#DissentingHero Tenzin Khando: Protest to Amplify the Voices of those Deliberately Silenced

Our dissenting hero for this week, Tenzin Khando, believes that it should be the rights of every individual of any country to be able to challenge, to be able to question and to be able to ask for accountability from their governments and institutions so that the rights of the civilians and citizens can be maintained and protected.

“I don’t really have the luxury to stay ignorant and silent if I as a Tibetan don’t raise my voice for my Tibetan brothers and sisters suffering inside Tibet under the Chinese Communist regime.”

Tenzin Khando is a feminist and human rights activist. She is the project officer at the Central Tibetan Women’s Association and works to provide gender equality training in the Tibetan community. 

“It is also very important for one to recognise their privilege because acknowledging one’s privilege arouses awareness and creates a consciousness of responsibility. So it is of utmost importance for an individual to recognise one’s privilege and it is so important for one to utilise any resources and privileges available to them to lend their voices for the voiceless.”

Tenzin Khando 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, shines light on the brave and inspiring stories of peaceful 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: tenzin.dawa@tchrd.org.

 

 

to top