UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – A man died after setting himself on fire outside the UN’s headquarters in New York on Thursday, police said, with activists and reports identifying him as a pro-Tibet campaigner._x000D_
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The New York Police Department told AFP that “at 1832 (2232 GMT) NYPD received a call… a male set himself on fire at First Avenue and 42nd Street. He was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. Investigations ongoing.” No motive was given._x000D_
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A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement to AFP: “We are saddened by this tragic and horrific incident, and offer our condolences to his family.”_x000D_
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US media and a pro-Tibet activist said the individual was a pro-Tibet campaigner, though investigators did not confirm this claim._x000D_
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Tencho Gyatso, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, named the deceased man as Lobga Rangzen._x000D_
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“Lobga was a tireless advocate for Tibet who devoted himself to peacefully raising awareness of the human rights crisis in Tibet,” Gyatso said in a statement to AFP._x000D_
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Gyatso said Rangzen had railed against China’s new “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress” that Beijing said aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups._x000D_
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Overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, like Uyghurs and Tibetans, that Beijing is accused of persecuting._x000D_
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The UN did not return a request for comment._x000D_
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Beijing in 1950 sent troops to Tibet, the vast high-altitude plateau it describes as an integral part of China._x000D_
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The 90-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been based in India since fleeing the Tibetan capital Lhasa after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in 1959._x000D_
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The Dalai Lama’s long-standing “Middle Way” policy seeks autonomy and a “resolution to the Sino-Tibet conflict through non-violence, dialog and mutual benefit”.
