24-year-old Tibetan Dies after Immolation, Toll reaches 76

CTA: The Central Tibetan Administration reiterated its serious concern over the escalating crisis in Tibet, as more Tibetan self-immolated on Saturday taking the total self-immolation to 76, of which 62 died.

Sangdhak Tsering, 24, a father of three-year-old child, died after setting fire to himself in Rebgong on Saturday evening, where a Tibetan woman died of self-immolation some three hours ago. 9 Tibetans have burned themselves to death in Rebgong in this month alone.

Local Tibetans say Sangdhak Tsering had repeatedly told his wife that it is not worth living with no freedom in Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama being not allowed to return to Tibet, continued imprisonment of the Panchen Lama, and the unending self-immolations by fellow Tibetans. His wife consoled him not to think about these things, but he kept on and felt deeply anguished.

The Central Tibetan Administration organised a grand prayer service at the main temple in Dharamsala on Sunday to mourn the tragic self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibet and expressed solidarity with their aspirations for freedom for Tibetans and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

The US government on Friday reiterated its concern over the worsening human rights situation in Tibet, and urged the underlying causes of the self-immolations in Tibet.

“We regularly raise our concern about the Tibetan self-immolations with Chinese authorities. We encourage China to work with authorities in Tibet to address the grievances of the people and to protect the cultural diversity of their country. So this is obviously – and to address the worsening human rights situation in Tibet – we will continue to do that,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Friday.

“We’ve been clear for decades about our commitment to human rights in Tibet, that we want to see China address the underlying problems there, the threats to the distinctive culture and linguistic identity
of the Tibetan people, and our grave concern about the fact that people would feel so desperate as to resort to self-immolation,” she said.

“The Chinese leadership must heed the urgent call of the international community, especially the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay’s strong appeal, to promptly address the longstanding grievances of Tibetans,” said Kalon Dicki Chhoyang of the Department of Information & International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration.