Persistent, long-term oppression can inflame the oppressed consciousness to act on radical measures to defend and assert their individual and collective rights. In Tibet this year, 82 Tibetans set their bodies on fire calling for the “return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet,” “freedom for Tibet” and “human rights in Tibet.” This has taken the total number of…
2011 was a year of increasing tensions between the Tibetan people and the Chinese government. The Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East and the third anniversary of the Tibetan uprising in 2008 set the tone for the events in Tibet. After Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolated in Tunisia leading to the Arab Spring, the Chinese government ramped up efforts to control dissent…
History was made this year! Liu Xiaobo, one of the leading intellectual activist of China was conferred the 2010 Noble Peace Prize. This might turn to be a watershed year for the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In the decades to come, people of the world and especially Chinese people will cherish the year as a turning point in modern Chinese history. In recognising his unrelenting struggle,…
The year 2009 was no different when it comes to violation of human rights of the Tibetan people inside Tibet by the Chinese authorities. For Tibetans inside Tibet it’s been yet another year of heightened security, repression, isolation and suppression. The year encapsulated with numbers of highly sensitive anniversaries in Chinese calendar was dealt with an iron fist. The year 2009 marked 50 years of exile for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people. In five decades the Tibetan people have suffered enormous hardships and systematic human rights abuses by the government of People’s Republic of China (PRC). Human rights violations continue unabated with impunity and there is no sign of let up by the government.
The year 2008 was historic for Tibet! The 49th anniversary of the Tibetan People’s Uprising on 10 March 2008 sparked off an unprecedented magnitude of spontaneous mass popular protests in the so called “Tibet Autonomous Region” (“TAR”) and the Tibetan areas outside the “TAR”; Sichuan,Qinghai, Gansu and Yunan. The pan-Tibet political uprising this past spring is an eruption of popular resentment against the Chinese authorities’…
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy’s 2007 annual report finds cases of arbitrary arrests and detentions inside Tibet increased almost threefold compared to 2006 indicating a worsening of human rights situation in Tibet ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Year 2007 saw repression worsen in Tibet signaling a hardening attitude of China despite holding sixth round of talks between the envoys of the Dalai Lama envoys and Beijing, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy” target (TCHRD) stated in its 2007 annual report released here today.
The report titled- Human Rights Situation in Tibet: Annual Report 2007 notes “Through out the year, the Chinese authorities in occupied Tibet unleashed spate after spate of policy campaigns, regulations and decrees to subject Tibetans to intensified state controls over their human rights and fundamental freedoms,” The year round assessment of the human rights situation in Tibet finds Communist Chinese authorities committing severe violations of human rights in Tibet as a result of placing heightened security measures and cracking down heavily on incidences of peaceful protests by Tibetan people.
Not surprisingly, the report finds “cases of arbitrary arrest and detentions” increased almost threefold compared to previous year (2006), “suggesting a clear indication of the human rights situation worsening in Tibet”. The report documents 65 known cases of arbitrary arrests in 2007 alone out of the total 119 known Tibetan political prisoners, of which 43 are serving terms of more than ten years.
“The actual number could be even much higher,” TCHRD’s Director Mr Urgen Tenzin speculates, pointing at the lack of freedom as the key factor hindering more accurate monitoring of the situation inside Tibet. According to the report, “Chinese authorities routinely resorted to arbitrary arrests, imprisonment and torture in dealing with peaceful protests by Tibetans, which normally included displaying Tibetan flags, staging non-violent demonstrations, possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama, and posters calling for freedom of Tibet.” Although the so called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is considered politically more sensitive region, interestingly TCHRD finds Kardze region outside of the TAR as “the most volatile Tibetan area in terms of political developments, for several successive years now”.
