Twin Self Immolation
Name: Tenzin
Age: 25
Sex: Male
Status: Layperson
Date of Self-immolation: 25 October 2012 4 pm (local time)
Location: Near a government building in Driru County, Nagchu TAR
Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Unknown
Their slogans: Unity, Independence for Tibet, the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet
Name: Tsepo
Age: 20
Sex: Male
Status: Layperson
Date of Self-immolation: 25 October 2012 4 pm (local time)
Location: Near a government building in Driru County, Nagchu TAR
Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Deceased same day
Cousins Tenzin and Tsepo set fire to themselves in front of a government building in Narong Phampa village in Driru County calling for independence for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. While Tsepo died on the way to hospital, Tenzin was removed from the site by government personnel and his current whereabouts or his wellbeing is still unknown. Tenzin had enrolled in TCV Suja School near Dharamshala, India, where he studied for around six months. According to an informant in exile, “brothers also pleaded for all Tibetans to be united like brothers.” It took two days for this report to reach exiles in India due to the intense security and communications clampdown in the area. The Chinese security forces have been deployed in large numbers and all communication channels – internet and telephones – have been blocked. Where lines are still working, Tibetans are too afraid to talk about what is happening because they fear that their conversations are being surveilled by the government.