| Phayul[Saturday, March 21, 2009 17:25] | ||||
By Kalsang Rinchen
The monk was identified as Tashi Sangpo, aged 28, the source said.
Security forces claimed to have found a Tibetan national flag and political leaflets from Tashi’s room, the source said. Tashi Sangpo sneaked out of the security forces’ sight by seeking to go to the toilet, according to the source, a former resident of Ragya, who said Machu River is not very far from the monastery. At the time of this report going online, Tashi’s death has already sparked a strong anti China protest in Ragya where Tibetans are taking to the streets with the banned Tibetan national flag and banners, chanting slogans such as “independence for Tibet, long live Dalai Lama.” |
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Monk kills self in Ragya, residents protest
Monk kills self in Ragya, residents protest
Friday, March 20, 2009
Rare footages show China’s brutality on Tibetan protestors
Rare footages show China’s brutality on Tibetan protestors
| Phayul[Friday, March 20, 2009 19:27] | ||||||
| By Phurbu Thinley Dharamsala, March 20: Tibet’s Government in exile Friday released, what it calls, rare video footages showing Chinese paramilitary police resorting to extreme brutality on Tibetan protestors after last year’s March unrest against Chinese rule.
“This is one of the rare footages of Chinese police beating Tibetans who participated in the massive and widespread protests that erupted throughout Tibet since 10 March 2008,” said the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of the Central Tibetan Administration in its press statement. “We are told that these beating of protestors took place in or near Lhasa after 14 March 2008,” the statement added. Thupten Samphel, information secretary, and Sonam N. Dagpo, international relations secretary, of the DIIR, presided over the press conference. Describing the footages as being “very disturbing”, Samphel said the acts of brutality violated the “international norms regarding treatment of captives.” Death of Tendar
Tendar, a staff in the China Mobile company, met his evil fate on March 14, 2008, after he tried to stop Chinese authorities from beating a lone monk while on his way to his office. Tendar later suffered inhumane treatments at the hands of Chinese authorities, DIIR statement said. According to the press statement, Tendar was “fired at, burned with cigarettes butts, pierced with a nail in his right foot, and severely beaten with an electric baton.” The footage showing the “wounds and the bruise marks visible on his body is a testimony of the brutality he was subjected to by the Chinese authorities,” the statement said. Tendar was further “denied basic medical care” at the military hospital and was later shifted to the TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) People’s Hospital in Lhasa.
“Due to covering his wounds with polythene, his wounds began to rot as clearly seen from the footage,” the press statement said. According to the statement, despite efforts made by his family in meeting huge medical expenses, doctor’s at the people’s hospital failed to bring improvement to Tendar’s ailing body. He died due to his injuries on June 19, 2008. When his corpse was offered to the vultures according to the tradition, the statement said a nail was found in his right foot. Brutality under “virtual martial Law” Third footage shows the heavy Para-military presence in Lhasa in the run up to the 50th Anniversary of March 10 Tibetan National Uprising this month. “Lhasa and all other areas of Tibet still remain under virtual martial law,” the exile government said in the statement. After unrest erupted in March 2008, Beijing swiftly poured more troops into TAR and Tibetans areas in surrounding provinces to smother any protests. The exile Tibetan government says about 220 Tibetans have died, over 1294 have been seriously injured and more than 1000 have disappeared since the crackdown last year. It says over 5600 people have been arrested and 290 are sentenced so far. Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile, paramilitary police and soldiers swarmed cities and villages in Tibet to quell possible repeat of last year’s unrest. China has repeatedly denied the use of torture in Tibet, and has maintained that Tibet has remained relatively calm in recent months. In November 2008, the Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected the U.N. panel’s report on the widespread use of torture by Chinese police, calling the report as “untrue and slanderous” and accused the committee members as being “prejudiced” against China. However, the DIIR’s press statement says, the stunning footages received from Tibet “testify to what is truly happening in Tibet as recently as 2008.” Following last year’s unrest and the crackdown that followed, Dagpo said, Chinese authorities in Tibet continued resorting to “brutal beatings and torture of the captive Tibetans.” “We are waiting to receive more such footages in future,” Dagpo said, responding to a media inquiry during the press conference held here at the premises of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. Watch Video: China’s Brutality in Tibet Exposed. |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Nun arrested for solo protest in Kardze
| Phayul[Wednesday, March 18, 2009 18:33] |
