China detains family members after Tibetan non-violence activist dies of self-immolation
A Tibetan man known for his non-violence activism self-immolated on the early morning of 16 April 2015 in the courtyard of his house and died. The self-immolation was staged in Adue Gyade Village in Ngaba County in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
According to reliable information received by TCHRD, the layman named Ney Kyab (also known as Damkar) 45, died of self-immolation to protest against China’s repressive policy in Tibet.
“Before burning himself in protest, he arranged the portraits of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and his family on a makeshift bench, offered them bowls of water and flowers; he then burned himself a few steps away from the makeshift altar,” according to the source.
Soon after the self-immolation protest, the Chinese police detained Ney Kyab’s brother, Ney Gang and a son-in-law for interrogations. There is no information on the status and condition of the two detained family members. Torture and beatings are routine methods used to extract forced confessions during police interrogations in Tibet.
Before he died, Ney Kyab had taken an oath to maintain world peace.
“His way of acting upon his oath was praying to the Dalai Lama and never indulging in any fight with others, especially Tibetan people,” said the source
For his steadfast practice of non-violence, Ney Kyab was once awarded the ‘Peace Arm Band’ by 42 monasteries located in Ngaba.
Ney Kyab was also active on social networking sites using a pseudonym, Khawa Dondrup; in many of his conversations and posts, he always urged for Tibetans to be friendly terms with each other.
To express their solidarity with Ney Kyab and his self-immolation protest, local Tibetans in Ngaba initiated a peaceful non-cooperation campaign the next day, on 17 April 2015. A source described the campaign to TCHRD, “To express their solidarity, the Tibetan shops and restaurants were closed and local Tibetans mourned the death of Ney Kyap. They donated money to the deceased’s family members, offered prayers and made circumambulations of the local monasteries.”
Ney Kyab was once a monk at the Yag-go Monastery. He later married a woman from the nomadic village of Thawa Gongma. The couple have seven children: Kunsang, 21; Tsepey 20; Dawo, 15; Zamkar, 14; Nyingpo, 12; Sonam Lhamo, 9; and Lobsang Norbu, 7.
Ney Kyab was born to parents Neymo and Kar Dre ma, both of whom had passed away. He had five siblings, including a sister: Netse, Ney Gang, Druk Bey and Dekyi. The older brother Netse and the younger brother Drugbey had died.
Ney Kyab became the 139th Tibetan inside Tibet to resort to self-immolation as a form of protest against the Chinese government.
