Protests Mark End of Trulku’s Execution Reprieve
Dharamsala 2 December: With the Tibetans and their supporters worldwide staging a series of demonstrations, signature campaigns, candle light vigils and hunger strikes for Trulku Tenzin Delek’s release the two-year reprieve of the Tibetan philanthropist’s execution ended yesterday if calculated from the day the sentence was passed. But according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, the two years suspension has to be calculated from the day the sentence was upheld after appeal was made in a higher court. Whichever is true is of little significance now for the Tibetans who want Trulku’s life to be spared.
The Tibetans here held a peaceful march and led a procession to the town’s judicial campus today to mark their protest against the sentencing to death of Trulku Tenzin Delek and to urge the People’s Republic of China to review the case of Trulku who, the protestors believe, is innocent.
“I hope as in the past in some cases the Chinese government and concerned officials will reconsider the death sentence. I hope they reconsider the decision,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying by AFP in Bangalore.
The Central Tibetan Administration had appealed to the world community in December 2002 to exert pressure on their governments to overturn the verdict passed on Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. It had also expressed its regret that the two had not received a fair trial and that the sentences were passed on arbitrary charges without any concrete evidence.
The Tibetan Youth Congress, which carried out an all India relay hunger strike and campaign said in a press statement that the case of Trulku has offered the international community with an ‘opportunity to monitor the integrity and conscience of China as well to measure their respective bilateral ties and diplomatic credence’.
The organisation feels that the world has been a witness to the case and conspiracy regarding Tulku Tenzin Delek and that the unfair trial and ‘secret evidences’ implicating Tulku Tenzin Delek, which China refuses to disclose to this day, have in clear words spoken for themselves: China’s disrespect for fundamental human rights and disregard of international norms and legal standards.
” The summary execution of Lobsang Dhondup despite the assurances given by China to the international community serves as one of the numerous examples of the conceited and capricious minds of the Chinese. This comes as a warning to the international community, not to be complacent regarding the issue of Tulku Tenzin Delek and not to hope for much leniency on the part of China. We urge the international community to prepare themselves for any eventualities”, the statement further said.
However, no news of Trulku’s fate has reached Dharamsala. Meanwhile, the Tibetans and Tibet supporters keep their hopes alive for Trulku’s release at best or his death sentence commuted to life sentence otherwise.