Death sentence on Tibetans inherently flawed

(TibetanReview.net, May 08, 2009) — Expressing serious concern on the prospects of imminent execution of the two Tibetans sentenced to death without reprieve in Lhasa on Apr 8, New York-based Human Rights Watch said May 5 that their trials and sentences, as in the case of the others who had also been sentenced in connection with the Mar 14-15, 2008 protests, suffered from a series of both substantive and procedural flaws.

Almost nothing is known of the circumstances under which the death-row victims Losang Gyaltse and Loyar were tried, it said. “We do not know whether they were adequately represented by a defense counsel of their choice, whether they had an opportunity to challenge the evidence introduced against them, or whether the defense could produce their own witnesses during the procedures.” And it added, “Such violations of basic due process rights are chronic in Tibet.”

The group found the lack of openness of the trial inexplicable, particularly given China’s claim, made no less than Premier Wen Jiabao himself at a press conference in Mar 2008 that China had "ample evidence" that the Dalai Lama "clique" had masterminded the violence in Lhasa. One would have expected the trials to be a great opportunity to shed some light onto the still opaque set of circumstances that led to the violence on Mar 14-15, 2008. Given this circumstance, the group asked: “if there had been such a ‘plan’, why has none of that ‘ample evidence’ been produced in an open court?”

The group recalled its earlier conclusion that the judicial system was "so highly politicized as to preclude any possibility of protesters being judged fairly." It said secrecy about the proceedings suggested that the government recognized these trials to be so summary as to be incapable of withstanding public and international scrutiny.

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