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London, 20 April'09 - Tibetans and supporters gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in London to protest against the death sentences given to two Tibetans by the Chinese government. In the next few days, these cases will be put to China’s Supreme People's Court for review, as with all capital punishment cases, and UK based Tibetans and supporters took the opportunity to send a strong message to the Chinese government. To a backdrop of chanted slogans, Tibetans used political theatre to depict the torture and execution of Tibetans. In explanation, Tenzin Jigdal, spokesperson for SFTUK, commented that 'The Chinese government has sentenced two Tibetans to death for rising up against foreign occupation. These sentences are part of the Chinese authorities drive to punish and silence any Tibetan who speaks out against the Chinese occupation. It is vital that we put pressure on our governments and the Chinese government to halt these unjust executions.'

On 8th April the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court sentenced Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak to death for their supposed involvement in the protests in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital in March 2008. Phuntsok and Kangtsuk, were also sentenced to death but with a two year reprieve, and Dawa Sangpo was sentenced to life imprisonment for what the Chinese state media described as “arson cases that left seven people dead and five shops burned to the ground in Lhasa”. Little is known about the welfare of the sentenced Tibetans, and it is unclear if they will appeal on their sentences.

These are the first officially reported death sentences following the March 14 violence in Lhasa, in which the Chinese government claims 22 people were killed, whilst the Tibetan-exile government claims more than 200 Tibetans were killed by the Chinese forces in the subsequent crackdown. According to Amnesty International, following last years protests, the Chinese Government 76 people had been sentenced - ranging from three years fixed term imprisonment to life imprisonment- in relation to last year's protests. The majority were sentenced for crimes described as “arson, looting, picking quarrels and provoking troubles, assembling a crowd to storm state organs, disrupting public service, theft, espionage and unlawfully providing ‘intelligence’ to an organization or individual outside of China”. However, over 1,000 people were detained in connection with the protests in March 2008 remain unaccounted for according to the United States Commission on China, meaning many more await sentencing. Meanwhile, the situation throughout Tibet remains tense, with Tibetans under constant surveillance from a huge Chinese military presence.

Having failed to follow through it's Olympic commitment to imrprove human rights in China, the Chinese government has faced mounting criticism for it's human rights abuses and lack of judicial transparency. "The Chinese government has refused every external request for a real accounting of the detention, arrest and sentencing of those involved with the Tibetan protests," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Both the arrests and the releases seem to have been arbitrary, and we still know next to nothing about those who are still detained or have been imprisoned."

The Coalition of UK Tibet Support Groups: Tibet Society, Students for a Free Tibet UK, Tibetan Community in Britain, Free Tibet Campaign and Tibetan Youth UK are calling on Tibetans, supporters and people of conscience to take various measures to demand a halt to these executions and an independent inquiry into the cases.

You can do this by:

  1. Writing to your local MP

    - To find out who your local MP is, go to: http://www.upmystreet.com/commons/l/
    - Sample letter available at: http://sftuk.org/cms/Death-Sentence-Urgent-04/09

  2. Contact the Chinese government directly

    Online: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/stoptheexecutions?qp_source=an1

    In the UK:
    Chinese Ambassador: Madam Fu Ying
    Chinese Embassy Address: 49-51 Portland Place London W1B 1JL
    Tel: 020-72994049

    In China:
    Minister of Justice: Wu Aiying
    No.10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyang District
    Beijing 100020, China
    Tel:+86 10 8313 9065
    Tel:+86 10 6520 6706
    Fax: +86 10 8313 9051 Fax: +86 10 6529 2345

Photos & Report by: Luke Ward

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