Memories Of Movement

Dharamsala, June 21: A group of Indian Tibet activists today condemned the parading of the Olympic torch through Tibet’s capital Lhasa, accusing China of “using the Olympic Games as a tool for legitimizing its control in Tibet”.

The group joined by Tibetans, all wrapped in Tibetan National Flag, took part in a street play depicting the “current situation of fear in Tibet” and China’s policy of using the games for consolidating its grip on Tibet. They also shouted slogans demanding to China to leave Tibet and “Free Tibet Now”.

The three-hour relay was paraded amid tight security with police on guard every 200 metres and hand-picked spectators along the torch relay route, according to media reports. Reports described seeing trucks full of troops and riot police in other areas.

Contrary to China’s vows to allow unimpeded media access in the lead-up to the Games, only a selected group of journalists accompanied by officials was allowed into Lhasa for the relay, Reuters reported Saturday, adding “The city remains off bounds to free reporting”.

While protesting the Tibet leg of torch relay, the Indian activists also called on the Chinese government to release details of the 12 people sentenced by courts on Thursday and Friday for allegedly involved in the March unrest as reported earlier by China’s state news agency.

Tibetan Government-in-exile claim they have confirmed information that Chinese crackdown in Tibet has killed more than 200 Tibetans following widespread anti-China unrest since March 10. It also says 1000 more were injured and several more are being held under arbitrary arrest after the heavy military crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators.

China released 1,157 people who were involved in the riots in Lhasa, the official Xinhua news agency said on the eve of the relay, a move, described by AFP as, seen as an attempt to defuse tension about the event.

The move also comes amid concerns raised by Amnesty International, earlier this week, that a quarter of about 4,000 people detained by police during the riots in Tibet in March are unaccounted for. China is also routinely accused by other rights and activist groups of turning Tibet into a virtual prison.

“We are completely against the arrival of the torch in Tibet after all the violent crackdown on Tibetan people,” Tenzin Norkyi, who took part in today’s street protest here, told Phayul.

The Chinese government considerably shortened the original relay route in Tibet to just one day instead of three. The event was further cut short from eight hours to three, citing last month’s massive earthquake.

Rights groups and pro-Tibet protests have condemned China’s decision to take the torch to Tibet and demanded China to cancel the torch relay through Lhasa because of the recent anti-China unrest.

Speaking to Phayul, Shibayan Raha, the coordinator of today’s protest, said “We condemn the decision of the Chinese Government to take the torch to Lhasa. Today’s torch relay in Lhasa was clearly a rehearsed event without any open support and welcome from the Tibetan people”.

“For the Chinese Government, to carry the torch to Tibet is to show to the world that Tibet is part of China and to showcase a harmonious Tibet,” the Indian activist, who is also the Outreach Coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet (India), said.

“Chinese government’s plan to showcase a harmonious Tibet regardless of the deep resentment of Tibetan people against its rule will fail,” he added.

According to him, after the recent unrest in Tibet has sown more awareness about the issue among Indian masses and that there has been a growing support for the Tibetan cause from them.

He feels Indians have greater role to play for the Tibetan cause and thinks his government is not “up to the mark” even when it knows the historical truths about Tibet.

“China wants to show to the world that everything is fine in Tibet; reality we know is Tibetans are dying there and Tibet is locked down to the outside world,” Mr Raha asserts.

“We will seize every opportunity to highlight the situation in Tibet during the days leading to the Olympics in Beijing,” Chintan Raj from Mumbai, who is currently in the town on Tibet study tour under ‘Gurukul Project’ initiated by Universal Responsibility Foundation in Delhi, said.

“In the case of Tibet, we believe in only one thing - ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’, he says.

MPs from 8 European countries have come together to form a new Parliamentary
caucus on Burma. The new caucus is launched to coincide with the 63rd
birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi – the detained leader of Burma’s democracy
movement. They hope to recruit more than 200 MPs to the caucus before the
end of the year.

The caucus aims to raise awareness of Burma in Europe and pressure European
governments to do more to bring about democratic transition in Burma. The 7
key objectives are:

· To seek stronger action on Burma from European governments, the
European Union, the United Nations Security Council, and other governments
and international institutions.

· To foster contacts with our fellow MPs from Burma.

· To foster contacts with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on
Myanmar, and other Asian MPs.

· To put forward motions, questions, and initiate debates on Burma in
our Parliaments.

· To provide monthly updates on the situation in Burma for European MPs.

· To cultivate links with civil society organisations knowledgeable
about Burma.

