News – Page 35

21/05/2015 News

Tibetan political prisoner in critical condition after release from prison

Palden Trinley was released after seven years in prison. — Palden Thinley was released after seven years in prison.

A Tibetan monk who was recently released after completing a seven-year prison term is in critical condition following injuries suffered during detention and lack of medical care in prison.

Palden Thinley, 26, was released from Deyang prison on the afternoon of 17 May 2015 in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham, according to information received by Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
On the day of his release, prison authorities handed over Palden Thinley to County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers in Kardze apparently to prevent local Tibetans from giving him a hero’s welcome. At around 3 am on 18 May 2015, the Kardze County PSB handed over Thinley to Dhato Township PSB, who in turn secretly summoned his family at night to pick him up.

05/05/2015 News

Discriminatory Chinese passport regulations violate Tibetans’ right to travel

Since 2012, Tibetans from the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) have had their passports confiscated and, as a result, unable to travel abroad. This is because of 29 April 2012 ‘guiding opinions’ on implementing passport regulation issued by the Chinese authorities that was recently obtained by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. The letter of the law and its implementation have prevented almost all Tibetans in the TAR from travelling outside of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In 2014, further restrictions have prevented Tibetans from travelling to religious ceremonies and sacred sites.

Article 12(2) of the ICCPR, which is binding on the PRC as part of customary international law, recognizes that everyone has the right to freedom of movement, including the right leave their country. The Human Rights Committee’s General Comment 27 is an authoritative interpretation of this right. It states that international travel cannot be restricted because of the purpose or duration of the travel. The right to freedom of movement may only be restricted in exceptional circumstances when the restriction is necessary to protect national security, public order, public health or morals and the rights and freedoms of others. The General Comment highlighted administrative barriers to travel as a major concern.

04/05/2015 News

Tibetan singer held under tight security amid fears for failing health

Recent picture of singer Lolo in prison uniform

A Tibetan singer serving a six-year prison sentence for singing songs with politically-charged lyrics has been found recently in poor health as he continues to be kept under tight security in a prison located in the outskirts of Siling (Ch: Xining) city, capital of Qinghai Province.

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has received information that Tibetan singer Lolo is held under tight security surveillance even after almost two and a half years’ of imprisonment. Lolo was first detained on 19 April 2012 for releasing a music album that contained songs with politically-charged lyrics such as the well-known “Raise the Tibetan flag, Children of Snowland”. After a brief detention, he was released but was detained again and sentenced to six years on 23 February 2013. At the time of sentencing, he was 30 years old.

02/05/2015 News

TCHRD participates in conference on Responsibility to Protect

Last week the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) participated in a conference on the Responsibility to Protect in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The two-day conference evaluated the Responsibility to Protect ten years after it was adopted as part of the 2005 World Outcome Document.

The 2005 World Outcome Document said that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) rests on three pillars. First, each State has primary obligation to prevent the four atrocity crimes—genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. Second, the international community has a responsibility to assist States in preventing atrocity crimes. Third, if a State is manifestly failing to prevent or stop atrocity crimes the international community may intervene to prevent or stop atrocity crimes, including using force as a last resort.

24/04/2015 News

TCHRD calls Tibet a blot on China’s international standing on visit to Basque Country

At TCHRD’s presentation before the HHRR (Human Rights) Commission of the Basque Parliament. Left, Basque parliament member Andoni Iturbe; middle, President of HHRR Commission and member of Basque parliament Maribel Vaquero; and right, TCHRD executive director Tsering Tsomo

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) exposed major human rights violations committed by Chinese government in Tibet and the repressive policies that facilitate these violations during recent meetings and interactions with politicians, diplomats, academics, media and the general public in Basque Autonomous Region (Basque Country), Spain.

During a weeklong visit to Donostia/San Sebastian in Gipuzkoa Province, Basque Country, TCHRD executive director Tsering Tsomo drew attention to the repressive state of affairs in Tibet where the Chinese authorities continue to adopt a hardline approach denying basic human rights and freedoms that are taken for granted in many other countries. In her various public and private meetings, Tsomo strongly condemned China’s use of force, violence and fear to extract absolute loyalty and obedience from Tibetans to its repressive rule, and called Tibet a human rights black hole, a major blot on China’s international standing and reputation.

