PHOTO: At least 88 Tibetans have been self-immolating since 2009, a figure that increases day by day.© Gerardo Angiulli / Demotix
At least 75 Tibetans —many Buddhist monks and nuns among them— They have caught fire this year. Many shouted phrases calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and freedom for the Tibetans as they burned, and some made the same requests in written statements..
In this escalation of self-immolations in the areas of China inhabited by Tibetans, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and neighboring provinces, only in November have they caught fire 24 personas.
Currently, the total number of Tibetans who have committed self-immolation since 2009 is from 88, figure that now increases every day.
Walk —fictitious name—, Tibetan activist currently residing in London, has told Amnesty International that he respects Tibetans who commit self-immolation.
“Stopping these self-immolations is like throwing water on the ground.”: a waste of time. “We have to keep doing this until we get some kind of result.”, manifested.
“I'm not going to self-immolate., But I still think these people are brave.. I respect them, but we still can't stop this, even if we wanted to.”
in 1996, Bobpa Tsang left home, in Rebkong prefecture, in the southern province of Qinghai, where many of the latest self-immolations have occurred.
"Does 16 years since I have returned to Tibet. We do not understand what the Tibetans of Tibet feel. They are under enormous pressure from the Chinese government. ¿Who would give up their life if not? Nobody wants to catch fire. ¿What mother would want to abandon her babies?, sons and daughters? Everyone wants to live a happy life. ¿Why would they kill each other?? They all belong to the younger generation. The surprising thing is that they all convey the same message.”
In recent days, More than a thousand Tibetan students have clashed with armed police in protests over the publication of a government pamphlet calling the recent wave of self-immolations “acts of stupidity.”” and the study of the Tibetan language was condemned as something “irrelevant”.
The brochure, titled Ten real visions of the Tsolho area, outraged Tibetan medical students in Tsolho prefecture (Hainan), in the province of Qinghai, when it was distributed to area schools.
Students called for an investigation into the creation of the pamphlet and greater equality.
According to reports, The police beat the protesters after taking control of the school where the protest was taking place, which was settled with the income of 20 students in the hospital.
That same day there was a solidarity hunger strike in Tibet and China, even in areas like Lhasa and Rebkong, in which many community leaders and intellectuals participated and in which an end to self-immolations was also requested.
More of 60 Tibetans of all walks of life simultaneously participated in the solidarity protest.
According to local media, he 14 November, Chinese authorities in the eastern Tibetan region of Malho, announced a series of strict measures to address the ongoing wave of self-immolations.
Local officials were ordered to punish those who committed self-immolation, to their families and even to those who offered condolences and prayers to the grieving relatives.
This has included, according to reports, the cancellation of government aid to the families of those who commit self-immolation, as well as many development projects in small villages where self-immolations have occurred.
Bobpa Tsang stated that the protests began in February 2009 in reaction to a wave of repression that swept the country after the protests that broke out in the region in March 2008 and the Olympic Games in August 2008.
“After the Olympic Games, The world stopped looking towards Tibet and China began the brutal repression of the Tibetan people.
“They imprisoned the teachers, students, the poet, monks, nuns and environmental activists who considered a threat. Tibetan businessmen accused of supporting Tibetan freedom movements, They confiscated millions of pounds and imprisoned them for life.
“They began to destroy the Tibetan language and the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Tibetans by confiscating their land and livestock., and forcing them to live in newly built resettlements.
“During the massive protests throughout Tibet in 2008, They started shooting into the crowd and killed many innocent people..
“That's why people started setting themselves on fire in 2009 and that has spread throughout Tibet.”
He 7 November, Tamdrin Tso, of 23 years and mother of a six-year-old boy, caught fire and died in the center of Drorong Po village, in the municipality of Dowa, a Rope King (Tongren in Chinese).
According to Tibetan sources in exile, the local Tibetans had seen Tamdrin Tso praying for those who had committed self-immolation: “He recited the Mani mantra [mantra related to the Dalai Lama] and made a vow to fast and not to drink liquids. He also prayed and offered butter lamps in the monastery.. The locals said that although Tamdrin Tso did all this, In the end he couldn't stand it and set himself on fire.”
In a joint letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, 3 November 2011, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on the Chinese government to review the human rights situation on the Tibetan Plateau and address the underlying causes of the protests that have led Tibetans to set themselves on fire..
The organizations also called on the government to end policies that violate the fundamental freedoms and human rights of Tibetans., including freedom of expression and religion, and the strong presence of security forces in regions of the country with a Tibetan population.
Bobpa Tsang believes that Tibetans will continue to self-immolate in protest until “China analyzes why Tibetans self-immolate and offers some kind of solution to their demands.”. Then the Tibetan people will stop. If China continues to forcefully and brutally repress the Tibetans, there will continue to be self-immolations.”
But he doesn't know what to say to other Tibetans who are considering this kind of action.. “It is difficult to send them a message. In my opinion, I couldn't tell you: ‘Eh, you have to immolate yourself'. And I don't want to say: 'Self-immolations must stop'. It totally depends on China and its policy towards Tibet.. So I don't know what to tell you. Every time I hear about self-immolation in Tibet, It doesn't matter where they are from or if they are my friends, I feel helpless, as if he had no hands.”
More information
China must end repression after self-immolations in Tibet (news, 1 June 2012)
China must avoid excessive force in its response to Tibetan protests (news, 24 of January of 2012)
China must address the causes of self-immolations in Tibet (news, 7 November 2011)
