Name: Gepey

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Profession: Monk at Kirti Monastery

Date of Self-immolation: 10 March 2012, the 53rd anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day

Location: Near a Chinese military camp located 1.5 kilometers from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

His slogans: Not reported

Since Gepey self-immolated in close proximity to a military camp near his monastery, Chinese soldiers were quick to arrive at the scene and carry his charred body inside the camp. They then refused to hand it over to the family of the deceased. After a subsequent day of persistent pleading, on 11 March at around 10 pm the regional government gave permission for five members of Gepey’s family to attend his cremation ceremony, but the family was forced to cut short the rituals. Security personnel kept a close watch over the proceedings. Gepey became the third Tibetan in a row to self-immolate near Chinese government buildings, symbolically opposing China’s continuing occupation of Tibet. To honour what was seen as Gepey’s courageous action, local Tibetan shops and restaurants closed in a strong gesture of solidarity. PSB personnel reportedly interrogated his mother for an entire day. He is survived by his mother and two brothers who are also monks at Kirti Monastery.

Name: Gepey

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Profession: Monk at Kirti Monastery

Date of Self-immolation: 10 March 2012, the 53rd anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day

Location: Near a Chinese military camp located 1.5 kilometers from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

His slogans: Not reported

Since Gepey self-immolated in close proximity to a military camp near his monastery, Chinese soldiers were quick to arrive at the scene and carry his charred body inside the camp. They then refused to hand it over to the family of the deceased. After a subsequent day of persistent pleading, on 11 March at around 10 pm the regional government gave permission for five members of Gepey’s family to attend his cremation ceremony, but the family was forced to cut short the rituals. Security personnel kept a close watch over the proceedings. Gepey became the third Tibetan in a row to self-immolate near Chinese government buildings, symbolically opposing China’s continuing occupation of Tibet. To honour what was seen as Gepey’s courageous action, local Tibetan shops and restaurants closed in a strong gesture of solidarity. PSB personnel reportedly interrogated his mother for an entire day. He is survived by his mother and two brothers who are also monks at Kirti Monastery.

His slogans: Reportedly protesting against the PRC’s policies in Tibet

Name: Dorjee

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Profession: Nomad

Date of Self-immolation: 5 March 2012 around 6:30 pm (local time)

Location: Cha Township, Ngaba County, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

After setting himself on fire, Dorjee walked towards the local government office in Cha Township and collapsed. According to Kirti Monastery monks in contact with Tibetans in the region, Dorjee shouted slogans protesting the Chinese government’s policies on Tibet. It is believed that he died at the scene and that the authorities removed his charred body despite attempts by Tibetans to take it away for religious rituals to be performed.

Her slogans: “Return His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “We Need Freedom”

Name: Rinchen Kyi

Age: 33

Sex: Female

Profession: Housewife

Date of Self-immolation: 4 March 2012 around 6:30 am (local time)

Location: In the vicinity of Kirti Monastery, Ngaba town, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

Mother of four, Rinchen, died after setting her body on fire near a military camp close to Kirti Monastery. According to monks from Kirti Monastery’s Dharamshala branch, as she set herself ablaze Rinchen shouted “Return His Holiness to Tibet” and “We Need Freedom.” She committed her self-immolation protest in front of a special security office outside the main entrance to Kirti Monastery. She passed away immediately, according to Kirti Monastery in Dharamshala. Her eldest child was 13 while the youngest was a few months old. The four children became orphans as their father had passed away a year before. Rinchen’s self-immolation protest came only days ahead of the all-important 10 March 1959 Tibetan National Uprising Day and the first anniversary of the 16 March self-immolation of Kirti monk Phuntsok — the action which ignited the ongoing mounting wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

Name: Tsering Kyi

Age: 19

Sex: Female

Profession: Student

Date of Self-immolation: 3 March 2012

Location: Machu town, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

Her slogans: Not Known

Schoolgirl Tsering Kyi torched her body at a busy vegetable market in Machu town in protest against the Chinese illegal occupation of Tibet. The police on the scene reportedly beat her as they attempted to put out the flames and she died on the spot. This was the first self-immolation protest to take place in Machu — a traditional Tibetan area of Amdo. A few days prior to her immolation protest, Tsering was heard saying at her home, “In Ngaba and other areas of Tibet, Tibetans are burning themselves. We should do something for Tibet – life is meaningless if we don’t do something for Tibet.”