21/04/2015 News

China detains yet another Tibetan writer for writing against repression

Chinese authorities have detained yet another Tibetan writer who is also a monk in Ngaba area in present-day Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in Tibetan province of Amdo.

Lomik, 27, was detained around 11. 30 pm on 12 April 2015. Lomik’s detention followed the detention of another well-known Tibetan writer Shok-jang on 16 March 2015. Like Shokjang, Lomik is being held at an undisclosed location.

21/04/2015 News

China detains family members after Tibetan non-violence activist dies of self-immolation

Ney Kyab, an award-winning activist for non-violence died of self-immolation protest

A Tibetan man known for his non-violence activism self-immolated on the early morning of 16 April 2015 in the courtyard of his house and died. The self-immolation was staged in Adue Gyade Village in Ngaba County in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

According to reliable information received by TCHRD, the layman named Ney Kyab (also known as Damkar) 45, died of self-immolation to protest against China’s repressive policy in Tibet.

“Before burning himself in protest, he arranged the portraits of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and his family on a makeshift bench, offered them bowls of water and flowers; he then burned himself a few steps away from the makeshift altar,” according to the source.

21/04/2015 News

TCHRD condemns arbitrary detention of Tibetan writer Shokjang

Early this month, exile Tibetan media organizations reported the detention of Tibetan writer Shokjang aka Druk-lo in March this year. Shokjang’s detention was later confirmed when a Tibetan blogger named Jangda from Amdo shared a post on WeChat calling on the release of his writer friend: “My friend [Shok-jang] has not committed crime, bring him back.” According to information received by TCHRD, Shokjang was arrested on 19 March 2015, days after the 56^th anniversary of the 10 March Tibetan National Uprising Day of 1959.

07/04/2015 News / TCHRD Statements

China: Release reincarnated Tibetan Buddhist monk on medical parole

Today marks the 13^th anniversary of Tulku Tenzin Delek’s arbitrary and unjust arrest on 7 April 2002. His arrest eventually led to life imprisonment. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is a revered Tibetan Buddhist lama from Lithang, Kardze, Kham, in present-day Sichuan Province. He is known for his campaigns to restore Tibetan culture and religion, social welfare activities and his criticism of repressive Chinese policies in Tibet. On 5 December 2002, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and his nephew were respectively sentenced to death with two years’ reprieve and death sentence. They were accused of being involved in a series of bomb attacks in Chengdu on 3 April 2003. Lobsang Dhondup was executed but Rinpoche’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment due to pressure from the world community.

03/04/2015 News

Four Tibetans detained as crackdown continues on Tsenden Monastery

Chinese authorities have detained four Tibetan men including three monks from the embattled Tsenden Monastery in Sog (Ch: Suo) County in Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), in the Tibetan province of Kham.

According to the information received by TCHRD, local police detained the monks identified as Choephel Dawa, Jigme Wangyal and Choeyang Choega and a layman named Dorjee who were detained on the night of 28 March 2015. No reason was given for their sudden detention. There is no information on the location of their detention raising concerns among family members about their physical and psychological health since torture is routinely practiced in Chinese detention centers.

31/03/2015 News

‘I was criminalized for expressing my views’: Writer Tashi Rabten in a recent interview a year after release from prison

Tashi Rabten is a Tibetan writer and poet in the Tibetan province of Amdo, present-day Sichuan Province. He was released last year in March after serving a four-year sentence at Mianyang Prison in Sichuan. He was a student at the North-West University for Nationalities and wrote for the now-banned Tibetan language journal Shar Dungri (‘Eastern Conch Mountain’) and also published Trag-yig (‘Blood Letters’), a compilation of his poems, notes and writings on the situation in Tibet following the 2008 protests.

In a recent conversation that is being circulated on various social media sites, Tashi Rabten talks about his experiences as a university student and political prisoner, and his newfound faith in the power of poetry.