Human Rights Update 1997

Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot of Tashilhunpo Monastery and head of China’s Search Committee for the Reincarnation of the 11th Panchen Lama, has been on hunger strike since July this year, locked in a secret compound in Chuandong No 3 Prison in Dazu County in Eastern Sichuan, US monitoring group “Human Rights in China” (HRIC) recently reported. The 58-year-old Tibetan man…

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Restrictions were imposed by the Lhasa Public Security Bureau from April of this year to ensure stability and security during the July 1 Hong Kong take-over and to prevent riots and pro-independence movements during the July 7 birthday ceremony of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (broadcast on VOA Tibetan service on 27 August 1997). A new arrival from Tibet reports…

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“I was working in an Amdo Restaurant in Dram, the Tibetan town at the border of Nepal. A few years ago there used to be lots of Tibetan businessman who owned shops and restaurants but recently many Chinese businessman have migrated to Dram and set up business there selling general everyday goods. With the migration of the Chinese many of…

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A Tibetan woman aged 19 years (name withheld) from Dingrae Dzong (county), Shigatse region, who arrived in Dharamsala on 2 September 1997, has reported the implementation of birth control policies in three rukhag (units) in the county and the growth of Chinese business and prostitution. Birth control policy: The source was told by her mother that the Chinese had arrived…

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Sixty three year old Gonpo from Tsongyon region under Bayan County was arrested on December 25, 1996, by the Public Security Bureau and his detention was officially announced in January 1997. However, the term of his sentence and present whereabouts are unknown. Gonpo was reportedly arrested on changes of having contacts with the Tibetan Government-in-Exile based in Dharamashala, India. Gonpo,…

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Hermits in Tibet are being forced to give up their religious retreats as they fall subject to Chinese “Re-education” sessions and “government taxes”. Kunchok Chodup, 42 years old, comes from Sangshu village in Gabde county under Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (incorporated into Qinghai province). He joined Lungkya monastery at the age of 22 and studied there for the next four…

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Since the start of this year, 83 Tibetan women have been sterilised “through various means” in Chukok Sonak town, Rebkong district, under Qinghai province where Chinese authorities have launched a strict birth control policy. In 1996 nine Tibetan women were sterilised and 32 were required to use contraceptives. These figures were provided by the the Qinghai Tibetan daily newspaper published…

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A recent arrival from Tibet has reported the execution of 30 year-old Gonpo Tsering who was said by Chinese authorities to have killed a Chinese official during a dispute over the collection of taxes. Gonpo Tsering is from Kamoche village of Bayer Shang in Choni county, now incorporated into the Chinese province of Gansu. One year after he was executed,…

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China executed at least 4,367 people last year by firing squad or lethal injection, Amnesty International hasreported, including some Tibetans shot for “counter-revolution” or “subversion.”  This figure, the highest since 1983, was confirmed by Chinese media. Amnesty said it had logged more than 6100 death sentences, exceeding the previous two years combined, yet believed the figures “to fall far short…

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