Published by: World Tibet Network News Friday, December 12, 1997

Source: Tibetan Youth Congress

Tenchok Tempel, 27, was a monk in the Tibetan monastery of Sakya. He died presumably after torture by the Chinese government on Sept. 14, 1996, two weeks after he was arrested.

According to our sources, while returning from Tibet after performing a ritual dance before the Chinese officials, the monk was arrested on Sept. 1st in the Nepalese border. This arrest followed the one of the Gendun Gyaltsen who was also tortured and found dead in his room with some photo's and tapes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on August 23rd, 1996.

Tenchok Tempel's body was incinerated without his family being informed on Sept. 17th, 1996. The Chinese authorities, as well as the Sakya prison officials merely told the family that Tenchok Tempel had committed suicide.