News – Page 87

20/11/2002 News

Death of a Tibetan prisoner of conscience due to torture

According to reliable information received from Tibet, Lobsang Dhargyal suddenly died Monday morning on 19 November 2002 in a Manufacturing Unit for Hydro-Electricity Power Plant, a “reform through labour” camp located in Siling Village, Machen County (Ch:Maqin xian), Golog “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture”, Qinghai Province. He was serving almost 19 years’ prison term including his earlier two and a half years’ imprisonment.

Although TCHRD is yet to receive detail information, it is almost certain that Lobsang Dhargyal’s sudden demise is due to torture and maltreatment in the forced labour camp. He is believed to have suffered brain haemorrhage at the time of death. More updates on his death shall follow upon receiving further information.

Dispossessed: Land and Housing Rights in Tibet

For many years human rights monitors have reported on China’s denial of political and civil freedoms rather than focusing on economic issues. In return, China often defends its stance on civil and political issues by claiming that its citizens are more interested in economic security than in personal freedoms. With China’s ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and…

31/05/2002 News

TCHRD accreditation rejected

Today the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) was denied accreditation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) at the 4th PrepCom meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

China once again used a no-action motion to block discussion on accreditation. 90 countries voted for China’s no-action motion, 37 countries against and 10 countries abstained. Interestingly, about 50 countries were absent at the time of voting. Pakistan and Cuba spoke in favour of China’s no-action motion, while the USA and Spain (on behalf of the EU) defended TCHRD.

China’s objection to TCHRD’s application was outlined in a letter addressed to the Secretary General Kofi Annan dated 14 May 2002. The Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN alleged in this letter that members of TCHRD were “separatists” and that “we value and support…participation of those NGOs which have made positive and concrete contributions in close cooperation with China.”

23/05/2002 News

China attacks TCHRD’s participation in World Summit on Sustainable Development

China has once again objected to the accreditation of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) to a world conference. TCHRD has applied for accreditation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg in August-September, 2002. The application will be considered by the preparatory committee for the WSSD which is meeting in Bali, Indonesia, from May 27-June 7, 2002.

In a letter dated 14 May 2002 entitled “No accreditation of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy” addressed to the UN Secretary General, the Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN, has alleged that members of the TCHRD are mainly “separatists” who support the independence of Tibet. However in fact, TCHRD is an organisation solely concerned with the human rights situation in Tibet, and hence does not take any political stand on the issue of Tibet.

20/04/2002 News

Story of Tanak Jigme Sangpo

Tanak Jigme Sangpo, Tibet’s longest serving political prisoner, was reportedly released on medical parole on March 31, 2002, after serving more than three decades in prison.

The 76-year-old Tanak Jigme Sangpo was first reportedly arrested in 1960 while teaching at the Lhasa Primary School on charges of “corrupting the minds of children with reactionary ideas.” In 1964 he received a second sentence, where he served three years in Sangyip Prison for making comments regarding Chinese repression of Tibetans.

Tanak Jigme was again sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment in Sangyip Prison for ‘counter-revolutionary’ propaganda in 1970. He had been caught attempting to send a document reporting Chinese atrocities to His Holiness the Dalai Lama via his niece, who was trying to flee Tibet. At the age of 53 Tanak Jigme was released from prison in 1979 and transferred to the ‘reform-through-labour’ Unit No 1 in Nyethang, 60 km west of Lhasa.

19/04/2002 News

Smuggled Film Shows Destruction of Serthar Institute

The Tibetan Centre of Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) today screened for the first time a 10-minute documentary showing the massive destruction of Serthar Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Sichuan Province in Tibet. The documentary was made from film footage smuggled out from Tibet by ex-residents of the Institute.

Serthar Institute, also known as Larung Gar, is located in Karze “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”, Sichuan Province. Until last year it was Tibet’s largest Buddhist Institute. Serthar’s non-sectarian academic teachings by Khenpo (abbot) Jigme Phuntsok attracted Buddhist scholars from all around the world, including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. It was also home to a large number of Tibetan monks, nuns and lay-people. Total population before the current crackdown was well over 8,000.

10/12/2001 News / Thematic Reports

Destruction of Serthar Institute: A Special Report

The summer and autumn of 2001 saw the dismantling of the leading centre for Buddhist scholarship and practice on the Tibetan plateau. In the 21 years of its existence, Serthar Institute (known as Larung Gar) had expanded from a solitary mountain hermitage to a spiritual oasis for over 8,000 monks, nuns, and lay students. Khenpo Jigme Phunstok founded Sertahr Institute…

24/08/2001 News

Chadrel Rinpoche’s fate unknown

Anxiety begin to grip the Tibetans as Chadrel Rinpoche, the 62-year-old former abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and Head of the Search Committee to identify the successor of the 10th Panchen Lama, fail to make an appearance even after expiry of his six years’ prison term May this year. Arrested on 17 May 1995 for “colluding with separatist forces”, Chadrel Rinpoche received court sentence only after two years.

According to information received by TCHRD, Tibetans in Lhasa and Shigatse including the monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery express grave concern over the dearth of news concerning Rinpoche’s expected release, his present whereabouts and health condition. Chadrel Rinpoche’s prison term of six years was to expire in May 2001. With no information available on Rinpoche’s release, the apprehension that Rinpoche might not actually be alive has become a daunting speculation.

21/08/2001 News

Drapchi Prison: Tibet’s most dreaded prison

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) today released a report entitled “Drapchi Prison: Tibet’s Most Dreaded Prison”. The 70-page report provides insight into one of the most notorious prisons in Chinese-occupied Tibet based on reliable information gathered over the years.

“Through this report, one can discern the contradiction between the official Chinese statement with that of actual reality concerning the prison condition, treatment of prisoners, and total number of Tibetan political prisoners within Tibet,” stated Mr. Lobsang Nyandak Zayul, the Executive Director of TCHRD.

01/06/2001 News / Thematic Reports

Drapchi Prison: Tibet’s Most Dreaded Prison

The year 1998 marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ironically, in Drapchi Prison the same year, Chinese prison guards and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials violated all human rights norms with the use of brutal force on Tibetan prisoners. On the ill-fated days of 1 and 4 May 1998, the unarmed prisoners…

06/01/2001 Annual Reports / News

Enforcing Loyalty: Annual Report 2000 (TCHRD)

The latest Annual Report by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has been released today. Enforcing Loyalty is a comprehensive documentation of the deteriorating human rights situation throughout Tibet in the year 2000. In a year where Beijing made overt attempts to enhance its international image, with the release of their high profile propaganda piece – the White Paper – and their signing of the Memorandum of Understanding – an agreement with the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights relating to human rights standards – China still remains one of the few nations of the world that institutionalises human rights abuses.

The past year saw an increase in almost every area of repression and violations of fundamental freedoms by the Chinese authorities. Beijing’s obsession with stability and control saw the reinforcement of older policies and the imposition of new, restrictive measures. Political and religious freedoms faced heightened methods of control; Tibetans endured continued arbitrary arrests and detentions, along with unabated torture; women suffered an increase of physical violations; and children still face bleak and limited futures due to the highly discriminatory education and employment policies currently in practice.