No subject

Pro-Tibetan groups are criticizing the Chinese for condemning three monks 
who helped a 16 yr old monk burn himself (he died the next day). Am I alone 
in finding all this side-taking ethically complex?
Dan

Full article (minus photos) below:

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Tibetan monks get stiff prison terms in burning death

Chinese officials sentence three Tibetan monks as accessories to murder for 
having helped another monk burn himself to death in a political protest. The 
sentences of 10, 11 and 13 years are condemned by Tibetan exile 
organizations and international human rights groups.

By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times

August 30, 2011, 11:37 a.m.
Reporting from Beijing—
China has sentenced three Tibetan monks as accessories to murder for having 
helped another monk burn himself to death in a political protest.

In the closely watched case in Sichuan province, Drongdru, the uncle of the 
monk who committed suicide, was ordered imprisoned for 11 years for 
"intentional homicide" in hiding the young monk, Phuntsog, and preventing 
him from getting medical treatment.

Two other monks were sentenced to 10 and 13 years in prison after a separate 
trial Tuesday in which they were accused of "plotting, instigating and 
assisting" in the self-immolation of the 16-year-old monk, according to 
Tibetan exile groups.

"This is a whole new turn in the way the Chinese state deals with protest. 
We haven't seen this serpentine use of the law before," said Robert Barnett, 
a Tibet expert at Columbia University. He predicted that the stiff prison 
sentences for the three monks at Sichuan's restive Kirti monastery will only 
exacerbate tensions. "This is going to be seen by Tibetans as a manipulation 
of the law to intimidate people further."

The prison sentences were condemned Tuesday by the Tibetan Center for Human 
Rights and Democracy, run by Tibetan exiles in India, as well as by 
international human rights groups.

Phuntsog set himself on fire in mid-March and was hidden inside the 
monastery by fellow monks to prevent him from being taken by the police. He 
died the next day.

The death triggered six weeks of the most intense clashes between Chinese 
and Tibetans since riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in March 2008. At 
the end, more than 300 monks were seized from the monastery and Tibetan 
exiles alleged that two villagers were killed trying to prevent police from 
taking the monks.

Self-immolations by Tibetan monks had been relatively rare as the Dalai 
Lama, their spiritual leader, condemns the practice, but they have not 
ceased. On Aug. 15, a 29-year-old monk from Nyitso monastery doused himself 
with gasoline and burned to death outside local government buildings, also 
in Sichuan province. The monk, Tsewang Norbu, had been distributing 
pamphlets at the time, calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan exiles blame tensions at the monasteries on persecution by Chinese 
authorities. Since 2008, monks have been rounded up repeatedly and forced to 
attend "patriotic education" sessions in which they are ordered to denounce 
the Dalai Lama and pledge their allegiance to China. In the monasteries 
where monks have killed themselves, authorities have also cut off utilities 
as a means of applying pressure.

barbara.demick at latimes.com