tsolho – TCHRD

17/04/2013 News

Chabcha student protesters sentenced up to four years

A grainy picture (taken on mobile phone) of the People's Armed Police contingent during the Chabcha protest. — A grainy picture (taken on mobile phone) of the People’s Armed Police contingent during the Chabcha protest.

Eight Tibetan students have been sentenced to varying prison terms for “illegally holding demonstration” last year by the Chabcha (Ch: Gonghe) County People’s Court in Chabcha County in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, according to a report published today on the official “China’s Tibet website”. (Please click here for the report in Tibetan.)

According to the report, the county court passed the judgement on 10 April 2013 at around 10 am (local time), sentencing eight Tibetan youths from Tsolho Vocational School in Chabcha County for holding demonstration on 26 November 2012. They were charged of “causing harm to social stability”.

20/03/2013 News

China uses religious propaganda to counter Tibetan self-immolations

In a rare departure from its usual propaganda narrative on Tibetan self-immolations, the Chinese authorities called His Holiness the Dalai Lama, along with His Eminence Kirti Rinpoche “the root cause” of self-immolations in Tibet. In earlier statements, the Chinese leadership had been careful to directly blame Dalai Lama, instead blaming the so-called ‘Dalai clique’ or ‘separatist forces’ for self-immolations.

On 7 March 2013, Chinese state media quoted Wu Zegang, governor of Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province as saying, “We oppose the self-immolation … first of all, [we should find out] the root cause of the [self-immolation] problem, the root cause is the 14^th Dalai Lama, and Kirti Rinpoche, who live outside [Tibet].”[i] But the fact that there had been no credible evidence to prove this reckless claim is beside the point for the Chinese authorities whose fanatical drive to stamp out popular Tibetan protests and criminalize the so-called instigators, inciters and abettors of immolations have only increased repression, instability and violence in Tibet.

15/03/2013 News

China calls for bilingual policy, crackdown on immolations

A special team of Chinese officials recently visited four different schools in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, to carry out propaganda activity on “anti-immolation special struggle” including campaigns to “instill respect for constitutional provisions on bilingual education policy”, an official Chinese daily reported.[i]

The propaganda campaign was aimed at snuffing out self-immolation protests and shoring up compliance for the controversial bilingual education policy. According to the report, cadres and work teams from Provincial Education Committee and Provincial Department of Education visited Tsolho from 6 to 7 January to implement anti-immolation campaign and guiding the masses on bilingual education policy.

13/02/2013 News

Tibetans ordered to celebrate festival or face punishment

As Tibetans in Tibet mourn the loss of lives in self-immolation protests by observing a quiet Losar (Tibetan New Year), the Chinese authorities are ordering Tibetans to celebrate the festival by announcing huge rewards, and punishments for those who disobey the order.

According to information received by TCHRD, days prior to Losar, which began 11 February, Chinese officials in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Prefecture, Qinghai Province, were seen visiting Tibetan villages in the area, ordering the Tibetans to celebrate the New Year.

Officials announced that villagers would be rewarded handsomely if they celebrate the New Year. They warned that those Tibetans who did not celebrate would be deprived of financial help for farming and animal husbandry.

05/02/2013 News

Painful death for Tibetan man injured in police violence

A Tibetan man died a slow and agonising death, almost eight months after he was injured in a violent police crackdown on a protest staged by both lay and local Tibetans in March last year.

According to information received by TCHRD, Gyerig Thar, 35, succumbed to his injuries on 17 November 2012 at a hospital in Siling (Ch: Xining), capital of Qinghai Province. After sustaining serious injuries on his head during the police clampdown on the protest, Geyrig Thar spent the next eight months in the hospital unable to utter a single word. Sources said an explosive burst on his head causing serious injuries to his head. He was referred to some other bigger hospitals where he had to undergo three surgeries on his brain, but hopes for his survival remained weak among his family members even as he was receiving treatment. Sources say he was too weak to consume or retain his food or medicine in his body.

03/04/2008 News

Defiant Tibetans hold solidarity prayer march for victims of Chinese crackdown

Upon witnessing massive protests across the Tibetan plateau since 10 March, Tibetan people from all walks of life in Holkha Township, Tsigorthang County (Xinghai Xian) Tsolho “TAP” Qinghai Province staged a peaceful solidarity march and later held a prayer session for those who lost their lives in the recent series of protests in Tibet on 25 March. Following the peace march and prayer session at the township government headquarters, three Tibetans were arbitrarily arrested in an early morning raid in their home by the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

With severe restrictions placed on communication lines by the Chinese authorities, further information on the peaceful political dissents are hard to come by, however, a few brave and courageous Tibetans despite being aware of the grave risk have sent first hand information substantiated with pictures. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) received exclusive fresh pictures depicting peaceful Tibetan solidarity march in Holkha Township on 25 March.