Published on International Campaign for Tibet (http://www.savetibet.org)
‘Absurd and terrifying’ new regulations escalate drive to criminalize self-immolations
by targeting family, villagers, monasteries
International Campaign for Tibet
February 24, 2014
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County-level authorities in Dzoege, Ngaba, have issued harsh new rulings that
threaten to penalize villagers, monks and others in the area if a self-immolation
occurs.
The measures state that family, fellow villagers, and monasteries could be subject to
punishment and persecution if a Tibetan self-immolator is a relative or from the local
area, with potentially devastating consequences on the broader community. Tibetan
writer Woeser, who posted images of the notices on her blog, described them as
“absurd and terrifying”.
The regulations include more severe tactics in an attempt to prevent self-immolations
or other forms of protest, although evidence suggests that self-immolations by
Tibetans are a solitary act, without inducement from others.[1]
The 16-point document was issued in Tibetan and Chinese on April 8, 2013 by Dzoege
(Chinese: Ruo’ergai) county government in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang
Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan (the Tibetan area of Amdo), but has only just been
received by Tibetans in exile due to a deepening crackdown in the area including more
systematic measures to block information flow. While it is unprecedented that such measures
are detailed in writing, numerous threats similar to these rulings have been made to families
and friends of those who have self-immolated in other areas, such as Ngaba (Chinese:
Aba).[2]
The rulings, translated in full below from Chinese, state the following:
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Families and relatives of Tibetans who self-immolate will not be able to hold
government positions or receive official aid
Those who self-immolate and their family members will lose household registration
benefits
Villages where the self-immolation protests occur will be completely deprived of
government assistance, and farmland or pasture registered in the name of the selfimmolator taken by the authorities
Monasteries where self-immolations occur will have to pay a penalty of between
10,000 to 500,000 yuan (U.S. $1,650 to U.S. $81,978). Large rewards are offered to
those who provide information on people who may be planning to self-immolate, or
those that have occurred.
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The measures announced in Dzoege are a new development in an increasingly aggressive
drive to criminalise self-immolations. This has resulted in the imposition of long prison
sentences for those singled out by the authorities for blame, including monks who have led
prayers for those who died, or friends and relatives of those who have self-immolated. They
are evidence of the authorities’ failure to prevent self-immolations, and the concern of
Tibetan local officials about their relationship with the central government as a result.
Regional and local officials also know that strong and harshly-worded statements about the
need to improve ‘stability maintenance’ (weiwen) is a way of obtaining increased resources
from the central authorities.[3] In Chinese political language, ‘stability’ is a coded reference to
the need to prevent any form of ‘social disorder.’ In Tibetan areas of the PRC, ‘stability
maintenance’ has effectively been carried out on a war footing.
There have been nine self-immolations, including two twin immolations in 2013, in Dzoege.
Despite the intense restrictions, in many cases local Tibetans in Dzoege have been able to
retrieve the bodies and organize prayer ceremonies. On February 19, 2013, schoolfriends
17-year old Rinchen and 18-year old Sonam Dhargye died in a twin self-immolation in
Dzoege township. According to Tibetan sources, their families were able to recover their
bodies. Two monks of the Taktsang Lhamo Kirti monastery in Dzoege, Losang Dawa, 20,
and Konchok Woeser, 23, set themselves on fire in the monastery’s assembly hall on April
24, 2013. They shouted slogans against Chinese government policies in Tibet, and died
immediately. The monks took their bodies to their rooms and said prayers for them.
Four months earlier, on December 8, 2012 at the same monastery, hundreds of monks
chanted prayers for 24-year old monk Kunchok Pelgye after he set himself on fire and died
outside the main assembly hall of Taktsang Lhamo Kirti. (ICT report, Three Tibetans selfimmolate in two days during important Buddhist anniversary: images of troops in Lhasa as
Tibetans pray).
One hundred and twenty-seven Tibetans have set fire to themselves in Tibet and China
since February, 2009 – most recently Lobsang Dorje, a former monk from Kirti monastery,
set himself on fire on February 13 on the main street in Ngaba county town. (ICT, Selfimmolations by Tibetans).
A full translation of the document from the Chinese follows below.
Notice of Provisional Anti-Self-Immolation Regulations
Issued by the Dzoege County People’s Government
To the masses and cadres of the entire county:
At this key time, while people across the county have been diligently pursuing leapfrog
economic and social development and long-term social stability, the majority of the masses,
the majority of the monasteries, and the majority of the clergy firmly support the leadership of
the Chinese Communist Party, the socialist system, and the system of minority nationality
autonomy. This has had a positive effect on social stability and national unity, but a few
people harbor bad intentions, and illegal criminal elements, in order to achieve their goal,
intentionally destroyed the good situation of stability and unity. Over and over again they
created self-immolation events, seriously disturbing the routine lives and order of the
masses, and seriously impeding the healthy economic and social development of our county.
Through research and analysis, we have developed these special restrictions in order to
crack down on criminals, punish evildoers, propagate virtue, maintain social harmony and
stability, and protect the principal benefits of the masses:
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1. The immediate family members of a self-immolator (parents, spouse, children,
brothers and sisters) will lose their eligibility to become a civil servant, apply for
employment, become workers or service personnel, or to serve in the military.
2. The immediate family members of a self-immolator will lose their eligibility to stand for
election, to serve as a deputy of the National People’s Congress at any level, and to
serve as a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress member or village
(district) cadre.