| Dharamsala, March 18 - A Tibetan nun was severely beaten before facing arrest four days before the 50th Tibetan national uprising day, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said, citing a source. Lobsang Khandro, 21, a nun from Gema Dra-wok Nunnery in Thing-ka Township, Kardze County, Kardze "Tibet Autonomous Prefecture" ("TAP"), Sichuan Province carried out a solo protest march on the morning of 6 March 2009. Khandro walked from Takchu Bridge to Kardze government headquarter. Sources said she carried pamphlets, political literature on Tibet and some prayer flags. She shouted slogans such as "No Freedom in Tibet", "Tibetan People Rise Up, Rise Up", "Long Live the Dalai Lama" and "Chinese Authorities Release all Political Prisoners", according to the centre. The Chinese security personnel rushed in five police vans and beat her severely before taking her to a new detention centre build near the government hospital in Kardze. Relatives visiting her were turned away by the authorities who told them that she had committed a serious crime and deserves to die. "If she has involved in this kind of activity, there is no other way but to die. She has committed a serious offense and crime. There is nothing left for all of you to inquire about. Moreover, all of you must not contact the outside world on this matter", the source told TCHRD quoting the authorities. The Gema Dra-wok Nunnery is situated at a distance of 16 kilometers from Kardze County en route to the sacred pilgrimage site, Khawa Karpo. Nuns of Gema Dra-wok Nunnery participated in a mass uprising last year during the Tibet unrest and five nuns are still serving prison terms, said TCHRD. |
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Amdo monks taken for ‘study’ after peaceful protest
16 March, 2009
Amdo monks taken for ‘study’ after peaceful protest
More than a hundred monks who held a peaceful candlelit vigil on the first day of Tibetan New Year (February 25) have been taken from their monastery, Lutsang, in Mangra county (Chinese: Guinan) in Qinghai (the Tibetan area of Amdo), for ‘study’ at an unknown location. According to a Tibetan source in exile with connections in the area, around 100 monks were taken from the monastery last week while a number of the remaining monks have undergone interrogation, torture and beatings, according to one source. The phrase ‘taken for study’ means that the monks will be taken to a location where they will undergo political education classes. Hundreds of monks from the Lhasa monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Ganden were ‘taken for study’ to a military camp in Golmud, Qinghai, from April 2008 for several months. Their families were not informed of their whereabouts. Some were also removed from monasteries in Lhasa in the buildup to the March 10 anniversary this year.
Tension is high in the area, with the same Tibetan source reporting that there are two or three police vehicles stationed in the middle of even the smallest and most remote villages near the monastery in Qinghai, and that people are being forbidden from traveling from one village to another. “I remember exactly this thing happening during the Cultural Revolution, being forbidden to travel even to the next village,” said the source, who grew up in the area, and whose name is withheld. “It’s control by terror,” he added. The source added that according to information from the area, Tibetan students have had their cell-phones confiscated by police in an apparent attempt to stop information about the crackdown reaching the outside world. Students were told their phones would be returned “at the end of the month”.
On February 25, the first day of Tibetan New Year (Losar) Lutsang monks had marched to the government headquarters in Mangra, where they asked for the central Chinese government to "recognize the will of the Tibetan people," and called for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, according to the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia. They said that they were holding the candle-lit vigil in memory of the people killed during the Chinese authorities' crackdown on the protests last year, and as a "New Year's gift to Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet." After half an hour or so, the monks were persuaded by Tibetan government and Party officials who had emerged from the building – as well as senior Tibetans – to return to their monastery. However, police later arrived at the monastery and demanded that the organizers of the protest ‘surrender’ within 48 hours, and that any portraits of the Dalai Lama had to be handed over to the authorities. (ICT report, ‘Authorities surround monastery; issue 48 hour ultimatum for organizers to ‘surrender’ after latest protest in Tibet’, www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/authorities-surround-mon....)
Following the 48-hour ultimatum period police took away 13 monks for interrogation, who were beaten in detention before their families were summoned and told to keep the monks sequestered at home, according to a Chinese-language blog posting. On March 2, police again detained 11 of the 13 monks detained previously, according to the same source, and police also acquired the names of around 70 monks who participated in the march and vigil in a list compiled by the monastery’s ‘Democratic Management Committee’ – a government-appointed body instituted in monasteries in Tibet.
In the ensuing days, around 120 monks were interrogated both at the monastery and in other locations, with many if not most suffering beatings or torture during the process, according to the same single source. One monk was reportedly deafened in one ear as result of beatings.
