Three more Tibetans killed in detention, death toll from Denma shooting incident reaches five

DHARAMSALA, Aug 19: Three Tibetans who were injured on Aug 12 as Chinese police opened fire on unarmed Tibetan protesters in Denma Township in Kardze Prefecture’s Sershul County have been killed in detention, latest reports coming out of eastern Tibet say.

All three were relatives of Wangdak, a widely respected Tibetan leader, whose arbitrary arrest in the middle of the night on Aug 11 from his home in Shugpa Village in Denma town, Sershul County, Kardze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture had led to native Tibetans to protest.

Wangdak in an undated photo
Wangdak in an undated photo

The three Tibetans, identified as 60-yr-old Tsewang Gonpo (Wangdak’s maternal uncle), 42-yr-old Yeshi (Wangdak’s brother) and 18-yr-old Jinpa Thachin (Wangdak’s son-in- law) were among those injured during the protest when Chinese police fired live ammunition into the crowd of Tibetans to quell the protest.

Following the shooting incident, they were held at the county detention centre in Sershul County where they were beaten and deprived of medical treatment, resulting in their death.

On Aug 18, their bodies were brought back to Denma and returned to their families.

With three deaths in Wangdak’s family, the shooting incident has now claimed five Tibetan lives.

Lo Palsang of Shugpa Village in Denma Township killed himself on Aug 17 at a detention centre in protest against denial of medical care to the injured and torture by Chinese authorities.

Another 22-yr-old Tibetan detainee, whose name could not be confirmed, died on the same day from injuries sustained during the shooting incident.

Wangdak’s son, who sustained gunshot wounds during the incident, is also said to be in serious condition. He is being held along with an unknown number of Tibetans at a detention centre in Denma where injured detainees are deprived of medical treatment.

At a public meeting held at Drankhor in Denma Township on Aug 18, authorities announced that Wangdak, the leader of Shugpa Village was arrested for “embezzlement of public” fund and not for issues pertaining to a certain horse festival.

Unsatisfied with the number of Tibetans at the meeting, the authorities called for another meeting on Aug 19 and ordered everyone to attend it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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