PARIS: The Dalai Lama has accused China of torturing Tibetans, sometimes to death, during the Olympic Games.

Asked in an interview Saturday with TF1 television about the situation in Tibet during the Games, the Tibetan spiritual leader responded, "Unfortunately, the Olympic spirit is not all respected by Chinese officials inside Tibet."

He said there was "very strong censorship" by Chinese authorities.

"And often civilians are arrested and tortured very violently, to the point where they die," he said. "It's very, very sad."

The Dalai Lama's comments were dubbed into French by the network, and a transcript of his original English-language comments was not immediately available.

The Dalai Lama is in France for most of the duration of the Olympics, for a visit focused on spiritual matters, but there have been a few political meetings as well.

French lawmakers who were briefed in private by the Dalai Lama last week said he spoke to them of ongoing "arbitrary arrests, summary executions and torture to death" inside Tibet.