The blog posting continues: “The authorities have not said where they are taking the 109 monks and have not said for how long, saying only that they are to be given secluded [bishi – shut-away style] thought education, including ‘patriotic education’ and ‘rule of law education’… When the 109 monks received this information, they calmly rushed to the temple and presented khatag [Tibetan white blessing scarves]. In actual fact, these 109 monks are facing unimaginable imprisonment, just like the 700 monks from Drepung, Sera and Ganden last year, who were detained in a military prison in Golmud for as long as three of four months.”
According to the Chinese authorities' own figures, around 1200 people remain unaccounted for following the wave of protests that swept across the Tibetan plateau from March 10, 2008. (ICT report: “A Great Mountain Burned by Fire: China’s Crackdown on Tibet,” www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-press-releases/a-great-mountain-burne....)
Detaining individuals without informing families of their whereabouts contravenes notification procedures under China’s Criminal Law. As a matter of urgency, ICT is calling for the government of the PRC to provide unimpeded access to Tibet, including Tibetan areas of Qinghai, for UN human rights experts and other independent observers to investigate the situation in Tibet. China should also provide unrestricted foreign media access to Tibet, including the Tibetan areas outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Bomb lobbed at police station in Bathang
Bomb lobbed at police station in Bathang: Report
| Phayul[Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:55] | ||
Dharamsala, March 17: Assailants threw a bomb into a newly built police station in Batang (Tib: Bathang) County in Sichuan Province, AP reported a Chinese police official as saying Tuesday.
The explosion just after midnight Monday shattered windows at the station in Bogexi, a town in the Ganzi (Tib: Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in Sichuan province, the report quoted Liu Xiaojun, a police official, as saying. The building was not yet occupied and an investigation was under way, said Liu, who works at the public security bureau in Batang County, which oversees the town. Batang, in Sichuan province's far west, is about five miles (seven kilometers) from the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) border. Traditionally the area comes under Kham Province, one of the three provinces of Tibet. The state-run China Daily newspaper blamed "terrorists" for the blast, but provided no other details. The incident came just days after the one-year anniversary of March 14 anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa, Tibet's regional capital. The anti-China unrest last year spread to Tibetan regions in three other provinces — Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai — and was the most sustained and widespread Tibetan uprising in decades. This month also marks the 50th anniversary of a failed March 10 revolt against Chinese rule in the Himalayan region that sent the revered Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile. Ganzi is known for its strong Tibetan identity and has been at the center of dissent for years. It saw some of the most aggressive protests last spring. Last week, officials said they received an emergency notice from Sichuan's provincial government to seal off the town of Kangding (Dartsedo) to foreigners, the last corner of Ganzi to remain open. It was one in a series of stringent security measures Beijing imposed while trying to head off trouble ahead of the anniversaries, including chains of checkpoints for vehicles and increased police and paramilitary patrols in towns, the report said. |
Monday, March 16, 2009
It's Not Hard for China to Satisfy Tibet We are seeking autonomy, not independence.
By THUPTEN JINPA
Today, Tibetans all over the world -- at least, those outside their homeland -- will mark the 50th anniversary of the Lhasa uprising of 1959. That event culminated in the flight of the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans into exile in India.
This year's commemoration must invoke somber reflection on the part of all stakeholders. Fifty years is a long time. China's great revolutionary leaders who were active in 1959 -- Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping -- have long since gone. Many of the older generation of Tibetans who fled Tibet in the wake of the 1959 uprising, including my own parents, also are no more. Yet for Tibetans the tragic legacy of the 1950s still lives on, most painfully in the continued separation of the Tibetan people from our beloved Dalai Lama.
Surely the time has come to close this sad chapter, to resolve the longstanding dispute, and to allow the reunion of the Tibetan people with their cherished leader. Last year's disturbances across the Tibetan areas brought attention to the depth of the Tibetan dissatisfaction with the status quo. Similarly, the widespread protests against the Olympic torch relay in many cities across the world -- Asia, Europe and North America -- conveyed the wish of so many people in the outside world to see the Tibetan issue resolved.
Why is the Tibet question so intractable that no leader in Beijing has managed to resolve it so far? First there is the complexity of history, with claims and counterclaims pertaining to the ownership of Tibet. Second, in dealing with the Tibetans, Beijing is confronted with a people whose sense of a united nationhood stretches back at least as far as the seventh century. During that period, China's Tang emperor was compelled to offer a princess as a bride to the Tibetan Emperor Songtsen Gampo. With a language, culture and origin myths of their own, the Tibetans have a powerful sense of their distinction and a deep historical consciousness. These are aspects of the Tibetan identity that will continue to be passed from generation to generation, regardless of the political contingencies of a given period.