· To act as a strong public voice for democratisation in Burma.

John Bercow, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary group for Democracy in
Burma in the British Parliament said: “We are creating this European
Parliamentary Caucus on Burma because it will enable parliamentarians from
across Europe to share information and to lobby together for more effective
measures to bring the regime to heel and to speed up the progress to
democracy for the long suffering people of Burma.”

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The Olympic torch relay will travel to the heavily guarded Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on 21 June after the three-day tour that was initially planned was cut to one day. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) remains highly concerned about the level of restriction imposed on the Tibetan people’s fundamental freedoms in the months that have followed in the wake of the March protests.

Since the beginning of June this year, several thousand of the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) forces were redeployed into main market squares, streets, major monasteries and road junctions around Lhasa city to check and respond to any untoward incidents during the Olympic torch relay, which is scheduled to travel from Norbulingka to Potala Palace square tomorrow. According to an official Chinese government website, the 11-km relay will start from Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama and end at the Potala Palace, but it has not mentioned the timing of the torch relay. An official internal circular had been sent to Chinese government departments ordering their heads to discourage their own employees, as well as the common citizens, from taking part in any political activities during the torch relay.

In a press conference during the third Chinese state sponsored media tour of Tibet on 3 June, in response to a question raised by a Hong Kong based journalist, Pema Thinley, the Vice-Chairman of the “Tibet Autonomous Region” (’TAR’) government acknowledged the intensification of the security forces and identified what he saw as its three main motivations. He concluded that the increased pressure from the Chinese government might be an effort to reduce “the possibility of further unspecified ‘incidents’ in Lhasa during the Olympic torch relay, secondly to check any untoward incident during Saka Dawa (a Buddhist holy month) and finally to crush pro-Tibet Independence activists.”

Mr. Thinley’s perspective reemphasizes earlier comments made by Chinese authorities in Tibet who have promised to “severely punish” and “give no indulgence” to Tibetans who would try to “sabotage” the torch relay.

The move by the Chinese authorities to allow journalists from 29 foreign media groups to cover the Lhasa leg of Olympic torch relay, however, has been welcomed by those calling for increased media access to Tibet. Because the media tours allowed foreign journalists have been so closely monitored and controlled though, for many there still remains something to be desired. Many still believe that the authorities should provide free and unfettered access to all media to shed light on the situation on the ground. TCHRD believes that the media presence in Lhasa for the torch relay would not only do good, but also that Chinese authorities should provide unfettered access to foreign journalist to speak freely to Tibetans, visit prominent monasteries and nunneries which remain sealed off, visit those in detention, or otherwise investigate aspects of the recent protests.

Since there has been a complete lockdown in Tibet and restrictions on the travel of independent international observers to Tibet, as well as severe media censorship, the Chinese authorities currently have a pseudo state-sanctioned license to commit human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, beatings, and abductions of Tibetans. The Centre has recorded the arrests or arbitrary detention of more than 6,500 Tibetans and the deaths of more than 100 others. Additionally, the cases of thousands of injured Tibetans remain unaccounted for since 10 March Protests across Tibet. Reportedly, many Tibetans have also died shortly after being released from Chinese custody, in which they were subjected to inhumane torture. In one instance, Nechung, a 38- year-old mother of four children from Charu Hu Village in Ngaba County, Ngaba “TAP”, Sichuan Province, died days after being subjected to brutal torture in a Chinese prison on 17 April 2008. In another instance, Dawa, a 31 year-old Tibetan farmer from Dedrong Village, Jangkha Township, Phenpo Lhundup County, Lhasa City, “TAR”, died on 1 April 2008 after being severely beaten by Chinese prison guards.

Numerous credible reports received by the TCHRD about the scale and intensity of the Chinese government’s repression across Tibet suggests that authorities have used the March Protests as an opportunity to launch a systematic crackdown on Tibetans’ fundamental rights. The Chinese authorities have deployed a large number of security forces to suppress further demonstrations and have intensified their “patriotic re-education campaign” across all sections of Tibetan communities. So far, the Chinese officials have given only limited information on those who have been sentenced after swift trial proceedings.

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Subject: FreeTibet2008.org: SFT Launches New Olympics Website/Video

With the start of the Beijing Olympics only 49 days away, SFT HQ is stepping up our Olympic campaign efforts. To ensure that you are kept up to date with news, analysis, and ways to participate in creative, strategic and effective actions for Tibet leading up to and during the Games, we are excited to launch SFT’s Olympics website: http://www.FreeTibet2008.org.

