This bilingual book titled For Freedom and Equality is a collection of articles and poems written by imprisoned Tibetan writer Shokjang. In many of his writings, Shokjang had criticized, with reason and clarity, the repressive policies implemented by the Chinese government in Tibet. In an exceedingly oppressive environment where basic rights and fundamental freedoms are almost non-existent, Shokjang used the…
This report is an assessment of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with respect to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan. Despite claims of progress made by the PRC in its state party report,…
Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the arbitrary detention of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedun Choekyi Nyima by the Chinese government. One of Tibet’s most important spiritual leaders, the Panchen Lama has not been seen or heard from since then. On 17 May 1995, the six-year-old Gedun Choekyi Nyima and his parents were arbitrarily detained by Chinese government officials. For many…
On 25 April 2017, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) released a special report titled “Prisoners of Conscience in Tibet” on the 28th birthday of Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. Who went missing 22 years ago along with his parents after they were detained by Chinese officials in Tibet. The Panchen Lama’s case has become…
The report titled ‘Bilingual Education Policy in Tibet: The Systematic Replacement of Tibetan Language with Mandarin Chinese’ was released on 7 April 2017 at a panel discussion organised by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy (TCHRD) and the Tibetan Writers Abroad PEN Centre. The report takes an in-depth look at China’s language policy particularly in relation to mother languages…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) submitted an alternative report to UN Committee Against Torture ahead of its review of the Fifth Periodic Report of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention Against Torture). The Convention Against Torture prohibits torture and…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) released today a special report on the state of rule of law in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), entitled Rule by Law: Special Report on the Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics. The special report comes in the wake of a severe crackdown on human rights lawyers and advocates in…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has published a report in Tibetan on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) so-called “Mass Line Campaign” in Tibetan areas. The report titled lam chok mar po (The Red Path) documents the human rights violations caused by the ‘mass line’ political campaign in Tibet.
Under the direction of Xi Jinping, the president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the CCP has launched a Mass Line political campaign throughout China, reminiscent of Mao Zedong’s rectification campaign, and aimed at eliminating all opposition, both real and perceived. Under the guise of combatting corruption, the CCP has begun striking hard upon both the “tigers and flies.” As of now, more than hundred senior figures of the party have been indicted and punished under this campaign, including former head of China’s security Zhou Yongkang, sentenced to life in prison in June this year. Moreover, under slogans such as “the Four Misdeeds” and “Eight Principles” meant to “clean up the Party,” grassroots officials have been subjected to investigation for corruption and misuse of power.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) released yesterday the second book written by underground Tibetan writer Dhi Lhaden, the courageous former monk and intellectual based in Amdo, Tibet.
Originally composed in Tibetan and titled Tungol Trimtug (‘Resistance Through Cooperation With Law’), it has been translated into English with a new title ‘The Art of Passive Resistance’. This is Lhaden’s second book, translated and published by TCHRD.
In this book, Dhi Lhaden explores themes such as the rule of law, freedom, peace, equality, non-violence, and looks to public figures known for their approach of peaceful resistance such as the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and George Washington.
On 29 June the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) will release a code of conduct for businesses operating in Tibet. The code of conduct highlights the major human rights issues in Tibet and their human rights obligations. In 35 articles divided into eight categories, the code of conduct outlines how businesses can avoid contributing to or participating in human rights abuses in Tibet.
The code of conduct does not make any new demands or place extra requirements on businesses operating in Tibet. Instead, the code of conduct draws upon existing legal standards and standards accepted and endorsed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Since their release in 2011, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights defined businesses’ human rights obligations. The Guiding Principles have been endorsed by the PRC. The code of conduct also draws heavily on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Imports and Exports (CCCMC) Guidelines for Chinese businesses operating outside of the PRC. Even though the CCCMC Guidelines are not official government standards, they have been endorsed by the PRC and held as an example of the PRC’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Is there anything new that can be said about the disappearing nomads of Tibet? For years they have been removed from the plateau pastures that purify the great rivers of Asia, to be rehoused in concrete barracks, without their animals or livelihood. This is usually reported as coercion by a state determined to end nomadism. That has become a standard narrative. The alternative narrative, generated by China’s official media, is that the nomads are all voluntary ‘ecological migrants’ giving up their lands for the greater good of the planet, to allow degrading lands to become a wilderness of pristine grassland, to better protect those rivers watering almost all of Asia.
‘Wasted Lives: China’s Campaign to End Tibetan Nomadic Lifeways’ cuts through these stereotypes and extremes, with a wealth of new evidence. This co-publication by Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy (TCHRD) and League for Pastoral Peoples (LPP) takes the reader onto the pasture, to hear Tibetan voices. That is what has been strikingly missing till date.