Yet now is the best time in a long time to achieve a just solution. During Mao's era, one might argue, the People's Republic of China had to spend much of its time addressing problems arising from its birth and growth into a modern nation. Deng's priority was to take China through a careful transition into an effective market economy. Perhaps neither felt he could afford to give the Tibetan issue the commitment and attention necessary for its successful resolution. Today, China is an increasingly confident nation gradually emerging as an important global power, which, given its antiquity, size and economy, is its rightful place. So Beijing today is well-placed to resolve the longstanding issue of Tibet.
What then might be the best way to proceed? For both sides, there is not much to gain from invoking history to contest the legitimacy of each other's claims. For the Tibetans, the facts on the ground are such that, whether we like it or not, today Tibet is part of China. Tibetans need to understand that any proposed settlement that fails to respect the territorial integrity of modern China will be unacceptable to any government in Beijing.
Beijing, meanwhile, needs to recognize the legitimacy of the Tibetan people's aspiration to protect the integrity of our language, culture and identity. Although Beijing recognizes Tibetan language and culture formally, policies in Tibet still undermine the survival of that identity. Beijing could allow Tibetan to be the language of primary education as well as introducing it in the governmental and public services in the Tibetan-speaking areas. Greater religious freedom is also crucial, including allowing Tibetans to again display images of the Dalai Lama in their homes. Beijing must also ensure that the demography on the Tibetan plateau is not threatened in a manner that makes the survival of the Tibetans as a people impossible. These steps could go a long way toward assuring Tibetans that China acknowledges and respects their distinctiveness.
If these basic premises are honored on both sides, all other issues will be details. This is exactly the principle upon which the Dalai Lama's efforts over the last three decades are based. This also appears to be the spirit behind Deng's now famous statement, made to the Dalai Lama's envoy, that "except for Tibet's independence everything can be discussed."
Beijing has already nominally accepted this solution by designating the Tibetan areas as the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Tibetan Autonomous Counties in other provinces like Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai. It needs only to implement fully the letter of its own laws. The Tibetan side has also been ready to work from this premise. In October, at the eighth round of meetings since renewed contacts began in 2001 between Beijing and the Dalai Lama's representatives, the Dalai Lama's side offered a substantive proposal entitled Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People, which envisioned how such an arrangement could be implemented. At an important subsequent gathering in Dharamsala, the Tibetan exile representatives reaffirmed their full support to the Dalai Lama's approach.
Beijing now has the opportunity to exercise magnanimity and bring this sad chapter on Tibet to a dignified close. Failure to reach a solution while the Dalai Lama is alive will only serve to make the dispute even more intractable. The legitimacy of Beijing's rule in Tibet may be questioned for many more decades to come.
Mr. Jinpa is the principal translator for the Dalai Lama.
Obama and Congress Send Unified Message to China: Negotiate with the Dalai Lama on Tibet
Obama and Congress Send Unified Message to China: Negotiate with the Dalai Lama on Tibet
| ICT[Monday, March 16, 2009 17:40] |
| WASHINGTON, March 16 -- With Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Washington last week, both President Obama and the U.S. House of Representatives stated that the U.S. government expects Beijing to negotiate with the Dalai Lama's representatives on a durable solution for Tibet, despite repeated demands by Chinese officials to drop the Tibet issue. "The statements by the President and the House send an unequivocal message that the United States expects the Chinese government to negotiate sincerely with the Dalai Lama," said Todd Stein, Director of Government Relations at the International Campaign for Tibet. "The U.S. government has reminded China's leaders that their vision for a harmonious U.S.-China relationship will not materialize until they deal with Tibetan leaders on a durable solution for Tibet." On Thursday, President Obama told Foreign Minister Yang of his "hope there would be progress in the dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama's representatives,"according to a White House statement. This followed a State Department statement issued on the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile which "urge[d] China to reconsider its policies in Tibet that have created tensions due to their harmful impact on Tibetan religion, culture, and livelihoods." On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution that "calls upon the Government of the People's Republic of China to respond to the Dalai Lama's initiatives to find a lasting solution to the Tibetan issue." The resolution (H.Res. 226), which also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile, was introduced by Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and approved by an overwhelming vote of 422 to one. In debate on the House floor, Rep. Holt, the sponsor of the resolution, said, "We urge the Chinese Government to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Dalai Lama in a sustained effort to craft a permanent and just solution that protects the rights and dignity of all Tibetans." Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, the lead cosponsor and Ranking Member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, this resolution can serve as a response to the foreign minister. The U.S. Congress has a message for the Foreign Minister of China's Communist regime, and that is that the Dalai Lama is not only a religious figure, but a person of such renown that he was granted the Congressional Gold Medal." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "What we can do is put the moral authority of the Congress of the United States in the form of this resolution, with a broad bipartisan vote, down as a marker to say that we understand the situation there, that we encourage it to be different and ... that we are on the side of the Tibetan people. On Monday, Speaker Pelosi, on behalf of the U.S. government accepted the gratitude of the Tibetan-American community as Tibetan-Americans from around the country converged on Washington to lobby Congress to continue its long-standing support for Tibet. President Obama will met Chinese President and Party Secretary Hu Jintao in London on April 2 for the G20 Summit. |
Sunday, March 15, 2009
‘Separatist allegations’ by Chinese Premier misleading: Tibetan PM
‘Separatist allegations’ by Chinese Premier misleading: Tibetan PM
| Phayul[Sunday, March 15, 2009 01:43] | ||
| Calling Premier Wen Jiabao’s “separatist” allegations against the Dalai Lama a misleading one, Tibetan PM asks China to “demonstrate its sincerity” in resolving Tibet issue By Phurbu Thinley
“On many occasions, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has reiterated that he is not seeking separation from the People's Republic of China,” PM Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche said. “The Chinese Premier's allegations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama seeking separation is far from the truth,” the PM remarked. “The international community is well aware of this fact and it does not need further clarification,” Prof. Rinpoche, who became the first directly-elected PM of the exile government in 2001 and currently running his second consecutive term in the office, added. The Tibetan PM was responding to Chinese Premier’s comments made during a rare press conference on Friday in Beijing. Premier Wen reiterated the usual Chinese statement saying that the doors for negotiation were “always open” as long as the Dalai Lama renounces what Beijing describes as “separatism”. Wen's comments came at the end of a week that marked the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. The Tibetan PM, while welcoming PRC leadership's willingness to “continue contacts and consultations” with the Envoys of the Dalai Lama, expressed hope that “Beijing will demonstrate its sincerity in resolving the Tibetan problem.” “His Holiness the Dalai Lama is always ready to engage with the Chinese leadership to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problems of the Tibetan people,” Prof. Rinpoche said. Rinpoche asserted that the demands from the Tibetan side had already been presented to the PRC government in writing in the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People,” and accused the Premier Wen of somehow sidestepping the presence of the document. “What His Holiness is seeking for the Tibetan people has already been presented to the PRC government in writing as a Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People by the Envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 31 October 2008 during the eighth round of talks,” Prof. Rinpoche noted. “The Memorandum clearly outlines the aspirations of the Tibetan people strictly within the constitutional principles of the People's Republic of China,” the PM said. “Premier Wen Jiabao appears to be trying to avoid acknowledging this document by referring to some past statements of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” Rinpoche added. The Dalai Lama says he is only seeking a “real and meaningful” autonomy for Tibetan people within China and opposes the use of violence. Talks between the representatives of the Dalai Lama and Beijing came to a standoff after eight rounds of talks failed to bring out any positive outcome. The memorandum presented by the Tibetan side during the eighth round of talks was met with China's derision with Beijing blaming the Tibetan side of seeking “disguised independence”. Even after categorically rejecting the memorandum, China still says it is sincere about the talks. |
Three foreigners detained in Nepal for Anti China Protests
Three foreigners detained in Nepal for Anti China Protests
| Phayul[Sunday, March 15, 2009 11:09] |
| Dharamsala, March 15 – As the police in Nepal closely watched the Tibetans against carrying out any protests this year three foreign nationals were arrested yesterday for staging a protest demonstration in Kathmandu. Dutch national Meela Yenssen, Norwegian Giinarne Hanshen and British national Gaisy Karen Wood shouted “Free Tibet” and “China, out of Tibet” at the Chinese Embassy’s visa section at Hattisar in the Nepalese capital. Citing police inspector Bam Dev Gautam, Kantipur online reported that another foreigner fled the scene on a motorbike. The protesters were wearing t-shirts with prints of Free Tibet slogans. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue who visited Nepal last month asked Nepal to control possible anti-China activities in the upcoming months on its soil, according to media reports. Nepalese government has beefed up security around the Chinese embassy and enforced a ban on protests near the “sensitive area” that extends to areas within 200 metres of the Chinese embassy apparently under Chinese pressure. Nepal had come under international criticism last year for its brutal treatment of Tibetan protesters, and was accused of acting under pressure from China. March 10 this year marked the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising, which forced Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans to flee into exile in 1959. Nepal is home to about 15,000 Tibetans. |
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