Visit http://www.FreeTibet2008.org now and watch our new SFT Olympics Campaign video, a moving account of what is at stake inside Tibet and the power we have – as Tibetans, supporters, and people of conscience – to make history for Tibet at this crucial time.

We are about to enter the most critical stage in our organization’s history, and indeed in the history of the Tibet movement, and we need your help.

After you watch SFT’s new Olympics Campaign video, download it and share it with your friends and family. Post it on your Facebook page, send it to all your email contacts and encourage everyone you know to donate to SFT in this Olympic year.

With your help, we will raise the necessary funds to seize this once-in-a-lifetime Olympic opportunity to make history for Tibet.

Make a donation right now: http://www.FreeTibet2008.org/donate

As the Chinese government prepares to launch its single-largest propaganda exercise ever, all of us at SFT are working with ever-greater intensity to keep the world’s attention focused on the Tibetan people’s cries for freedom. Tibetans continue to speak out despite the terrible risks, and need you in this critical time.

Please support our efforts by donating to SFT’s Olympics action fund now.

This is the most urgent time to support SFT as we effectively expend tremendous physical and financial resources toward realizing our goal – and the goal of the Tibetan people – human rights and freedom for Tibet.

This truly is the time. With your help, Tibet will be free.

Yours,
Lhadon Tethong

P.S. Please visit http://www.FreeTibet2008.org today. We’ve designed it as a one-stop resource for everything related to SFT’s Olympics campaign, featuring a media center, a photo and video gallery, resources and tools to help you get involved and take action, and streamlined information and analysis from SFT’s website and leading blogs.

Places to donate:

www.WorldVision.org

www.FeedTheChildren.org

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has documented numerous cases of protests particularly led by the nuns of various nunneries in Kardze County in the past few weeks. According to the latest information received by the TCHRD from a reliable source confirmed that, three nuns of Dragkar Nunnery and a female student were arrested by the Kardze County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials for staging a protest yesterday.

On 28 May 2008 at around 9 AM (Beijing Standard Time) three nuns of Dragkar Nunnery in Kardze County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture”(’TAP’) Sichuan Province staged a peaceful demonstration in Kardze County main market square. The three nuns chanted slogans calling for the “swift return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet”, “Long Live the Dalai Lama”, “Freedom for Tibet” and “Immediate release of all political prisoners”. The protesting nuns even distributed pamphlets calling for the “independence for Tibet”. After a period of short demonstration they were arrested and taken away by the Kardze County PSB officials for questioning. The names and origins of the three nuns were identified as Ven. Sangye Lhamo, 26 years old from Kyakyatengtsang family of Dungra Village, Serchuteng Township, Kardze County, Ven. Tsewang Kando, 38 years old, Dungra Village, Serchuteng Township, Kardze County, and Ven. Yeshi Lhadon, 24 years old from Tsozhi village, Kardze County. Kardze “TAP” Sichuan Province. The present condition and well-being of three nuns were unknown at the moment.

After about an hour of their demonstration, another solo protest was staged by a 21-year-old female student, Rigden Lhamo of Tapontsang family from Lhakey Village, Thingkha Township, Kardze County, by unfurling the banned Tibetan national flag and shouted similar slogans at the county government headquarters.

According to an eyewitness account from the area, the county security forces fired gunshots and there is no clear information on whether Rigden Lhamo was shot or injured. However, it was confirmed that the County PSB officials detained her after her brief protest in front of the county government headquarters.

According to another eyewitness account from the demonstration site, bloodstains were seen on the body of Rigden Lhamo but it could not be ascertained whether it was from severe beating inflicted on her by the security forces or from the gunshots. There is no information on her current whereabouts at the moment. It was confirmed that she has sustained an injury and therefore should be subjected to immediate medical attention.

The current situation in Kardze is known to be very tense with authorities deploying more security forces into the area to suppress further political dissidence.

TCHRD condemns in strongest terms the Chinese security forces’ brutal use of force on the peaceful Tibetan demonstrators. TCHRD also call upon the PRC government to release all those Tibetans who have been arrested and detained for exercising their fundamental human rights enshrined in the UDHR, constitution and many other international covenants and treaties that she is party to.

(Reuters) - Myanmar’s junta extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, a move likely to dismay Western nations who promised millions of dollars in aid after Cyclone Nargis.

Officials drove to the Nobel laureate’s lakeside Yangon home to read out a six-month extension order in person, said a government official, who asked not to be named.

However, a Yangon-based diplomat said it was for a year.

