A monk and his nephew in Sichuan Province have confessed to police their role in inciting a series of self-immolations at the behest of the Dalai Lama clique, police said Sunday.

Lorang Konchok, a 40-year-old monk at the Kirti Monastery in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, has goaded eight people into setting themselves on fire since 2009 and three of them died, according to the Xinhua News Agency, which reported that Konchok recruited Lorang Tsering, his 31-year-old nephew, to help him.

The two men attempted to persuade several more people to attempt self-immolation, but they abandoned the idea after their families, local government officials and police officers intervened, according to Xinhua.

The reports said another two people even fled their hometown to avoid Lorang Konchok, who continued to harass them and urge them to engage in self-immolation.

They did not return home until Lorang Konchok and Lorang Tsering were apprehended by the police, who started their investigation after a series of self-immolations in Aba in August. Lorang Konchok and Lorang Tsering were detained on August 13 and August 15 respectively.

The Chinese government has long condemned the Dalai Lama clique for encouraging innocent people to engage in self-immolation on the Chinese mainland and now this case has provided overwhelming evidence, Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at the Minzu University of China, told the Global Times.

According to Xinhua, Lorang Konchok was contacted in early 2009 by some key figures with the "media liaison team," a "Tibet independence" organization within the Dalai Lama clique, and he continuously sent the latter information about incidents of self-immolation.

At the requests of the "media liaison team," Konchok took advantage of his position and influence in the monastery and often encouraged others to commit self-immolation, telling local monks and followers that self-immolation was not against Buddhist doctrines and those who did it were "heroes."

He also promised to spread their "deeds" abroad so they and their families would be acknowledged and honored, police said.

"Many victims were brainwashed this way by the 'bad monks,' who planned to use the immolation cases to turn world opinion against the Chinese government," Xiong said.

Buddhism is a peaceful religion and respects life. To burn oneself to death is against the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, Xiong said, adding that those who committed self-immolation were very naive and lacked sound judgment.

According to a regulation recently drafted by the Ministry of Public Security and the judicial bodies, people who plan, organize, incite or help others perform self-immolations will be tried for intentional homicide. Those who parade a corpse through the streets or gather to watch the immolation without actively stopping the suicide will also be subject to criminal prosecution.

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