By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– A court in northwest China sentenced a group of Tibetans for their role in anti-government protests which took place earlier this year.  Six monks and two lay people were sentenced to jail terms ranging from six-months to seven years in Qinghai province, a region that is largely ethnically Tibetan and includes the birthplace of exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The eight Tibetans were accused of inciting a mob attack of a police station in a Tibetan town of Rabgya back in March.  The unrest began when a Buddhist monk jumped into the Yellow River to escape police interrogation.  He had hung a Tibetan flag on the roof of his monastery on March 10, which was the anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan revolt against the Chinese government, and had distributed anti-government pamphlets.  The Chinese police detained about 100 monks after the violence broke out, and hundreds of Tibetans rioted and attacked the police station.

Monk Palden Gyatso received the harshest sentence, seven years in prison (Source: NYT)

This recent violence resembled the mass protest of March 2008 in Tibetan-populated regions of China, which was the largest anti-government protest by Tibetans in decades.  According to the exiled Tibetan government, the subsequent crackdown by the Chinese government since last year’s riots has led to more than 200 Tibetan deaths.

Local Chinese officials have refused to release any information on the riots which took place this past March, and a court clerk told a news agency that she had no knowledge about the case of the eight Tibetans who were sentenced.  Remaining anonymous, she said, “We don’t know anything about the trial.  Nobody at our court knows.”

However, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy expressed “its serious concern over Chinese authorities’ manhandling of the case and awarding lengthy prison sentences to what was a mere…exercise of the freedom of expression…guaranteed by the Chinese Constitutions….”  The Centre is urging China to reverse the verdict and ensure fair and free trial to the eight Tibetans.
For more information, please see:

AFP – China court jails eight Tibetans: rights group – 18 August 2009

AP – Report: 8 Tibetans jailed over protests in China – 18 August 2009

Reuters – China sentences 8 Tibetans over protests – activists – 18 August 2009

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy – China sentences eight Tibetans to varying prison terms in Tibet – 14 August 2009