Tibetan Rights Activist Dies from Torture in Police Custody

A Tibetan political prisoner has died of severe torture during imprisonment by Chinese authorities, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported on August 12.

Thin Lay, a young Tibetan man from Kardze County, was arrested in April 2009 for participating in calls for Tibetan freedom in Kardze. During the seven months in police custody, he was severely tortured.

Authorities finally released Thin Lay to his family after he was in a state of physical and psychological debility and near death. Although his family had few financial resources, they tried to get medical treatment for him, but it was to no avail.

Thin Lay died on August 10. He was 25 years old.

The German human rights group Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte (IGFM) said in a press release on Aug. 16, that it has obtained information regarding the medical records, stating that Thin Lay was suffering from incurable brain injuries and grave psychological disturbances.

Witnesses present at the traditional Tibetan sky burial ceremony said Thin Lay’s body showed head injuries and multiple blackened joints, Voice of Tibet reported on Aug. 12.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy expressed their deep sadness over the death of Thin Lay and concern for the fate of many other Tibetan political prisoners.

The IGFM said it strongly condemned the brutality of the Chinese prison staff. “Chinese authorities suppress political and religious expressions by the Tibetan minority in the most cruel fashion,” the press statement said.

The IGFM further stated that Thin Lays’ death is “an example of the strategic violence and a part of the deliberate tactic of intimidation by Chinese security forces.”

It also said that just a few days ago Chinese police forcefully took away three youths because they openly asked for freedom for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama.

The IGFM said it demands an immediate end of violence toward the Tibetan minority by Chinese authorities. It further appealed to the German government to ensure that this ongoing discrimination receives a permanent place in the bilateral talks between Germany and China.