The 62-year-old Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a 1990 election landslide only to be denied power by the army, has now spent nearly 13 of the last 18 years under some form of arrest.

Her latest period of detention started on May 30, 2003 “for her own protection” after clashes between her supporters and pro-junta thugs in the northern town of Depayin. The last of a series of year-long extensions expired on Tuesday.

Although few expected Suu Kyi to be released, the extension is a timely reminder of the ruling military’s refusal to make any concessions on the domestic political front despite its grudging acceptance of foreign help after the May 2 cyclone.

Hours before the extension, police arrested 20 NLD members trying to march to Suu Kyi’s home.

State-controlled media on Tuesday praised the United Nations for the help it has given to the 2.4 million people left destitute in the Irrawaddy delta, suggesting a thaw in the junta’s frosty relationship with the outside world.

The English-language New Light of Myanmar, the generals’ main mouthpiece, said U.N. agencies took “prompt action” to provide relief supplies after the cyclone, which left 134,000 people dead or missing.

Activists criticized U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for not speaking out about Suu Kyi’s detention during his recent visit to Myanmar, which the U.N. chief said was purely a humanitarian mission.

“It is shameful that Ban Ki-Moon went to Burma and failed even to utter her name,” Mark Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, said.

“He is playing into the regime’s hands. The U.N. is crawling on its knees before the regime, afraid to speak the truth in case it affects aid access deals, which the regime is already breaking in any case,” he said.

Three weeks after the cyclone’s 120 mph (190 kph) winds and sea surge devastated the delta, the U.N. says fewer than one in three of those most in need have received any aid.

Thousands of beggars line the roads, with droves of children shouting “Just throw something” at passing vehicles.

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From Spiked:

A quiet, middle-class café in Westminster, in the political heart of London, is the last place you would expect to hear someone badmouthing the Dalai Lama. When that someone is a Buddhist nun, dressed in trademark maroon robes and with shorn hair, it seems even more peculiar. ‘The Dalai Lama is a hypocrite and an oppressor’, says Kelsang Pema over a glass of water with ice (what else?), as she fishes from her rucksack ‘stacks of evidence’ to show me why the Dalai Lama ‘cannot be trusted’. A well-to-do blonde-haired woman in a power suit shoots us strange looks from the adjacent table. Slating the Dalai Lama, especially on a crisp, sunny Monday morning as he is due to arrive in Britain for an official visit, is not the done thing in polite circles in London.

Kelsang Pema – birth name: Helen Gradwell, born and brought up in Carlisle, England – is a leading member of the Western Shugden Society, a group of Buddhists who worship the ‘wisdom deity’ Dorje Shugden. Buddhists, especially in Tibet, have been saying the Dorje Shugden prayer for more than 350 years. Pema tells me ‘the prayer becomes your life, your breath’. Buddhists call on Dorje Shugden to ‘help us develop pure qualities’, she says, ‘including love, compassion and patience’. There’s only one problem: the Dalai Lama, head of the Tibetan government-in-exile in northern India and considered by many Buddhists to be a figurehead of their faith, effectively outlawed the worship of Dorje Shugden in 1996 and overnight transformed Shugden-following Buddhists into heretics and untouchables.

In March 1996, the Dalai Lama decreed that the worship of Dorje Shugden was ‘evil’. In what is believed to have been part of an internal power struggle in his fiefdom-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India, the Dalai Lama ordered all worshippers of Dorje Shugden to leave his temple on 21 March 1996. A week later, on 30 March 1996, the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (the parliament in exile) passed a resolution banning the worship of Dorje Shugden by Tibetan government employees, and the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama issued a formal decree for everyone to stop practising the Dorje Shugden prayer. The New Internationalist reported that the Lama’s office wrote to every monastery in northern India and Tibet demanding that they ‘ensure total implementation of this decree by each and everyone… If there is anyone who continues to worship [Dorje Shugden], make a list of their names, house name, birth place… Keep the original and send us a copy of the list.’ (1)

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{This post is long, but I did not want to hide it away behind a “read the rest of this…” link. It’s important that information like this is disseminated as far and wide as possible…}

A rare testimony in detail of a Tibetan youth who was arrested in the aftermath of Lhasa unrest in March‭ ‬2008‭ ‬is obtained by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy‭ (‬TCHRD‭)‬.‭ ‬The interviewee describes the use of extreme torture in prison,‭ ‬cries of pain in the corridors of the prison,‭ ‬harrowing stories that he constantly hears,‭ ‬unwavering hope of support from the outside world,‭ ‬and perception of life post imprisonment.‭ ‬The interview which is reproduced below has been dictated to a third party and edited by TCHRD in order to protect the identity of the youth.‭ ‬While (*) denotes information withheld, further details,‭ ‬comments or explanations are provided in square brackets.