The report shows that half of the total 65 known cases of arbitrary arrests during 2007 were recorded from the Kardze region alone. The centre’s report puts peculiar note of the intensified repression placed upon the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, which have long been identified by Chinese authorities as the “hot bed of dissents” in Tibet. Accordingly, the report finds that 70% (80 out of the 119) of the known political prisoners are monks and nuns. The report says that “during 2007, religious freedom in Tibet took a major set back” after the Chinese authorities introduced two new religious regulations. “Tibet Autonomous Region Implementing Measures for the Regulation of Religious Affairs” and “Measures on the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism”, the report says, were primarily aimed at subjecting “Tibetan Buddhism and its spiritual masters under intensified state control through legal conundrums”. Further, the report alleges that the Communist authorities regularly conducted ‘patriotic re-education’ and ‘love your country, love your religion’ political campaigns in the monastic institutions” and reinvigorated the ‘Patriotic education’ in various Tibetan areas during the year as a measure toward bringing the monastic communities under a tight official grip”.One of the major concerns raised in the report remains to be continuing arrival of new Tibet refugees after fleeing across the harsh Himalayan terrains, very often putting their lives into extreme risks.
In 2007, some 2,338 Tibetans managed to safely reach the Tibetan Reception Centre in Dharamshala, the seat of the Dalai Lama and the base of the Tibetan Government-in Exile. Of the total number of refugees, the report shows, around half of them were below the age of 18 seeking educational opportunities as a result of poor educational facilities in the rural areas of Tibet where about 75% of the Tibetan population reside. And where schools do exist, they have “biased (Chinese) curriculum”, the report exposes.
Persecution of several Tibetans in the eastern Tibet region following an open pro-independence and pro-Dalai Lama outcry in Lithang by a Tibetan nomad, Rongye Adrak that escalated into a mass Tibetan protests against Chinese authorities; closing down of Tibetans sites, online blogs and restrictions on internet and other media; destruction of statues of religious significance, especially those of Guru Rinpoche by Communist authorities; heightened security measures restricting Tibetans from taking part in religious activities and public celebrations; detaining and torturing school students by authorities in Amchok Bora Village in Labrang County; another shooting incident on the Nangpa La Pass; mass relocation of Tibetan herders affecting their traditional livelihood and further marginalization of Tibetans as a result of the new railway accelerating the Chinese population transfer into Tibet are some of the major cases extensively highlighted in the report categorised into Civil and Political Liberties, Religion, Education in Tibet and Development chapters. With the Beijing Olympic Games only a few months away in August 2008, TCHRD’s report seeks to “build up pressure and expose China’s human rights farce to the world”.
The year 2006 saw a host of sad events unfold. The Chinese authorities in Tibet did not show any sign of let-up. Throughout the year, various human rights abuses in Tibet were documented affecting both the civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights of the Tibetan people. Arbitrary arrest,detention and imprisonment continue to beappalling as ever in Tibet. During the year, two events…
There is a great and growing desire for change in the world: change that ushers in a renewed commitment to ethical and spiritual values; that resolves conflicts peacefully, employing dialogue and non-violence; that upholds human rights and human dignity as well as human responsibility. His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message to G8 Summit and “Make Poverty History” Campaign Pico Iyer,…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) released its Annual Report: Human Rights Situation in Tibet, 2004. The Annual report details the current Human Rights situation in Tibet compiled from independent research along with the testimonies of newly arrived refugees in the exile community. This year’s report focuses on the continued violation of Tibetans Right to Development; Right to Education; Civil and Political Rights; the Right to Information, and Religious Freedom.
The year 2004, saw the release of some prominent political prisoners from Chinese prisons. However, TCHRD also recorded 21 known cases of arrests on charges of suspicion of activities that the Chinese government deemed “endangering state security”- activities that have called for the freedom of Tibet or simply for the expression of allegiance to the Dalai Lama. At the end of 2004, TCHRD recorded 146 known political prisoners still serving prison terms in various Chinese prison networks across Tibet. Of which 55 Tibetans are serving sentences of 10 years or more, with monks constituting 63 percent of the total known political prisoners. TCHRD believes that there are many more cases of unconfirmed arrests.
The year 2003 opened on a note of great promise for Tibet. A new generation of Chinese leaders – largely technocrats with business backgrounds – formally took over the country’s helm in March 2003, with Hu Jintao as the new President. This, coupled with the Dalai Lama’s envoys’ visit to China for a second time in less than a year,…
Monitoring and evaluating human rights violations in Tibet for 2002 has continued to be a challenge for the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) considering the tremendous lack of transparency and secretive nature in which Chinese authorities work, coupled with cynical moves by Beijing to avoid international criticism of its human rights record in Tibet. In the absence…