BEIJING, June 9 (UPI) -- There have been no enforced disappearances of Tibetan monks from a monastery in Sichuan province, a Chinese foreign ministry official said Thursday.
A U.N. working group on enforced disappearances in a Wednesday report said it was concerned about the fate of more than 300 monks from the Ngaba Kirti monastery in Sichuan province.
"We encourage the authorities to undertake full investigations into the on-going practice of enforced disappearances and ensure that those responsible are prosecuted and receive sentences appropriate to the gravity of the crime," the working group said in a statement.
Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, was quoted by the BBC as saying some monks had been taken by local authorities for "legal education."
"The relevant local authorities are conducting legal education for the Kirti monastery monks in order to maintain religious order there," he was quoted as saying. "There was no question of forced disappearances."
The Kirti monastery has been locked down since March when a monk there set himself on fire. Security forces were engaged shortly afterward, the BBC adds.
