China: Tibetan Executed, Others Await Trial
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(New York, January 28, 2003)
-- China's execution of one Tibetan and the suspended death sentence upheld on appeal of another raise serious concerns about due process, particularly in politically sensitive cases, Human Rights Watch said today. On Sunday, January 26, China executed Lobsang Dhondrup, a Tibetan man charged with a series of bombings in Sichuan province. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a prominent Tibetan spiritual leader also accused of the bombings, had his death sentence upheld on appeal. His sentence is suspended for two years.
"Bombings are serious crimes, and they merit serious investigation. Instead, China executed Lobsang Dhondrup after a trial that lacked any semblance of due process, and conducted the execution almost immediately following the appeal."
Brad Adams, Executive Director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch
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"Bombings are serious crimes, and they merit serious investigation," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. "Instead, China executed Lobsang Dhondrup after a trial that lacked any semblance of due process, and conducted the execution almost immediately following the appeal."
Xinhua, China's official news agency, said the death sentences were applied for "crimes of terror."
"The war on terrorism is increasingly used in politically sensitive cases," Adams said, noting that a Chinese democracy activist was also charged with terrorism last week. "We are concerned that a wide range of speech and activity in China is being grouped together under the banner of terrorism."
The only evidence made public that linked Lobsang Dhondrup to the bombings was his alleged confession. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche has been active on a range of Tibetan social issues and linked with popular protests against deforestation. In Tenzin Delek's case, the government provided no public evidence. In a tape smuggled to Radio Free Asia last week, he insisted on his innocence. Allegations of torture against Tibetans detained in relation to the bombings have been widespread. Human Right Watch urged that the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture visit Tibetan areas in order to investigate these reports.
The men were denied representation of their choice at the first trial. Although the original trial was open, the appeal hearing was closed, because, the government claimed, "state secrets" were at risk.
A third man, Jortse (Tserang Dhondrup), was sentenced to a five-year term for soliciting petitions in defense of the men. Others have been detained and released, and at least four men may still be in custody.
Human Rights Watch urged China to release the names and places of detention of all those held for the bombings in Sichuan. Human Rights Watch also urged embassies in Beijing to protest Lobsang Dhondrup's execution, and to demand that future trials of Tibetans be open to outside observers and conducted in strict accord with international fair trial standards.
Human Rights Watch also called for a debate on China's human rights record at the annual meting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which will convene in Geneva in mid-March.
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