and love the young, and thirdly, all along he taught us not to violate Party policies." The petition is signed in the name of several Tibetan and Chinese families and concludes with an appeal to the local authorities for a "good verdict" on the Rinpoche. The Rinpoche was later able to return from the area where he had temporarily taken refuge.
In 2000 the authorities reportedly ordered the Rinpoche to close down the school in Lithang and made a second attempt to arrest him. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche one more time resorted to leaving the area, and local people reportedly signed their names to a petition in his support. The authorities again responded to their concern although this time they imposed the condition that he should live "the quiet life of an ordinary monk" without involvement in any "political" activities after his return. They also imposed certain restrictions on his movements (Tibetan Freedom, 22 April). The Tibetan source told TIN that when the Rinpoche returned to the area: "Many people turned out to welcome him back. It was very emotional." After 2000 Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche travelled throughout Kardze prefecture to give teachings. Reports from his followers that he travelled very simply, without a large entourage, convey their impression of him as someone who did not have materialistic values and was not concerned about status.
Local people are known to be deeply concerned about Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche's latest detention. The same Tibetan source told TIN: "The authorities have tried to arrest the Rinpoche before, but this time local people know it is more serious. (…) I've heard that now people are too frightened to protest about his recent arrest, given the current political situation." Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September 2001, the Chinese government has branded many presumed "ethnic separatist" as "terrorist". One of the amendments to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China adopted in December 2001 increases punishments for people who "organise or lead a terrorist organisation" from three to ten years imprisonment to between ten years and life imprisonment (Article 120 of the Criminal Law). The term "terrorist organisation" is not defined in the law and it could be interpreted to cover religious or other groups that act in ways that are perceived as being in opposition to the state, but which have apparently not engaged in violent activities.
The arrest of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche suggests that charismatic and influential religious leaders in Tibet are perceived as a threat to the authorities due to their ability to gain respect and trust among the population. This seems to be the case even then when these religious leaders acknowledge the authority of the state and, by acting as local mediators, propagating moral values, spreading "harmony between the nationalities" and solving social problems act according to agendas that converge with those of the Chinese Communist Party. This pattern has already been evident in Qinghai province (the traditional north-eastern Tibetan area of Amdo), where several key religious figures and scholars, working within the community, and often tacitly supported by officials, have been detained in the last few years (see: http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/nu141099.htm).
The detention of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche is evidently a continuation of this pattern in Kham as seen in the removal of the senior teacher Khenpo Jigme Phuntsog from the Serthar Tibetan Buddhist institute in the valley of Larung Gar in Kardze (see: http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/2002/1804.htm ), and also the arrest of senior religious teacher Sonam Phuntsog, who is now serving five years in prison after allegedly being blamed for the bombing of a medical clinic in Kardze (see: http://www.tibetinfo.net/news-updates/nu171199.htm).|
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