Human Rights Update 1996

Yulo Dawa Tsering, a 58-year-old abbot at Ganden Monastery and former teacher of Philosophy at the University of Tibet, was the first Tibetan to be arrested when the Tibetan independence movement regained vigour in 1987. He was arrested in December 1987 and sentenced for 10 years as a result of having spoken about Tibetan independence with an Italian tourist six…

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During an interview with Le Monde daily newspaper in his recent visit to France, His Holiness the Dalai Lama condemned China’s cultural genocide in Tibet, although he stressed that he remained open to negotiations with Beijing without pre-conditions. His Holiness emphasised that he was not demanding Tibet’s independence, only its autonomy. The human rights situation had worsened in Tibet, said…

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Tibetans suspected of opposing policies of the PRC have frequently been detained as political prisoners for extraordinarily lengthy periods. Many remain in detention today, having spent the best part of their lives behind bars. We shall be profiling some of these prisoners of conscience in future Human Rights Updates, beginning in this Update with Tibet’s longest imprisoned political prisoner, Tanak…

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The following information was provided by Jamyang Dargyal who had studied in this school for three years. Bayan County Nationality School in Amdo (Chinese: Qinghai) is a day-cum-boarding school primarily for ethnic minorities. The school admits Tibetans and Chinese Muslims. In the early 1980’s the school fees and expenses were taken on by the government and a monthly stipend of…

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Last month the People’s Republic of China (PRC) officially acknowledged the detention of Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan musician and scholar arrested by Chinese authorities in August 1995 while travelling in Tibet. Ngawang was undertaking some preliminary research for the creation of a documentary on the traditional folk music and performing arts of Tibet. According to Mr. Shao Wenguang of the…

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According to new arrivals from Tibet, on 19 April 1996 female political prisoners in Drapchi Priaon went on a hunger strike as a protest against a prison order forbidding the families of the prisoners from bringing them food.  The prisoners also protested against the poor prison diet. 81 of the 145 female political prisoners in Drapchi participated in this hunger…

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A recent update by the Tibet Information Network reports further actions taken by the authorities of the PRC to discriminate against the use of Tibetan language in educational Institutions within Tibet. In December 1996, authorities announced that the History of Tibet course at the University of Tibet is to be taught in Chinese rather than in Tibetan. The decision ignores…

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According to a TCHRD source of  Tibet, during late 1995 and  early 1996 the Health Department of “TAR” conducted an inspection of all private hospitals and clinics in and around Lhasa. The inspection team confiscated the practicing license of Lodoe Choedak, former director of Lhasa’s Zhigong (chinese) hospital. After his retirement, 50 year old Lodoe Choedak haad opened a private…

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After  15 months of detention without charge, Ngawang Choephel, a 30 year old Tibetan musician and scholar, has been sentenced to 18 years prison and four years deprivation of political rights after visiting Tibet to research traditional musical customs. Sonam dekyi carried her two year-old son Ngawang on her back over the Himalayas and out of Tibet at the onset…

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