Tsongon Tsering, a 29-year-old Tibetan from Tsaruma village in Kakhog (Ch: Hongyuan) County, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Prefecture, Sichuan Province, was detained earlier this week after he posted a video registering a complaint about large-scale sand and gravel mining along the river in Tsaruma village, which is the source of Asia’s two largest rivers, the Yangtze and the Yellow River.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) strongly condemns the recent sentencing of Lobsang Thapkhey, a former librarian at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo, for merely attempting to import and distribute religious and cultural books from India to Tibet and for engaging in the Tibetan Buddhist practice of making financial offerings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kirti Rinpoche.
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, TCHRD stands in solidarity with the victims and families of those who have been subjected to unlawful, Chinese state-sanctioned repression through enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, beatings, torture, and inhuman treatment merely based on one’s own religious beliefs or cultural identity.
On 11 June 2024, the UN made available the Chinese government’s announcement to accept or reject recommendations from the latest Universal Periodical Review (UPR) in January 2024, a process through which all UN member states’ human rights records are examined. In a disingenuous effort to paper over its refusal to engage to improve its appalling record, the Chinese government said it would accept 290 of the 428 recommendations, partially accept 8, note 32, and reject 98 of the recommendations made. The 290 accepted ones include those the government said it “accepted and being implemented” and those “accepted and already implemented.”
On the 29th anniversary of Tibetan spiritual leader Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s enforced disappearance, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy strongly condemns the Chinese government’s continued failure to provide information on his whereabouts and reiterates our calls for the authorities to reveal the truth. Despite extensive efforts and calls from the global Tibetan community, international governments and the United Nations for more than two decades, the Chinese government has continued to ignore their calls leaving a deep void in the hearts of the Tibetans inside and outside Tibet.
Local police arbitrarily detained Tibetan singer Gegjom in Khyungchu (Ch: Hongyuan) County, Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo after the Tibetan singer performed ‘Tearful Deluge of a Sorrowful Song’ at an evening gathering during the Tibetan New Year.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy released its annual report underscoring continued human rights violations in Tibet. Tibetans continue to face restrictions on their freedom of expression, assembly, and education, both in digital and physical spheres. Chinese authorities exert stringent control over religious activities, impeding the rights and pilgrimage practices of Tibetan Buddhists. Arbitrary detention, unjust sentencing, and instances of torture persist, resulting in custodial fatalities and enduring health complications among political detainees.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) recently concluded a comprehensive series of workshops on “Bystander Intervention against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.” These workshops were conducted for over 460 Tibetan youths across various educational institutions, schools and colleges based in India, including the Sambhota Tibetan School in Kalimpong and Darjeeling, the College for Higher Tibetan Studies-Sarah, the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Bangalore, and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi, India.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has published a special report titled ‘Chinese Transnational Repression of Tibetan Diaspora Communities’ today, on 6 February 2023, at the Press Club of India, New Delhi. While earlier reports from various organisations have addressed transnational repression impacting diverse ethnic groups, this report is the first comprehensive examination dedicated explicitly to the transnational repression experienced by the Tibetan diaspora communities.
Tibetan human rights defender Tsering Tso was arbitrarily detained for the second time in three years due to her outspoken social media posts condemning Chinese authorities for engaging in racially discriminatory practices and human rights violations against Tibetans in Kyegudo (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.
The Yushu Public Security Bureau (PSB) sentenced Tso to 15 days of “administrative detention,” imprisoning her in the Yushu city detention centre from 26 October to 10 November 2023.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), in conjunction with the Seoul-based Asian Dignity Initiative (ADI), released a special report on the Tibetan human rights situation in Nepal titled, ‘Languishing in Limbo: Tibetan Refugees in Nepal.’ The special report highlights the pronounced influence of China in Nepal, prompting Tibetan refugees to label it as a “Second Tibet,” alluding to the fact that the degree of restrictions faced by Tibetans in Nepal is second only to Tibet.