3. Civil servants in state organs, career staff, and support service staff should
consciously strengthen the education of their relatives, because any self-immolation
that takes place in their immediate family will be dealt with severely, in accordance
with the relevant laws and regulations.
4. The self-immolator, his/her family members and anyone actively involved will have
their household (registration) benefits cancelled for three years, and for one year for
their associates.[4]
5. National investment projects in monasteries or villages will be canceled or suspended
when a self-immolation takes place there.[5]
6. The family or households of the self-immolator and the other active participants will
be classified as ‘untrustworthy’[6] households, and the village and monastery in which
it took place will be classified as untrustworthy villages, while the villages and temples
in which it took place will be barred from receiving loans for three years, Where
financial institutions have already issued loans, it will be taken back and the loan will
be withheld.[7]
7. In cases where a self-immolation takes place in a village or at a monastery, a deposit
from 10,000-500,000 yuan ($1,650 – $81,978) must be made as an ‘anti-selfimmolation guarantee’. If no further self-immolation cases occur during the next two
years the deposit will be refunded; if another one occurs the deposit will be
confiscated [by the authorities], and the village will be subject to another deposit.
8. After a self-immolation the village (district) cadres, members of the temple’s
Democratic Management Committee, and religious teachers will find their financial
support affected, and they will be disqualified from excellence awards that year.[8]
9. All farmland and pasture usage rights belonging to a self-immolator will be revoked,
and all land and pasture rights belonging to the village (district) where the selfimmolation took place will be frozen.[9]
10. The house and land ownership of self-immolators, their immediate family members,
and the families (households) of other active participants will not be certified, and they
will not have any business activities approved for three years.
11. Applications to go abroad [to cross the border] or to enter the Tibet Autonomous
Region by the immediate family members of a self-immolator will not be approved for
three years.
12. Wherever self-immolation cases occur there will be “strike hard” campaigns, while at
the same time there will be the most harsh and comprehensive administrative law
enforcement and punishment.
13. In the villages (communities) and monasteries where self-immolations occur, the
townships and monasteries will host legal education classes for villagers (residents),
clergy, and responsible religious teachers. If it’s a relatively minor case, and it does
not constitute a criminal offense, the immediate family of the self-immolator and other
active participants must participate in 15 days of legal education classes held off-site.
14. In monasteries where self-immolations occur, the Buddhist activities of monks and
nuns will temporarily be severely restricted, as well as large-scale Buddhist activities
across the region.
15. In accordance with the law, the finances of a monastery where a self-immolation
occurs will be cleaned up and investigated, and the business activities of the
monastery will be suspended for rectification. The financial revenue and
expenditures, and the donations and their uses, will be reported to the monastic
Democratic Management Committee, and published regularly to the monks, nuns,
and masses of religious believers.
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16. Those providing leads, intelligence, and information regarding self-immolations, once
verified, will be given a reward from 2,000 to 500,000 yuan ($327 – $81,978),
depending on the value. This will be kept strictly confidential.
The above regulations are effective immediately upon publication, and take precedent over
any other provisions inconsistent with the above.
Footnotes
[1] According to ICT research in self-immolations including interviews with family members or
friends in exile. Tibetans who decide to self-immolate know the political climate and appear
to have mostly made the decision not to tell family or friends beforehand for fear they may
face retribution. See ICT report, ‘Storm in the Grasslands’.
[2] A Tibet Times report published on January 14, 2014, cited a monk from Ngaba who said
that while threats had been made about withdrawal of financial support, some villages had
benefited from more financial support after self-immolations. Translation into French by Katia
Buffetrille article in
http://www.gitpa.org/Qui%20sommes%20nous%20GITPA%20100/ACTUlettreTibetimmolatio
ns.htm.
[3] Progressive Chinese scholars and lawyers have criticised the ‘stability maintenance’
(weiwen) approach – associated with a dramatic expansion of powers of China’s policing and
military apparatus, and based on crushing dissent to one-Party rule – across the People’s
Republic of China (PRC) as a fundamental failure in policy.
[4] Dzoege is a pastoral area, and this point is likely to refer to benefits that local farmers
may receive from the local authorities.
[5] This is a reference to investments and subsidies from the Chinese authorities to Tibetan
areas such as infrastructure, electricity, water provision, and also reductions on tax for some
nomadic people, and education, since accelerated development policies were instituted in
Tibetan areas from the time of the Western Development Strategy in 1999-2000. This could
also refer to loans from local authorities or relocation and settlement of nomads. For further
information see ICT’s publication ‘Tracking the Steel Dragon’.
[6] The literal translation is ‘dishonest’ or ‘bad faith’.
[7] Tibetans in rural and urban areas often rely on loans, and also monasteries for renovation
or essential costs.
[8] This is a new tactic in which to attempt to enforce local officials and others in positions of
authority to compel compliance. For promotion and to keep their posts, local cadres rely
upon the relationships between county, prefectural and provincial authorities with the Party
state in Beijing.
[9] This means that farmland registered in the name of the self-immolator, or section of
pasture if they were a nomad, will be confiscated by the authorities. Although the Chinese
Communist Party asserts its ownership over all Tibetan land, since land reforms took place in
the 1980s, many Tibetan farmers and nomads have registration documentation of the land
they use. But as this ruling in Dzoege shows, this can be withheld by the local authorities for
political or other reasons at any time.
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