Source: AFP
BEIJING — A Tibetan monk who in 2008 joined a protest in front of foreign journalists in China has died after allegedly suffering "severe torture" while in detention, an activist group said Tuesday.
Jamyang Jinpa, a monk in the northwestern province of Gansu, died on April 3, three years after taking part in the demonstration at his Labrang monastery, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said.
The group of foreign reporters were visiting Labrang in Xiahe county in April 2008 as part of a tour organised by Chinese authorities to show the situation was back to normal after widespread unrest in Tibetan areas.
Violent demonstrations against Chinese rule erupted in Tibet's capital Lhasa in March 2008, and these subsequently spread to neighbouring areas and monasteries, including Labrang.
Jamyang Jinpa had been acting as the journalists' guide when a group of 14 monks began protesting. He joined in and condemned the lack of human rights in Tibetan areas, ICT said in a statement.
He was subsequently detained for more than a month, after which authorities told his family to come and fetch him, it added.
"When they came to collect Jamyang Jinpa, he could not walk or stand, and had no feeling in his legs," the activist group quoted a Tibetan source in touch with monks from Labrang as saying.
"He could not recognise his family, his eyesight was completely gone, and he seemed to have no memory of what had happened to him."
The monk's overall condition deteriorated over the next few years until his death, ICT said.
The group said it was impossible to determine the exact cause of his death, but added Jamyang Jinpa had been in good health before his detention.
Police in Xiahe and the wider Gannan prefecture were not available for comment when contacted by AFP.
Resentment against Chinese rule runs deep in Tibetan regions of China.
Many Tibetans are angry about what they view as increasing domination by China's majority Han ethnicity, and accuse the government of trying to dilute their culture.
China, however, says Tibetan living standards have improved markedly in recent decades, pointing to the billions of dollars in spending on infrastructure and development projects
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