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“On‭ (*) ‬March,‭ around‭ ‬one‭ ‬hundred soldiers entered my house,‭ ‬broke down five doors,‭ ‬checked everything and threw it all on the floor and hit everyone present there.‭ ‬It was like a robbery or burglary.‭ ‬There were a lot of firearms and they were very rough with us.‭ ‬I was arrested.‭ ‬They took me with them,‭ ‬with my thumbs tied behind my back,‭ ‬very tightly,‭ ‬resulting in the whole area being numb for the last two or three months‭ [‬all of his left thumb‭]‬.‭ ‬They treated us very harshly.‭ ‬Talking to each other,‭ ‬they said,‭ “‬This is our chance‭”‬,‭ ‬and they beat us.‭ ‬At first I thought that they were going to kill me,‭ ‬they hit my head a lot,‭ ‬and skull can be broken easily.‭ ‬It is not like the rest of the body.‭ ‬They took me to prison.‭ ‬For four days they didn’t ask me anything,‭ ‬they just threw me in.‭ ‬They gave us half a steamed bun a day.‭ ‬That’s very small.‭ ‬Everyone were very thirsty and a lot of people drank their urine‭ [‬the detainees were not provided with water‭]‬.‭ ‬We had no clothes,‭ ‬no blankets,‭ ‬nothing to lie down on,‭ ‬nothing‭ [‬just cement floors]‬ and it was very cold.‭ ‬For four days nobody spoke to us,‭ ‬they just left us there.”

“During the day it’s quiet,‭ ‬there’s nothing in Lhasa during the day.‭ ‬Between‭ ‬11:00‭ ‬at night and‭ ‬5-6:00‭ [‬in the morning‭] ‬they arrest thousands of people. In that room,‭ ‬after four or five days,‭ ‬they gave us two steamed buns with hot water.‭ ‬We were‭ ‬(*) ‬people in that room.‭ ‬Very bad.‭ ‬We heard a lot of things.‭ ‬Many people had their arms or legs broken or gunshot wounds but they weren’t taken to hospital.‭ ‬They were there with us.‭ ‬It was really terrible.‭ ‬I can’t believe that we are in the‭ ‬21st century.‭ ‬For instance,‭ ‬one boy who was shot four times,‭ ‬one from here to there‭ [‬the bullet entered from the left side of his back and exited from the left side of his chest,‭ ‬near his heart‭]‬,‭ ‬one from here to here‭ [‬from inner left elbow to inner left wrist‭]‬,‭ ‬and one here‭ [‬a horizontal wound on his upper right arm‭]‬.‭ ‬Some people had their ribs broken.‭ ‬One man was punched in his‭ [‬right‭] ‬eye,‭ ‬and it was all swollen and black and blue,‭ ‬very bad.‭ ‬People had their teeth broken,‭ ‬these are just examples.‭ ‬A lot of terrible things were done.”

“One of the problems is that people have no food,‭ ‬they are very hungry,‭ ‬they are just falling over.‭ ‬One boy fell into the toilet,‭ ‬all in the same room,‭ ‬and he was cut right across his face‭ [‬under his chin along the jaw‭]‬.‭ ‬For instance,‭ ‬a lot of people have psychological problems,‭ ‬and they’re the first to collapse.‭ ‬A boy from Tse-Tang ,‭ ‬he has a problem of the‭ “‬heart‭”‬,‭ ‬a psychological problem,‭ ‬and he was very thin.‭ ‬At first he fell two or three times every day but they didn’t care.”

“The worst thing‭ – ‬this is Gondzhe‭ [‬the name of the prison‭]‬,‭ ‬in Lhasa there are nineteen prisons,‭ ‬the biggest is Drapchi and there is one in Chushul‭ [‬Ch:‭ ‬Qushu County‭]‬,‭ ‬they are empty,‭ ‬they showed the visitors that nobody is in prison,‭ ‬it’s just for show.‭ ‬Usually there is no prison at the train station,‭ ‬but they rented a very big building and they put people there and in Du-Long‭ [‬Toelung Dechen County‭] ‬and at the train station,‭ ‬and in Gondzhe‭; ‬they put people in these three places.‭ ‬At night they bring a big bus,‭ ‬and many soldiers come,‭ ‬and one hundred to one hundred and fifteen go to Du-Long.‭ ‬They say it’s time to go home,‭ “‬You haven’t done anything wrong,‭ ‬you’re going home,‭” ‬but they put them in a huge bus to Du-Long or to the train station.‭ ‬They’ve mixed up the people and transferred people from here to there‭ [‬from prison to prison‭]‬.‭ ‬I didn’t see this myself,‭ ‬but friends told me what they saw at Du-Long.‭ ‬Some monks had sacks put over their heads and they were taken away and didn’t come back,‭ ‬so maybe they were killed.”

