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EU denounces China's execution of two Tibetans

AFP

A TV grab taken on 15 March 2008 from French television France 24 shows CCTV footage of the riot in Lhasa, Tibet. China has said that two Tibetans had been executed for their role in deadly ethnic unrest that rocked the Himalayan region last year, the first known use of capital punishment over the violence.File photo/AFP/France 24/China

The European Union on Thursday condemned China’s execution of two Tibetans, voicing concerns over how their trials were conducted.

“The European Union condemns the recent executions of two Tibetans, Mr Lobsang Gyaltsen and Mr Loyak,” the Swedish EU presidency said in a statement on behalf of the 27-nation bloc.

“The EU respects China?s right to bring those responsible for the violence to justice but reaffirms its longstanding opposition to the use of the death penalty under all circumstances,” the EU statement said.

“The EU reiterates its concerns about the conditions under which the trials were conducted, especially with regard to whether due process and other safeguards for a fair trial were respected,” the EU presidency added.

The European Union has called for death sentences handed down on several other Tibetans to be commuted.

China said Tuesday that the two Tibetans had been executed for their role in deadly ethnic unrest that rocked the Himalayan region last year, the first known use of capital punishment over the violence.

Fierce anti-China protests erupted in Lhasa and spread across Tibet and adjacent areas with Tibetan populations in March last year, embarrassing the government in Beijing as it prepared to host the Olympic Games.

Beijing blamed the Dalai Lama — the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader seen by authorities as a separatist bent on independence — for inciting the unrest. He, however, insists he only wants greater regional autonomy for Tibet.

China has said “rioters” were responsible for 21 deaths, while its security forces killed only one “insurgent.” But the exiled Tibetan government has said more than 200 Tibetans were killed in the subsequent crackdown.

Copyright © 2009 AFP

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