To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have about the fate of students involved in protests in Chabcha Sorig Lobling School in Chabcha County, north-eastern Tibet; and about any immolations which have recently occurred in Tibet.

We are aware of reports that Tibetans Rabten, Wangdue Tsering, Chamba Tsering, Choekyong, Tashi Kunsang, Dorjee Tsering, Sanggye Dundrup and Kunsang Bum, all students at the Sorig Lobling medical school, were sentenced to prison terms of five years on 5 December, apparently in connection with their role in protests in Gonghe county (known as Chabcha in Tibetan), Qinghai Province, on 26 November. We are seeking to clarify the nature of the charges against them, and whether they had access to defence lawyers of their own choosing. We are concerned by reports that police in Gonghe used force to disperse protesters, with a number of students reportedly requiring hospital treatment for injuries sustained in the course of this incident. We are also aware of reports that three Tibetan monks have been detained for disseminating information about the Gonghe protests. We would urge the relevant authorities to respect the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all Chinese citizens to freedom of speech, assembly and demonstration.

Since 16 March 2011 there have been 94 immolations (of which 43 have not been confirmed by official state media). At least 77 incidents are believed to have led to the death of the individual involved. They have taken place in four regions-Sichuan, TAR, Qinghai and Gansu.

The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend Mr Swire, issued a statement on 17 December setting out our serious concerns about the self-immolations in Tibetan regions, which is available at: www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-has-serious-concerns -about-human-rights-in-tibet.