![\"266px-TenzinDelek\"](\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/266px-TenzinDelek.jpg\")
\n\nThe body of revered Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was cremated today (July 16) amid high security at a remote detention facility where he died in his 13th year of a life sentence. His ashes are being taken back to his home county and monastery by his sisters and other relatives, according to his relatives in exile, where prayer ceremonies are expected to be held.\n\nWhen the authorities refused to allow the body to be returned to his family for traditional prayer ceremonies, it was negotiated for some members of his family to visit the body late last night. They were taken to a high-security detention facility in an isolated area several kilometers from Chengdu \u2013 not Chuandong Prison where they had thought he was being held. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s body, still in prison uniform, was in a bed in a cell. According to the same sources, his mouth and nails were stained black, and details of the circumstances of his death are still not clear.\n\nTenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s family had urged the authorities not to rush a cremation, citing a provision in Chinese law that allows families to appeal against hasty cremations of prisoners.[1] In an appeal letter they have written to the authorities, translated in full into English below, one of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s sisters said: \u201c2. The body of the deceased cannot be taken home. We suspect the cause of death has some connection to the Prison. Please tell us clearly, which legal article states that the body of the deceased cannot be returned home.\u201d[2]\n\nRelatives of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche in exile in India said that in the past two days many local people, family members and monks from Lithang (Chinese: Litang) and Nyagchuka in Sichuan, the Rinpoche\u2019s home area, had arrived at Chuandong Prison, together with some officials from the area. They sought to liaise with the Prison Management Bureau officials and Chuandong Prison officials over the return of the body of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to his monastery and family; in Tibetan culture it is important that the body is accorded proper respect and prayer rituals, particularly in the case of a much-loved religious teacher.\n\nPrison officials consistently refused, but upon the advice of some officials, the family finally requested at least to be able to visit the body and carry out some prayers, and the authorities acquiesced.\nAccording to the same sources, a group of monks and family were taken by vehicle to an area away from Chuandong Prison, where they arrived at a high-security facility in a remote location which they could not identify, with no sign above the gate.\n\nGeshe Nyima, a relative of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche who lives in exile in India, said: \u201cSeveral monks were led into a cell where Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s body was in a bed. He was wearing prison uniform. The monks washed the body and dressed him in monks\u2019 robes, and carried out prayers until around 6 am this morning (July 16). Then around 30 family members including his two sisters were allowed to visit the small room for prayers.\u201d\n\nGeshe Nyima said the detention facility was equipped with a crematorium in a yard behind the main complex. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s cremation was carried out here, in an atmosphere of tight security with armed guards and police, both plain-clothed and in uniform.\n\nHe said: \u201cThe building was equipped with machinery for electric cremation. The body was put into a steel box and what emerged was ashes which was handed to the family and monks. The family is now carrying these ashes to Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s monastery in Nyagchuka county.\u201d\n\nThe new information about Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s body raises questions about where he was held during his imprisonment. When his family were allowed to visit him in November, 2013 \u2013 the sole family visit of the entire 13 years he was imprisoned \u2013 he was in Chuandong Prison. But it is possible that he was transferred there for the visit, and that he may have been held for most of his sentence, as a high-profile political prisoner, at the unknown location where he was cremated.\n\nYesterday there was a peaceful sit-in by Tibetans outside Chuandong Prison calling for his body to be returned to the family.[3] Several Tibetans were wounded on Monday (July 13) after troops opened fire on Tibetans calling for his body to be returned in his home area of Nyagchuka (Chinese: Yajiang) Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, the Tibetan area of Kham.[4]\n\nCommunications from the Tibetan areas of Lithang and Nyagchuka have been blocked by the authorities, with internet connection shut down. There is now serious concern for the safety of Tibetans seeking to express their grief at Tenzin Delek Rinpoche\u2019s death.\nThe body of revered Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was cremated today (July 16) amid high security at a remote detention facility where he died in his 13th year of a life sentence. His ashes are being taken back to his home county and monastery by his sisters and other relatives, according to his relatives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11985,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[45,691],"news_tag":[],"class_list":["post-11984","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-inside-tibet","categorie-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n