Our dissenting hero of this week, Tenpa Dhargyal, is a former political prisoner and a long time human rights activist. Tenpa spent more than five years in Chinese prison before he escaped into exile in India.
His time in prison made him even more resilient and determined to work for the Tibetan cause. Tenpa is now settled in Brisbane, Australia and is currently carrying out a campaign protesting against the Chinese government in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Many countries and governments across the world have changed their perspective on China. In this situation, we Tibetans must take this opportunity to proclaim the fact that Tibet is not a part of China and that historically Tibet is an independent nation. That is why it is important to make this clear to the international community.”
Tenpa Dhargyal joins the #WhyProtest campaign to call on China to immediately
- End policies and practices that are incompatible with international human rights standards on the right to peaceful assembly;
- Repeal policy of resorting to lethal force to suppress and detain peaceful protesters;
- Punish government officers responsible for arbitrary detention and torture of peaceful protesters;
- Ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Convention on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance;
- Invite UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association to assess the current state of freedom of peaceful assembly in Tibet
The #WhyProtest campaign, launched by TCHRD on 3 May to highlight freedom of expression, shine light on the brave and inspiring stories of peaceful Tibetan protesters that will tear through the cloak of coronavirus pandemic used by China to hide escalating repression and persecution of peaceful dissent in Tibet.
During the months leading up to this year’s International Human Rights Day on 10 December, the campaign will feature messages of hope, inspiration, and defiance from 30 activists and human rights defenders.
Join the #WhyProtest Campaign by sharing our digital campaign messages on your timeline or your stories of defending the right to protest and why the freedom to dissent matters to you. If interested, write to Ms Tenzin Dawa for further information: [email protected].