Again, a Tibetan woman dies by self-immolation

On Wednesday, another Tibetan killed herself by self-immolation as a form of protest against China's policy towards Tibet. The mother of three children died near a monastery in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, Sichuan province, reported the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Göttingen on Thursday. Most of the 38 self-immolations that took place last year were registered in this traditional Tibetan settlement area.

De facto, the law of war has been in effect in the region of Ngaba for weeks. "But although many villages are constantly cut off from the outside world by roadblocks and although armed security forces are patrolling the streets, they have not the managed to prevent further self-immolations," said the STP's Asia consultant, Ulrich Delius.

After the suicide of two Buddhist monks last Sunday, the security measures were also increased significantly in Lhasa. Many Tibetans are trying to avoid public places since then, for fear of being arrested. Eye-witnesses reported that several hundred residents of the Tibetan capital and also pilgrims were arrested after the monks' self-immolations. Several dozen people were arrested and accused to have filmed or photographed the self-immolations using mobile phones or cameras. Most of the arrested are known to have been brought to the Tsalgunthang military prison, located eleven kilometers to the east from Lhasa. Others were transported to the state security prison Gutsa, which is located three kilometers to the east of city. Eyewitnesses reported that some were also detained in the Trisam labor camp, ten kilometers to the west of Lhasa. Tourists from abroad who had taken pictures of the incident in Lhasa, were taken to their hotels by security forces and had to delete all the pictures.