According to the Dharamshala-based Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Chinese security personnel arrived at the scene of the protest and shut down the market. “All mobile phones were confiscated in an attempt the stop the news of the protest from spreading,” the release said. “People at the scene of the protest were issued a strict warning against speaking about the self-immolation.” The authorities also barricaded the school Tsering Kyi attended. The police later visited her house for identification of its inhabitants and carried out door-to-door searches in the neighbourhood. Websites operating from the region were shut down and heads of the regional government offices reportedly held a meeting following the protest. Reporting on the self-immolation protest, US-based Radio Free Asia said that Chinese market vendors threw stones at the girl’s burning body, citing an unidentified Tibetan exile with connections to the community in Machu. “The Tibetans present in the market were agitated and this almost resulted in a major clash between the Tibetans and Chinese,” RFA quoted a source as saying. Tsering Kyi‘s body lay in local police custody while family members and local Tibetans were demanding possession of the body for last rites. “Chinese authorities have told Tsering Kyi’s family members to sign a letter stating that her self-immolation was not political in nature. Only then will they be allowed to take the body away,” reported an exile source. However, Tsering Kyi’s family members are said to have rejected China’s attempts at covering up the motivations behind her self-immolation and warned of protests if the authorities failed to hand over the body. Although Tsering Kyi’s family rejected Beijing’s attempts at de-politicising her fatal action, China’s State news agency, Xinhua, nevertheless went ahead in blaming “a head injury” for her selfimmolation. “Tsering Kyi had suffered ‘occasional fainting spells’ after hitting her head on a radiator in a classroom, and falling into a coma,” according to Xinhua.

Name: Nangdrol

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Status: Layperson

Date of Self-immolation: 19 February 2012 around 2 pm (local time)

Location: Dzamthang County, Ngaba, Amdo

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

His Final Message Below Layman Nangdrol self-immolated in front of Dzamthang Jonang Monastery and succumbed on the spot. His body was then taken to the monastery where traditional Buddhist rituals were carried out for him. According to sources, the monks defied and resisted orders by the armed police to hand over his body, and during the evening of his immolation a crowd of more than 1000 gathered to hold a vigil. According to local Tibetans in contact with Tibetans in exile, Nangdrol cared passionately about Tibetan culture and language and had urged fellow Tibetans to be united, and to preserve their cultural and religious identity.

The fourth of eight children, Nangdrol was from Choeje Village, Barma Township, Dzamthang, a Tibetan area of Amdo now merged with the PRC’s Sichuan Province. His final message was: “Raise your heads high with courage and loyalty. I, Nangdrol, call with gratitude upon my parents, siblings and relatives. The time has come for me to leave — for the sake of the Tibetan people — by lighting my life on fire. My requests to the Tibetans are Be united, Be Tibetan, Dress Tibetan and Speak Tibetan. Never forget that you are a Tibetan. Be compassionate; Respect your parents; Most of all be united; Treat animals with compassion, Do not slaughter them. “Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama! Long live all the lamas and tulkus of the Land of Snow. May Tibetan people be free from China’s oppressive rule, there is immense suffering under China’s rule, and this suffering is unbearable. There is no way to further endure this Chinese occupation, its terrible rule, this torture without trace. In the end the merciless Chinese will kill the Tibetans. Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
(Translated from Tibetan by Bhuchung D. Sonam)

Name: Damchoe Sangpo

Age: 38 Sex: Male

Profession: Monk at Bongthak Monastery, Tsonub, Amdo Date of Self-immolation: 17 February 2012

Location: Themchen County, Tsojang, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased

His slogans: Not available

Damchoe Sangpo, who self-immolated at Themchen County town on 17 February 2012, was a member of his monastery’s Democratic Management Committee (DMC). These Beijing government-imposed administrations control all monasteries in today’s Tibet. He was the first monastic official to self-immolate. Damchoe reportedly died at the site of his protest. According to Radio Free Asia Tibetan Service, citing an India-based senior Tibetan monk, Lama Shingsa, “After the Tibetan New Year, which in Qinghai’s Amdo region coincides with the Chinese New Year, Chinese officials banned the [monastery’s] Monlam religious gathering and sent armed security forces there. Damchoe objected to this and told the Chinese officials that if they didn’t withdraw their troops from the monastery, the monks should not be held responsible for any incident that might follow.” Other informants corroborate that Damchoe had opposed the draconian “Patriotic Education” campaign inflicted on Bongthak Monastery. As a result of Damchoe Sangpo’s action, three monks from his monastery were subsequently arrested and sentenced for alleged involvement in his death. “The director of Bongthak Monastery, Venerable Jamsem, was sentenced to nine years, while his subordinates Khendup and Samgyal were sentenced to 11 and 10 years, respectively,” said a resident of the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In addition, the source said, a layman named Damchoe was re-arrested by police for organizing a campaign to collect signatures from Tibetans in the Bongthak area calling for the release of eight monks detained in the aftermath of Damchoe Sangpo’s self-immolation. Damchoe, from Kharma in Themchen County, was previously arrested for allegedly instigating Damchoe Sangpo’s self-immolation, but was released after a Chinese lawyer successfully led his defense. The source reports that the majority of Bongthak’s monks had left the monastery following increased Chinese pressure, and another 10 young monks are still detained in Themchen County; the police said they would only be released if they agree to disrobe. “Currently, two monks loyal to China have been put in charge of Bongthak Monastery, while another monk … was pressured to take a high-level position there, but disrobed to evade the appointment promotion.” (Democratic Management Committees and Patriotic Education campaigns were introduced throughout Tibet by Beijing in 1996 to force nuns and monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and pledge allegiance to the Communist Party).

Name: Lobsang Gyatso

Age: 19

Sex: Male

Profession: Monk at Kirti Monastery

Date of self-immolation: 13 February 2012 around 2:30pm (local time)

Location: Ngaba town, Ngaba, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Not known His slogans: Not reported While already engulfed in flames, monk Lobsang Gyatso shouted slogans of protest against the Chinese government on the main street of Ngaba town. An armed security contingent rushed to the scene and removed him to an undisclosed location. They were witnessed beating him viciously while extinguishing the flames. The eldest of four siblings, he was described as being “one of the best and brightest students in his monastic class.” At the time of his detention, two unidentified Tibetan youths were also severely beaten by Chinese security personnel. Lobsang Gyatso was originally from Badzritsang house, Naktsangma in Cha Township.

Name: Lobsang Gyatso

Age: 19

Sex: Male

Profession: Monk at Kirti Monastery

Date of self-immolation: 13 February 2012 around 2:30pm (local time)

Location: Ngaba town, Ngaba, Amdo, Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Not known His slogans: Not reported While already engulfed in flames, monk Lobsang Gyatso shouted slogans of protest against the Chinese government on the main street of Ngaba town. An armed security contingent rushed to the scene and removed him to an undisclosed location. They were witnessed beating him viciously while extinguishing the flames. The eldest of four siblings, he was described as being “one of the best and brightest students in his monastic class.” At the time of his detention, two unidentified Tibetan youths were also severely beaten by Chinese security personnel. Lobsang Gyatso was originally from Badzritsang house, Naktsangma in Cha Township.

Her slogans were: for the return of Tibet’s leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from exile and freedom in Tibet

Name: Tenzin Choedon

Age: 18

Sex: Female

Profession: Nun at Mamae Dechen Choekhorling Nunnery in Ngaba

Date of Self-immolation: 11 February 2012 at 6 pm (local time)

Location: Sumdo Bridge, Ngaba, Amdo Northeastern Tibet

Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased, 13 February

When Tenzin Choedon self-immolated in the early evening of 11 February 2012 she chose the same location for her action as nun Tenzin Wangmo: the Sumdo Bridge area below their nunnery. Eyewitnesses reported that Chinese security personnel immediately drove her away towards Barkham. Reports on China’s official State media said that she died on the journey to hospital. However, in a release the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile based in Dharamshala said Tenzin Choedon passed away at a Chinese military hospital in Barkham in the morning of 13 February. It further said that Tenzin Choedon’s father had been told that her body would not be handed back to the family for the last rites. In the wake of this second self-immolation by a nun in the vicinity of Ngaba town, the PRC’s armed forces surrounded their nunnery, Mamae Dechen Choekhorling and sealed it off. Tenzin Choedon was originally from Raruwa Village in Ngaba County.