2017 / Wangchuk Tseten, a Tibetan man in his 30’s, has self-immolated in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He is a father of four and comes from Ahse village of Shido town in Nyagrong county in Kardze. The self-immolation took place at about 7.00 am local time in the main square in Kardze where large crowds are known to gather. Chinese police swiftly took the burned man away and there is no confirmed information of his current whereabouts or whether he is alive, although it is believed he died during or shortly after his protest. Further information about the incident is slow to come through and it is believed there is a communications block in place. Voice of America has reported that residents of the town have been summoned to meetings by Chinese authorities following the self-immolation and that people there are very reluctant to discuss the event.
Voice of Tibet has reported that three Tibetans, Kunchok Gyaltsen, Nyima and Tsering Gyatso from Nyarong County, were arrested for being in possession of Wangchuk Tseten’s mobile phone and severely beaten. Two have since been released but one remains in custody and is understood to being subjected to torture. Another report has come in of Kunchok Tsering, 39, who may have died in detention after being severely beaten for taking a video clip of the self-immolation. It is although unclear if the video in question is the same as the one circulated on the Internet. There are some unconfirmed reports of two further people being arrested.
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