China has jailed three Tibetan monks for between 10 and 13 years for helping a fellow monk to burn himself to death, sparking criticism from the US and rights groups.
A court in Sichuan handed long jail sentences to two more monks on Tuesday over the self-immolation protest at their monastery, Xinhua news agency reported.
The sentences, for “intentional homicide” for having “plotted, instigated and assisted” in the death, followed the jailing on Monday of a Tibetan lama from the same monastery for 11 years.
The monk’s death at Kirti monastery in a mainly Tibetan area of Sichuan Province triggered months of protests, and Human Rights Watch said the sentences appeared to be a sign of growing government frustration.
Phelim Kine, a senior Asia researcher for the New York-based campaign group, said this appeared to be a “harsher punishment” indicating the “ratcheting up of China’s central government’s objectives.”
“The objectives result from the increasing frustration with the Kirti monastery’s refusal to buckle under to central government authority. The sentencing shows the central government is sending a message that the gloves are off,” he said.
Kirti monastery in Aba Prefecture, has been the scene of repeated anti-government protests.
The US Department of State, commenting on Tuesday after the first sentence, questioned whether China had followed either international or its own legal standards.
“We urge Chinese leaders to address policies in Tibetan areas that have created tension and to protect Tibetans’ unique linguistic, cultural and religious identity,” it added in a statement.
Many Tibetans in China are -angry about what they view as increasing domination by China’s majority Han ethnic group and accuse the government of trying to dilute their predominantly Buddhist culture.
However, China says that Tibetan living standards have improved markedly in recent decades, pointing to the billions of US dollars it has spent on infrastructure and development projects.
The Xinhua report said that the lama, identified only as Drongdru, had hidden the injured monk, Phuntsog, for 11 hours and ensured emergency treatment did not reach him.
It said the monks had sent photos of Phuntsog overseas via the Internet three days before he burnt himself to death, “proving that the self-immolation was premeditated.”
The agency said all three monks had confessed and quoted what it said were monks who attended the trial condemning their actions.
The Xinhua account contradicted those of activists who claimed the monks rescued Phuntsog from the police, who beat him after extinguishing the flames.
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