China: Tibetan Tour Guide Dies from Prison Injuries

16 February 2021

(New York) – Chinese authorities should account for the death of a Tibetan tour guide serving a 21-year sentence for reporting protests in his native region seven years ago, Human Rights Watch said today.

Kunchok Jinpa, 51, died in a hospital in Lhasa in the Tibetan Autonomous Region on February 6, 2021, less than three months after being transferred there from prison without his family’s knowledge. Local sources said he had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was paralyzed.

“Kunchok Jinpa’s death is yet another grim case of a wrongfully imprisoned Tibetan dying from mistreatment,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “Chinese authorities responsible for arbitrary detention, torture or ill-treatment, and the death of people in their custody should be held accountable.”

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