TCHRD welcomes China’s First Working Action Plan on Human Rights Protection 2009-2010
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) expresses its deepest concern at the first known cases of death sentences passed by the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court for two Tibetans in connection to last year’s 14 March Lhasa unrest. Two other Tibetans were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and another sentenced to life imprisonment in three separate cases of arson, reportedly involving the deaths of seven people.
There is no information on whether the defendants will appeal their sentences as all death sentences had to undergo an additional review and approved by the Supreme People’s Court following a reform introduced in 2007. The Centre urges the Chinese authorities to overturn the death sentences passed on Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak and calls for commutation of death sentences.
The Centre is seriously concerned about the fairness of the legal procedures according to international standards for fair trial and the treatment of the detainees who were held for more than a year in custody prior to their court sentencing. While the official mouthpiece, Xinhua, report states that detainees were represented by lawyers and provided with Tibetan interpreters for the defendants during the trial, however, the rights of defendants to be represented by the lawyer of their choice was ignored by the judicial authorities, due to politicized nature of the process. Following the March 2008 protests, several lawyers from the Mainland China were threatened to revoke their license if they represent the detainees.
Political interference in the judicial trials is evident. During a meeting convened by the “Tibet Autonomous Region” (‘TAR’) Higher People’s Court at Lhasa on 2 April 2008, Pema Trinley, Executive Vice Governor of “TAR,” also a Deputy Secretary, Standing Committee of the TAR Communist Party’s Political and Legal Affairs (Ch: Xizang zi zhiqu dang wei chang wei zheng fa wei fu shu ji), during a meeting with theme, “Working Commission to adjudicate cases involving 14 March Riot, (Ch: Zi zhi qu gaoji renmin fa yuan zai lasa zhao kai xizhang fa yuan 3.14 an jian shen feng gong zuo hui yi)” call on judiciary to act fast and strike hard on ‘Dalai clique.’ In addition, he told that stringent legal action should be taken in tune with the Party policy so that the final verdict would gain political, legal and social dividends referring to achieving political and social stability.
The Centre remains unconditionally opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases, as a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It should also be noted that the death penalty has never shown to have a special deterrent effect nor should state use it to justify the wrong done by the defendant as in the case of Tibetans where it was stated that Losang Gyaltsen and Loyak "have to be executed to assuage the people's anger.” Such eye for eye approach is in no way a justification of giving death sentence.
Apart from the five Tibetans sentenced by the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court on 8 April 2009, according to the official report a similar case allegedly involving the deaths of five people in a fire is reportedly “still under trial,” without citing the number of defendants involved in that trial, nor were the verdict and sentence. Going by earlier official reports, the Centre fears for the fate of two young women, whom the authorities charged with setting fire to a garment shop that burned five people during the unrest. The verdicts of Penkyi, 23, and Chime Lhazom, 20, are awaited and the Centre fears the two might get a similar court verdict.
TCHRD is gravely concerned for the fate of Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak and would like to seek urgent intervention by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra Judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, governments and the international community. TCHRD calls for prompt and impartial review of the case of five Tibetans by the Supreme People’s Court and to commute the death sentences imposed on them.
At the same time, TCHRD finds it encouraging that Chinese government had made the effort to publish “the First Working Action Plan on Human Rights Protection 2009-2010” as stated by the official mouthpiece, Xinhua, on 13 April 2009. In December last year, China's Supreme People's Court issued a new regulation with 7 articles clarifying the conditions and procedure used to halt execution of the death penalty. Although Beijing had vowed to improve its human rights for years but routinely failed to implement human rights protections enshrined in its own constitutions and laws. The Centre hopes that the Action Plan will not remain as mere plan rather authorities at all level would respect, implement and follow them and the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
