Tibetan monk who died in Chinese prison cremated against family’s wishes, suspect he was murdered

"Chinese authorities denied us our right to pay our final respect to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and refused to return his body to us for Buddhist rites. My family believes he was murdered.” - Geshe Nyima, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s cousin

BREAKING: Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s body cremated in Chinese prison against family’s demands

July 15, 2015
 

Today, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s body was cremated at a secret prison, located approximately 5km from Chuandong prison in Chengdu, at around 7am local Beijing time by the prison authorities as reported by his family members. The cremation took place against the wishes of his family to release the body in order to perform the final Buddhist rites in his hometown Lithang.

Around 30 Tibetans who were Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s immediate family and students were allowed inside the secret prison to see the body before the cremation and perform a short prayer. The cremation follows unsuccessful negotiations over the release of the body between Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s family and prison authorities, which was followed by more than 100 Tibetans staging a peaceful sit-in protest outside Chuandong prison.

No cameras or phones were allowed inside the undisclosed prison where Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was cremated. His family described the prison conditions as despicable and “worthy for a beggar”. All of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s belongings were reportedly burned and the family and mourning crowd were not permitted to hold on to any remains.

Geshe Nyima, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche’s student and cousin says in a phone message: “I am heartbroken, but also extremely angry. My family cannot accept this. We will not stop demanding justice until we have answers. Chinese authorities denied us our right to pay our final respect to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and refused to return his body to us for Buddhist rites. My family believes he was murdered.”

Tenzin Dolkar, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, says: “Injustice was committed against Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and his family by the Chinese government. With his death, Tibetans in Tibet lost their beloved leader and teacher. Today, their right to perform the last Buddhist rites for Tenzin Delek was taken away. Chinese authorities cremated his body with complete disregard to the family's wishes. It is a failure of world governments to allow the Chinese government to get away with committing such violence against Tibetans.”

For more information contact:

Tenzin Dolkar, tdolkar@studentsforafreetibet.org, +1 (917) 664-5530 (English)

Padma Dolma, padma@studentsforafreetibet.org, +1 (917) 664- 3315 (English, German)

https://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/media-center/press-releases/press-releases/breaking-tenzin-delek-rinpoche2019s-body-cremated-in-chinese-prison-against-family2019s-demands