“I met an old man,‭ ‬65‭ ‬years old,‭ ‬who had two ribs broken and he was all bent over‭ [‬demonstrates a bent man‭]‬,‭ ‬and he couldn’t stand up straight,‭ ‬he was dying,‭ ‬so the police took him to People’s Hospital,‭ ‬where one or two people die every day‭ [‬due to police violence‭]‬.‭ ‬The people who are taken to hospital are usually people who have been shot or beaten,‭ ‬and they usually die there.‭ ‬A brother and sister from (*‭)‬,‭ ‬the brother was younger,‭ ‬were sleeping in the same room and all of a sudden soldiers came and threw them out of the window from a high floor to the ground,‭ ‬the brother was killed on the spot.‭ ‬Yes,‭ ‬right outside the building.‭ ‬The sister didn’t die,‭ ‬but she can’t lie down,‭ ‬she has to remain in a sitting position all the time.‭ ‬They took the body away and told her that she is forbidden to tell anyone.‭ ‬(*).These are just a few examples.‭ ‬There are many problems like this.”

“Many questions were asked of people who were not guilty of anything.‭ ‬They are just‭ [‬guilty of being] Tibetans.‭ ‬There are many counties in Tibet,‭ ‬they call the police from each county,‭ ‬and the people from the counties aren’t in Lhasa so they show them that the prisons are empty,‭ ‬but they were taken to all kinds of places,‭ ‬because in Lhasa there are so many people watching so they keep everyone away.‭ ‬Now the monks from‭ (*)monastery‬,‭ ‬friends and relatives,‭ ‬we don’t know where they are.”

“You know that they say that there are no soldiers in Lhasa,‭ ‬but they’re in civilian dress and they check identity papers.”

“I want to talk and that people should know what’s happening in Tibet.‭ ‬If they beat me that’s okay‭ [‬he means that his family may be hurt as well‭]‬,‭ ‬I didn’t do anything bad in Lhasa.‭ “

“Many young people in Lhasa,‭ ‬for example,‭ ‬if we were together on the‭ ‬14th‭ [‬of March‭]‬,‭ ‬I was beaten,‭ ‬so I was‭ “‬sold‭” ‬and then you’re with me‭ [‬with the prison warden doing the beating‭]‬.‭ ‬But I have friends in‭ (*) monastery,‭ ‬I would rather die than give them away.‭ ‬I saw a lot of things that they did in prison.‭ ‬A guy from Dhadezhe [possibly Dartsedo County]‭ ‬had a new jacket,‭ ‬so they beat him and he died,‭ ‬because of the jacket,‭ ‬because it was very new,‭ ‬so they said he stole it,‭ ‬so because of his new coat he was killed.”

“There are a lot of high school students from Sauko‭ .‭ ‬A seventeen-year-old who had not participated in the events of the‭ ‬14th‭ [‬of March‭]‬,‭ ‬all his clothes were taken away,‭ ‬they tied his hands and they pushed a wagon at him until he fell,‭ ‬there are all kinds of torture methods.‭ ‬This kid was very young and he didn’t even do anything.‭ ‬Afterwards he said that he’d done all kinds of things,‭ ‬that happens to a lot of people,‭ ‬they pressure people to admit things they never did. I didn’t see the dead people,‭ ‬but in prison people called out to the police or soldiers,‭ “‬Someone’s dead‭!”‬,‭ ‬every day people shout that.‭ ‬At Gondzhe there are nine buildings,‭ ‬and each building has eleven rooms and in each room there are twenty or thirty people.‭ ‬And one day,‭ ‬a Chinese man was asked some questions,‭ ‬someone called and asked how many people had been arrested and he said less than ten thousand,‭ ‬and that doesn’t include Drepung,‭ ‬Sera,‭ ‬Ramoche,‭ ‬Jokhang.‭ ‬After they let us out they arrested the monks.‭ ‬When I got out‭ [‬of prison‭]‬ I heard that many were arrested at Drepung Monastery.‭ ‬I was released on‭ (*) ‬April‭ ‬.”

