4 people set themselves on fire in ethnic Tibetan parts of China

PanARMENIAN.Net - At least four people set themselves on fire in ethnic Tibetan parts of China on Wednesday, Nov 7, a rights group and media reports say.

According to BBC News, three teenage monks set themselves alight in Aba county in Sichuan province, where many self-immolations have taken place in recent months. One of the boys died and the other two were taken to hospital.

Later the same day a 23-year-old woman died after setting herself on fire in Qinghai province.

More than 60 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since early 2011, in what rights group say are acts of protest against Beijing's rule.

Beijing says Tibetans have religious freedom and accuses Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of inciting the incidents - claims he rejects.

The incidents took place the day before China's Communist Party opened a congress in Beijing that will begin the process of transferring power to a new generation of leaders.

The London-based Free Tibet group said that the three boys set themselves on fire outside their local police station. It said it was the first documented case of a triple self-immolation.

The youngest, aged 15, died at the scene. The whereabouts of his two 16-year-old companions are unknown, a group spokesman said. The woman was identified by Voice of America as 23-year-old Tamding Tso. She had a five-year-old son, reports said.

Radio Free Asia also reported a fifth self-immolation inside Tibet, citing an exiled monk who had spoken to people in the region, however this could not be confirmed.

Foreign media are banned from the region, making verifying the self-immolation cases difficult. Chinese state media have confirmed some but not all.

More than half of those who set themselves on fire are believed to have died.

Last week UN rights chief Navi Pillay called on China to address issues behind the series of self-immolations and to allow monitors and the media access to the region.