by Oyungerel Ts, Liberty Center
Date: August 28, 2003

MONGOLIA: Shocking Evidence of Past Genocide Found in Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar and genocide

Mr.Purevbat, a buddist lama of Gandan monastery is leading a funeral processing and religious ceremony for 570 victims of past genocide. After he appealed for several months, Ulaanbaatar city governor's office had to appoint a group of experts to dig a place where there were some evidence of existence of killed victims of past genocide. In May 2003, a group of experts consisted of buddists, crime-analysts and a civil defense unit has found remaining of 570 human beings with compelling evidences revealing the time, method and target of the genocide.

The communist genocide occurred in 1930s took lives and freedom of almost 36 thousand Mongolians according to the State Commission on Rehabilitation Activity. The currently ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, 82, while being the only ruling party during communism, has lead the implementation of the stalinist terror in Mongolia. It was largely targeted against buddist lamas killing 14000 and imprisoning 3000. The first shocking evidence of mass killing of buddists was found near the town of Muren, Khuvsgul province in 1992 where scientists found around hundred skeletons.

The current finding is the second mass evidence, but it is the largest one found until now. It is located in the eastern part of Ulaanbaatar's residential area at a place called as "Hambiin Ovoo", which could be translated as "Hamba lama's hill". The recent finding at Hambiin Ovoo carries much detailed information on how communists killed the victims. They shot people to the head, they broke victims' legs before killing, they tortured victims and beat their head and broke their bones. They killed almost 200 people at once including old ones who had no teeth and young ones who were just 25. Then they covered them by ground, then they again brought around 150 people and killed all…etc. The place where victims' bodies were kept has at least three layers of dead bodies as it was revealed by now.

The name of "Hambiin Ovoo"

There are some tales among population that during genocide of 1937s, communists usually killed almost 1000 lamas at once and there are several places of mass terror. Elder people name few exact places such as "Hambiin Ovoo", "Muren town" and "Rashaant huree's place". The current finding at Hambiin Ovoo confirms the old talk. However, Mongolian Government did not launch any activity to dig those places on its own intiative. 1992 digging of Muren town's place was stopped as soon as Mr.Nergui , a scientist and activist of anti-political repression movement announced his findings of around 100 victims. It is believed that the Muren's place may contain much more than that.

There is also a tale that the name of Hambiin Ovoo was given to the small hill in honor of Mr.Yonzon Hamba Tsedengiin Luvsan Haimchig. In 1915, Yonzon Hamba was nominated as the tutor Hamba of Bogd Javzandamba, the last state and religious leader of Mongolia before communism. While digging the current Hambiin Ovoo, a group of experts, especially Buddist were very keen to find a remaining of Yonzon Hamba. Mr.Purevbat with his assistants has recognized several skeletons as "very close" to a remaining of Yonzon Hamba and other prominent buddists of that time.

Yonzon Hamba was named as number one in the list of "sentenced to death" by the decision of October 7, 1937 of Supreme Court of People's Republic of Mongolia . The Supreme Court decision was about sentencing to death of 19 top buddist lamas and their sentence was based on the rank of the lamas because the trial itself was to "eliminate the central part of anti-revolutionary head-lamas".

The pictures about the recent findings are available at our website . Please visit and see them. They are silent. But they can tell more than anybody can tell about brutal terrorism of communist dictatorship. Please forward this page to your friends. Let them share the pain of Mongolian buddists during these days when the religious monument-funeral is being built for the victims at Hambiin Ovoo.