(2004/C 70 E/020)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3746/02

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(20 December 2002)

Subject:   Tibet/China: death sentence on Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup

A court in the province of Sichuan in western China has passed death sentences on Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a senior Tibetan monk, and his attendant, Lobsang Dhondup, following what many international organisations regard as a completely unfair trial. The Chinese authorities have not released any details of the trial of the Rinpoche and Dhondup, but Radio Free Asia has quoted a relative of one of them as saying that they were denied lawyers. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup were accused by the local Communist authorities of committing a series of bomb attacks (two last year in the Ganze region of Sichuan and a third in the provincial capital Chengdu), on the basis of statements by a former assistant of Tenzin Deleg to the effect that the Rinpoche had instructed him to carry out one of the attacks and of ‘confessions’ made to the police by Tenzin Deleg himself while in custody following his arrest on 7 April 2002, according to which he had masterminded this attack as well as six other previously unsolved cases of bomb attacks carried out earlier in Ganze.

According to a number of sources, including some in the People's Republic of China, Tenzin Deleg and Dhondup may have been targeted because of their peaceful activism. The Chinese authorities have kept the Rinpoche under strict surveillance in recent years. They tried to arrest him in 1998 after he attempted to found a monastery without official permission, and for leading protests against deforestation of the area by a local timber company.

What information does the Commission have on the trial of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup, and what does it intend to do to obtain an immediate judicial review in accordance with international standards of fair and due process? Has the Commission already conveyed to the Chinese authorities its official disapproval of the flagrant violations of fundamental rights of which Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup are victims? Is the Commission aware that the Chinese authorities' attitude in this case stands in stark contrast to the signals of willingness to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama sent by these same authorities to western governments and the Tibetan government in exile when they invited two special representatives of the Dalai Lama to China and Tibet a few months ago?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(10 February 2003)

The Commission has been informed of the death sentence imposed on the two Tibetans Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup on 2 December 2002, on the basis of their alleged involvement in a bomb attack. The Commission is also aware of the evidence on which the sentence was based and the manner in which the trial has been carried out.

The Union immediately expressed its concern to the Chinese authorities and has had several official contacts with the Chinese authorities on behalf of the two convicted Tibetans. The Commission is also aware that the United States and Australian Governments intervened on behalf of the two convicted Tibetans with Chinese authorities.

According to information available to the Commission, the two Tibetans have lodged an appeal which means that the execution can not be carried out until the sentence has been reviewed by China's People's Court.

The Commission will continue to closely follow this case and the general Human Rights situation in Tibet.