Tibetan teen dies after self-immolation
2012-03-06 11:42
Beijing - An 18-year-old Tibetan man died after setting fire to himself in a restive area of south-western China's Sichuan province, in the 26th self-immolation reported in China's Tibetan areas since 2009, reports said on Tuesday.
The young man, identified by the single name Dorjee, set fire to himself late on Monday in Charuwa township, or Chara in Tibetan, in Sichuan's Aba, or Ngaba, area, London-based Free Tibet said.
The group quoted a witness as saying Dorjee collapsed and died outside a government office during his protest, and police arrived to take away his body.
"Prior to his self-immolation, he walked from a bridge ... to the local Chinese [government] office centre shouting slogans against Chinese policies in Tibet," US-based Radio Free Asia quoted Kanyag Tsering, an Indian-based Tibetan monk, as saying after speaking to sources in the area.
"Tibetans - like Dorjee today, and Rinchen yesterday - are choosing to set fire to themselves in front of government buildings in an attempt to reject the power and oppression these places represent in Tibetan communities," Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden said.
Security tightened
"This third self-immolation in as many days underlines that Tibetans will not stop protesting until their calls for freedom are heeded," Bridgen said. "The international community must take immediate action."
She was referring to death of two Tibetan women on Saturday and Sunday after separate self-immolations in Tibetan areas of Sichuan and neighbouring Gansu province.
The Chinese government has tightened security in most Tibetan areas this year amid a series of protests and self-immolations.
It has accused supporters of the exiled Dalai Lama of encouraging self-immolations and other protests, despite his declared opposition to self-immolations.
- SAPA
