Tibetans suffer more threats to civil and political rights in 2007
22 January 2008 7:00 pm

According to the 2007 Annual Report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights released recently, cases of arbitrary arrest and detentions have increased almost threefold in Tibet compared to 2006. The report indicates the threats to civil and political rights, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and religious freedom in Tibet.
(Bangkok) Cases of arbitrary arrest and detentions have increased almost threefold in Tibet compared to 2006. Half of the total of 65 known cases was recorded in the political volatile Kardze region, located outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Tibetans are seeking autonomy from China, permissible under Chinese Constitution since the 1950s. Their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama says that he has accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, but wants greater autonomy and not independence, for his homeland predominantly Buddhist. The government of China considers him a separatist and has accused him of continuing to promote independence of Tibet.

According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy’s 2007 Annual Report, most arrests were due to peaceful protests, flying the Tibetan flag and possessing pictures of Dalai Lama or “Free Tibet’ posters. There are currently 119 political prisoners: 43 serving terms of more than ten years; 80 are monks and nuns.

The report was released recently, with its executive summary issued on 21 January.

Monasteries have long been identified by the Chinese Government as a "hot bed of dissent" that needs to be patriotically re-educated to "love your country, love your religion". These political campaigns are often conducted in the monasteries by the authorities to silence dissent.

The introduction of two sets of regulations, “Tibet Autonomous Region Implementing Measures for the Regulations on Religious Affairs” and "Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism", are said to have enforced compliance of monasteries, undermine the Tibetan religious hierarchy and weaken the authority of religious teachers like the Dalai Lama.

Last year also saw a number of religious statues destroyed – Guru Rinpoche, in Samye Monastery, Ngari Darchen in Purang County and Rongpatsa Village in Kardze County – for violating the new law on religious affairs. Religious ceremonies such as “Saka Dawa”, “Gaden Ngamchoe”, the birthdays of the Dalai Lama and the 11th Panchen Lama have also been strongly restricted.

No freedom of speech

The authorities have shifted their focus on blogs, websites and video-sharing sites, in order to control the flow of information. Sites which have been shut down include www.tibettl.com/blog, www.tibetcm.com/blog and a Tibetan-language site known as "China's Tibetan Residential Education Network".

No Freedom of Movement

In Drepung Monastery, at least eight Tibetans were known to have been arrested while celebrating the Dalai Lama’s US Congressional Gold Medal. About 3,000 armed police were deployed at the monastery, where the monks were banned from leaving the premises.

Two journalists visiting Tibet – Herald Maass, China correspondent of the German daily Franfurter Rundschau, and Tim Johnson, the China correspondent of McClatchy – were questioned on May 15 by the Foreign Ministry about their trip to Tibet in April. They were accused of “mistaken, false and unacceptable reporting”. The travel agency in Lhasa that facilitated their tour in Tibet was forced to shut down.

Political detentions and torture

Tibetan nomad from Lithang County, Ronggye A'drak, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment by the Kardze Intermediate People's Court on 20 November, for calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. Two other Tibetans – Adruk Lopoe and Kunkhen – were sentenced to harsher terms by the same court, ten and nine years prison terms respectively, for "colluding with foreign separatist forces to split the country" by sending "state secrets" (information and pictures of unrest in the area) to the outside world.

On 7 September, police detained about 40 students for political graffiti on the walls of the village police station and other places. Four of the students of nomadic origins from the Amchok Bora Village Secondary School in Labrang County were reportedly tortured.

On 20 November, three teenage monks of Pekar Choekorling Monastery in Driru County were brutally beaten by police following a scuffle with Chinese shopkeepers. One of the monks, Tsering Gyaltsen, was beaten particularly severely after police found him wearing a photo of the Dalai Lama around his neck.

Other violations of human rights incidences in the executive summary of the report involved cases of involuntary disappearances and arrests of refugees fleeing Tibet. It also indicates marginalisation of Tibetans in social, religious, cultural and education system.

China is a State Party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In both conventions, torture has been prohibited under any circumstances, but it occurs unabated in Tibet with impunity. The Chinese authorities ensure that torture continues to be deeply rooted in detention centres and prisons in Chinese-occupied Tibet as the “official tool to kill human dignity”.