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URGENT ACTION for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche |
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January 26 marked the 7th anniversary of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's failed appeal and Losang Dhondup's execution.
“I am not guilty, please appeal for justice for me … call all people together and do everything possible to help me overturn the verdict” Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
 Background
Action
Online Petition
EDM
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a highly revered Tibetan Buddhist lama and community leader from Lithang, eastern Tibet, is serving a life sentence in a Sichuan prison for allegedly "conspiring to cause explosions". He was sentenced to death in 2002 in a closed door trial that failed to meet even the most minimal international legal standards and no credible evidence has ever been found linking him to this crime. Following an international campaign on his behalf, Tenzin Delek's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2004.
Demonstrations in Lithang area and petition calls for release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
In June 2009, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche told a community member who visited him in prison, “I am not guilty, please appeal for justice for me … call all people together and do everything possible to help me overturn the verdict”. In a remarkable act of support, 40,000 Tibetans in his community signed petitions - many signatures being in the form of thumbprints - demanding justice for their leader.
In December 2009, members of Tenzin Delek's family attempted to deliver these petitions to the Chinese central government in Beijing. At the same time Tibetans in the Lithang area gathered in town centres to appeal for his release.
There were also local demonstrations on behalf of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, which were also based on concerns about his current frail health. Where these took place is not confirmed but was probably Nyagchuka (Jaijang) or Darcedo (Khanding). These actions resulted in around five people being arrested. On the 4th or 5th December, a subsequent demonstration seems to have taken place to protest against the arrests and a high number of security forces (police and military)stopped about 80 people on the road to Nyagchuka (Jaijang). It is said people were very nervous and did not want to go back their homes.
Recent information regarding Tenzin Delek Rinpoche indicates he has been transferred to Mianyang Prison in Mianyang, Sichuan province. It is not clear when the transfer took place. He was previously imprisoned in Chuandong prison.. It has also been reported that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is in ill-health, with high blood pressure and heart and leg problems. He is taking medication daily but has been denied Tibetan medicine, which he has requested. He suffered a lot of torture before his trial and even though he is no longer being tortured, he is now suffering from the poor conditions in prison.
► Excerpts from the petition have been published on Woeser’s blog, translated into English on High Peaks Pure Earth.
► Further information on Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Join the 40,000 Tibetans in Tibet who have bravely called for Justice
 ► You can join with the people of Tibet by signing an online petition calling for the case against Tenzin Delek to be re-opened and, if no credible evidence is presented, for his release. Hardcopies of the petitions are available to download and printou, please call Tibet Society on 020 7272 1414 or email
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to be sent or emailed a copy.
► Ask your MP to sign the Early Day Motion tabled in Westminster by Norman Baker calling for the government to appeal for clemency or a re-trial for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
To see if you MP has signed click [here]
To find out who your MP is click [here]
To write to your MP online click [here]
To find out more about your MP click [here]
► Click [here] to join Tibet Society and help us keep Tibet alive through campaigning and lobbying ► To support our work click [here]
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche in parliament
EDM 713 SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF DEATH SENTENCE FOR TENZIN DELEK
26.01.2010; Tabled by Baker, Norman
That this House notes that 26 January 2010 marks the seventh anniversary of the failed appeal by Tibetan Buddhist Lama, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, against the death sentence he received in December 2002 following a closed-door trial that failed to meet even the most minimal international legal standards; further notes Ministers' public statements voicing serious concerns that international fair trial standards were not met in recent trials in China and Tibet; calls on the Government to do more than voice concerns at this ongoing lack of observance by China's internationally accepted due legal processes and an individual's right to a fair trial; urges the Government to set out and implement policies that encourage the Chinese government to bring China's legal system in line with those that are internationally accepted and draw up benchmarks for tangible progress; further calls on the Government to appeal for clemency or a re-trial for Tenzin Delek, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2005 but who is now suffering grave ill-health with high blood pressure, heart and leg problems; and further notes that over the summer of 2009, 40,000 Tibetans in Tenzin Delek's community in Lithang, Tibet, signed petitions asking for justice and a re-trial for Tenzin Delek.
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