Reportage – 2008

Death toll in Tibet is 203: Tibetan government-in-exile

DHARAMSHALA, India, 29 April 2008 — The number of deaths in Tibet is 203, with 1,000 injured and 5,715 arrested since the 10 March anti-China protests, says the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The new figures were released in a press conference by the spokesman of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Thubten Samphel.

The figures have been collected from six different sources: Chinadigitaltimes.net, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, China's state media, Lhasa Radio, Radio Free Asia, and the Department of Security of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

"Various facts and figures given by the different sources have been meticulously examined and tallied with each other," Samphel says.

China put the number of dead at 23, number of injured 917, and 2,226 arrests.

Samphel said that the peaceful Tibetan protestors were provoked by the Chinese forces into violence, and also that some Chinese-planted agents themselves started the riots that left some Chinese dead.

"The Tibetan protests were aimed at the wrong policies of the Chinese government in Tibet, not the Chinese people. It is unfortunate that some innocent common people died during the unrest."