The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) organised a two-day roundtable discussion among 40 Tibetan researchers, educators, legal experts, NGO workers, independent activists, university students, as well as monks and nuns on 23 and 24 June in Dharamsala, India. The two-day event called ‘Reflections on the 2016 Tibetan Election: Roundtable Discussions on Improving Tibetan Democracy’ largely focused on…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is pleased to present an exclusive preview of Dhi Lhaden’s new book titled ‘The Art of Passive Resistance’, now translated into English.
Dhi Lhaden is a Tibetan monk, intellectual and writer born in 1980 at Dida Village in Pema (Ch: Baima) County, Golog (Ch: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Qinghai Province), in the Tibetan province of Amdo. Originally named as Lhaden (popularly called Dhi Lhaden), he is also known by his ordained name, Thubten Lobsang Lhundup. At 11, he was admitted to his local monastery and four years later joined Serthar Buddhist Institute in Serta County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Sichuan Province). At 28, he went to Lhasa for further studies at Drepung and Sera Monastery but had to cut his studies short.
Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaims that ‘all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of law.’ Although the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has signed many UN treaties and conventions, it has consistently failed to implement and abide by them, and has resorted to its domestic laws and regulations to violate the basic and legitimate rights of its citizens.
As a member of the United Nations, the PRC is under legal obligation to educate its citizens, and implement within its territorial boundary, the laws, conventions and treaties of the UN. Instead of raising popular awareness about international human rights law, more emphasis is put on repressive domestic laws promoted and propagated under forced education campaigns such as ‘legal education’ or ‘patriotic education’.
To counter this, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Dharamsala, has come out with two new publications titled “Nyamdrel Gyaltsog Ki Trim Yig Khag” (‘A Collection of United Nations’ Conventions) and “Sota Chen Ki Mangtso” (‘Monitored Democracy’).
“For the values of democracy and equality, many great men and women gave up their lives. On this earth beneath the vast sky, although freedom and democracy belong to the entire humanity, they will never belong to those who oppress by practicing dictatorship.”
~ Tashi Rabten aka Theurang
![Tiananmen protest on 4 June 1989 [Photo: theviewspaper.net]](https://tchrd.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/tiananmen-massacre.jpg)
[Photo: theviewspaper.net]
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) announces a vacancy for the post of Research Associate. The Centre invites applicants who are passionate and dedicated towards the cause of Tibet and Tibetan people’s struggle for human rights and democracy. Click on the link for more details TCHRD Job Vacancy Announcement
This week, China issued a white paper titled “Development and Progress of Tibet” which contained stunning claims of improved situation inside Tibet. Indeed the release of the white paper on the day of China’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council was a strategic move. However, if China thought that a mere white paper filled with omissions, human rights doublespeak and calculated obfuscation would help blunt criticisms against its egregious human rights record in Tibet, it turned out to be just another exercise in self-delusion.
Like its white papers on Tibet issued in the past, the latest one begins by distorting not just the current reality of Tibet, but also Tibet’s history, denying its distinct identity as a nation and civilisation having its cultural influence beyond its Himalayan borders – in regions and countries as diverse as Sikkim, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Baltistan, Kalmykia, Mongolia and so on.
2006 marks the 10th anniversary of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), which was established in 1996. Over the past ten years, TCHRD has endeavored to uncover human rights violations in Tibet and reveal its findings to the rest of the world. The Centre’s location in Dharamsala in northern India allows it direct access to Tibetan refugees…