Human Rights Update 1997

Radio Lhasa and the Tibet Daily recently reported that Lhasa Public Security Bureau launched a “Spring Action” campaign on 10 April 1997. The campaign aims ostensibly to strike down on crime and corruption in and around Lhasa and to “uphold the social standard and morale”. The campaign is a follow-on from “Strike Hard” launched in April 1996 which has been…

Continue Reading

Phuntsok reports that unique animal species in Thalung areas in Gyama Shang under Meldro Gonkar county are threatened with execution not just by mining, but also as a result of Chinese practices. While Tibetans are strictly prohibited from possessing firearms, Chinese officials routinely hunt rabbit, musk deer, bharal (blue) sheep, white lipped deer, and gowa (Tibetan gazelle) in the area.…

Continue Reading

Britain recently announced that it would join Denmark in backing a resolution to be submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights. The resolution calls on China to improve its human rights record. The Danish decision met with immediate threats from China of possible economic, trade, and diplomatic sanctions. Denmark, supported by twenty five other countries, tabled the resolution on…

Continue Reading

Tibetans working as government tour guides in Lhasa have lost their jobs because of unauthorised trips to India. Between 69 and 72 tour guides, many of whom have held their positions for several years, have thus far been affected by the Government’s decree, issued in February, 1997. To work as a tour guide in Tibet, each guide must pass a…

Continue Reading

Tibet continues to face the ruthless crackdown by the Chinese Government on any pro-independence activist. Because Tibetan politics is so closely linked with Tibetan religion, the focus of the harsh Chinese crackdown falls primarily on the nuns and monks. Gyaltsen Dolkar is one such example. She received an eight-year increase in her prison term for recording songs and messages to…

Continue Reading

On the 15th day of Tibetan New Year (8th February) two monks held a short protest in front of the Jhokhang (Central Cathedral). Not even 3 minutes had passed when they were arrested and taken by the PSB (Public Security Bureau) men. Tsering Jhong is the name of a nunnery in Lhoka Choenkye County in Lhoka region consisting of 20…

Continue Reading

A monk interviewed in early April this year in Dharamsala gave a disturbing account of new incidents of violations of cultural and religious rights in Tibet. Strike Hard Campaign in … Monks in Dechen Choekor Monastery at Lho-Gonkhar in Lhoka region have been issued red cards in conjunction with the Strike Hard “Political Re-education” campaign. The red card is given…

Continue Reading

Ngawang Sangpo is a 31-year-old from Medro Gongkar County under Lhasa City. A monk at Drepung Monastery, Ngawang was arrested on 5 September 1996 and sentenced to two years imprisonment for indulging in pro-independence activities. Namgyal Dhondup from Phulung Sub-county in Pashoe County in Chamdo region was arrested on 22 January 1997. Dramdul, aged 57 or 58 years, was one…

Continue Reading

The right to education is guaranteed in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child to which the People’s Republic of China is a State Party. An interview was recently conducted by TCHRD in Dharamsala, India, with a young female student who arrived in India from Tibet in late March 1997. Her testimonial reveals that Chinese educational policies are…

Continue Reading

The right to appeal is internationally recognised (International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 14(5)). Recently introduced amendments to China’s criminal law makes only minor modifications to its systems of appeals. The fundamental problem in the appellate process in China remains: the reluctance of defenders to appeal, This may be due not only to the general unsuccessful of appeals,…

Continue Reading

to top