DHARAMSHALA, November 4: In photos and confirmed reports coming out of Tibet, another Tibetan set himself on fire this morning in an apparent protest against China's continued occupation of Tibet.
This latest incident of self-immolation protest, the 63rd in Tibet since 2009, is being reported from the Rebkong region of Amdo, eastern Tibet.
In one of the photos received by Phayul, the charred body of the self-immolator can be seen draped in Tibetan scarves lying below a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Exile sources say the unidentified Tibetan has succumbed to his injuries.
Other photos show a large gathering of Tibetan monks and lay people surround the body in front of a monastery.
Earlier this year on March 17, Sonam Dhargey, a 44-year-old farmer passed away in his self-immolation protest in Rebkong. Marching in the street, engulfed in flames, eyewitnesses said Sonam Dhargey called for the return of the Dalai Lama from exile.
Sonam Dhargey had wound his torso with barbed wires, a tactic that has been earlier used by self-immolating Tibetans to restrict Chinese security personnel from getting hold of their bodies.
Local Tibetans had carried Sonam Dhargey’s body to Dolma Square, the main ground in front of the Rongwo monastery, where according to reports, more than 8000 Tibetans gathered to pay their last respects and mark their protest against the Chinese government.
Dolma Square was the site of Rongwo Monastery monk Lobsang Palden's self-immolation protest three days earlier on March 14. After a grueling ordeal of over six months, Lobsang Palden failed to recover from his burn injuries and passed away on September 29.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Firday urged China to “promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas.”
Pillay said she was disturbed by "continuing allegations of violence against Tibetans seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights," and urged China to allow independent and impartial monitors to visit and assess the actual conditions on the ground, and to lift restrictions on media access to the region, as a confidence-building measure.
Source: Phayul.com
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