“I met a monk from Ramoche before I was released.‭ ‬I am very worried about the monks.‭ ‬The soldiers regard the monks as something very different,‭ ‬because a monk from Dezhe‬ [possibly Derge County],‭ ‬his finger was bent over‭ [‬shows a completely bent finger‭] ‬and he’d been blinded in one eye,‭ ‬he couldn’t see out of it at all,‭ ‬he was beaten more than us but luckily‭ … ‬Really I can’t understand why they do terrible things to monks,‭ ‬very,‭ ‬very painful.”

“I met a boy from (*) [County] in the same prison,‭ ‬and he had two friends in Lhasa who lived near Ramoche and they were shot,‭ ‬and his two friends,‭ ‬one,‭ ‬there’s a hospital near Anichenko‭ ,‭ ‬he was taken to a nunnery and he died there,‭ ‬21‭ ‬years old,‭ ‬I’ve forgotten his name‭; ‬the other was‭ ‬20‭ ‬years old,‭ ‬he was shot and he’s in hospital,‭ ‬maybe he’ll die too.‭ ‬He was shot on Gangsu Street.”

“A boy named (*),‭ ‬aged‭ ‬(*),‭ ‬from Anishim‭ ‬ near Lhasa,‭ ‬is in prison,‭ ‬and two of his friends were shot to death.‭ ‬He and his‭ ‬18‭ ‬year-old brother were from Phenpo.‭ ‬In the prison at Gondzhe there are a lot of people from Phenpo.”

“During the day it’s very quiet,‭ ‬everything happens at night,‭ ‬everything’s very secret.‭ ‬There is no telephone contact with Drepung,‭ ‬Sera or the train station.‭ ‬Sometimes we can get in touch with the train station,‭ ‬but not most of the time,‭ ‬so they can’t be reached.”

“I have a relative in India,‭ ‬I wrote just what I heard and saw to send over the internet.‭ ‬I wrote a little and I saved it on Word,‭ ‬and all of a sudden it disappeared,‭ ‬so I was very frightened.‭ ‬So I haven’t checked my e-mail,‭ ‬I have a lot of friends abroad and they send many e-mails but I haven’t opened them.(*).”

“Outwardly they show people that everything is very nice but inside it’s really terrible.‭ ‬People did really bad things and forced us to make this problem.‭ ‬At Ramoche they didn’t do anything,‭ ‬but thousands of soldiers surrounded the monastery and all the temples,‭ ‬and many vehicles closed off the gates like a prison.‭ ‬We can’t be tolerant anymore,‭ ‬we should be tolerant but we can’t be tolerant anymore.‭ ‬There are no human rights and cultural genocide is the reality,‭ ‬that’s the big part,‭ ‬but the small part we see,‭ ‬for instance in Lhasa,‭ ‬on a main street like Beijing Lu‭ [‬Lu means street in Chinese‭]‬,‭ ‬or Gengshu Lu,‭ ‬how many Tibetans have businesses on streets like those‭? ‬This is Lhasa,‭ ‬Tibet,‭ ‬not China.‭ ‬Don’t the Tibetans have to live‭? ‬The Chinese are more talented because they study in big cities.‭ ‬They have experience or enough money to do business,‭ ‬but Tibetans come from villages,‭ ‬they are farmers or nomads,‭ ‬they don’t have money,‭ ‬so how can they do business in Lhasa‭? ‬What is more necessary‭? ‬That the local people do business in Lhasa or the Chinese‭? ‬Why don’t the Chinese police allow Tibetans to do business on one side of the street and the Chinese on the other side‭ – ‬so things will be more balanced‭? ‬There are many Tibetans who are very talented and intelligent,‭ ‬but they don’t have enough money to make it.‭ ‬They have money because they live in Beijing or Shanghai.‭ ‬That’s the small part.‭ “

“I see a lot of things,‭ ‬I’m okay,‭ ‬I can do many things.‭ ‬But I see many Tibetans,‭ ‬the way they live,‭ ‬and the way the Chinese live,‭ ‬and this is Tibet.‭ ‬The local people shouldn’t be superior to the Chinese,‭ ‬but there should be balance.‭ ‬There are some very old Tibetans who have pensions from the government,‭ ‬you can see them on TV.‭ ‬They said bad things to the Tibetans.‭ ‬I watch them and I just laugh.‭ ‬There are many westerners who are fighting for Tibetan civil rights.‭ ‬I’m very happy that these people are doing this.‭ ‬I want to study more at home every day but I can’t.‭ ‬When I watch TV,‭ ‬everything is lies,‭ ‬so it pains my heart‭ [‬points to his heart‭] ‬and it’s very bad.‭ ‬So I walk in the streets and I see the soldiers asking me for my identity papers,‭ ‬they look at my card and ask me,‭ “‬When were you born‭?” ‬and if there’s the smallest mistake you’re finished.‭ ‬They check the picture and your face,‭ ‬but a Chinese person can pass right by‭ [‬without identity papers‭]‬,‭ ‬that’s okay.”

