The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) today released its annual report entitled “Tibet: Tightening of Control” on the human rights situation in Tibet for the year 1999. The 140-page report documents the continuing systematic denial and violations of the freedom of religion and expression; the exercise of arbitrary detention and torture; the violation of the right to be free from racial discrimination; the abuse of women and children’s rights in Tibet throughout the year 1999. The report highlights the repeated failure of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to promote and protect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Tibetan people.
The past year was marked by the official celebration of several politically significant anniversaries, including fifty years of the founding of the PRC and forty years of the annexation of Tibet. The symbolic importance of these events was characterised by various attempts by the Chinese government to display its authority and legitimacy, resulting in further violation of the human rights of the Tibetan people. Within China and in Tibet there was a tightening of the state’s control over every sphere to consolidate its power. Throughout the year, Chinese authorities tightened its security and surveillance in all major cities and towns to prevent incidents of nationalist dissent. Any attempt at questioning the legitimacy of the state was ruthlessly crushed. And yet as the state tightened its iron grip, there were various reports of Tibetans resisting against the repressive policies of the Chinese government.