‎(*). “Before this was the best place, but now it’s like a prison, it’s not like Lhasa. When I was in prison,‭ ‬a Tibetan policeman told me‭ “‬Kneel down here‭!”‬,‭ ‬I had my thumbs tied behind my back.‭ ‬He sat down‭ [‬on a chair in front of me‭]‬,‭ ‬put his foot on my head and kicked my forehead with his foot,‭ ‬pushed my head back and slapped my face over and over again,‭ ‬and I saw this man and I was very sad.‭ ‬He’s Tibetan and now I see him every day,‭ ‬I’ve seen him many times‭ [‬since then‭]‬.‭ ‬‬A lot of Chinese and Tibetans jumped on my back and kicked me and beat me over the head,‭ ‬they twisted my head back so I couldn’t see their faces,‭ ‬but to show me your face and to do those bad things‭ – ‬that’s the worst thing.”

“This is just an experience,‭ ‬I could learn a lot from it.‭ ‬In prison sometimes I dreamed about food and I remembered the food we cook at home,‭ ‬my mother and my sister’s cooking and I could smell it,‭ ‬and then I really appreciated how tasty the food is at home.‭ ‬I usually eat everything and then I say‭ “‬That wasn’t so good,‭” ‬and now I’ve learnt that it’s very,‭ ‬very good.‭ ‬These are the worst things that I’ve ever seen in my life,‭ ‬but you learn how to be a good person.‭ ‬Sometimes,‭ ‬when my (*)’s children are here,‭ ‬and they don’t do their schoolwork,‭ ‬I yell at them and hit them.‭ ‬But now if I yell at them it pains me sometimes.‭ ‬I’ve learned a lot.”

“I’m worried about the small Tibetan population.‭ ‬Many people are dying today or being crippled with broken arms and legs,‭ ‬and that’s very bad.‭ ‬And people are in prison,‭ ‬like me,‭ ‬and I think about the people in prison all the time.‭ ‬I think about the terrible state they are in.‭ ‬Young people,‭ ‬16‭ ‬or‭ ‬17‭ ‬years old,‭ ‬crying all the time‭ – ‬it makes me really sad.‭ ‬I saw people with broken limbs and people who’d been shot‭ – ‬seeing their pale faces is very,‭ ‬very sad.”

China arrests 16 monks and 2 lay Tibetans in Markham County according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

For over a month the Chinese authorities have been conducting “Patriotic re-education” campaign in Woeser Monastery and Khenpa Lungpa Monastery in Garthog Township, Markham ( Ch: Mangkang) County, Chamdo Prefecture, (Ch: Qamdo) “Tibet Autonomous Region” (”TAR”).

The Chinese authorities have been conducting intense “Patriotic re-education” campaign in Woeser and Khenpa Lungpa Monasteries since the beginning of April 2008. Sources told TCHRD that on 10 May 2008, the Chinese “work team” entered the monasteries to conduct intense and rigorous “Patriotic re-education” campaign which resulted in a bitter and heated arguments between the annoyed monks and the Chinese authorities. However, none of the monks signed off the official documents and nor did they write essays denouncing the Dalai Lama.

In response to the monks’ adamant refusal, the Chinese authorities arrested them. On 12 May 2008, 10 monks of Khenpa Lungpa Monastery were arrested. Similarly on 13 May 2008, 6 monks of Woeser Monastery were also arrested. Two lay Tibetans were later arrested on 14 May 2008.

The “Patriotic re-education” campaign was introduced in 1996 in Tibet to undermine Tibetan people’s loyalty to the Dalai Lama. It was also intended to win over the “hearts and minds of Tibetan people on the side of the Chinese government. But on contrary it has earned notoriety for its brazen attacks on the religious and cultural sentiments of the Tibetan people.

The Woeser and Khenpa Monasteries each housed fewer than a hundred monks on regular basis. In backdrop of the arrests of monks of Woeser Monastery, the remaining monks left the monastery which brought much sadness to the local Tibetan devotees who were unable to come to terms with a sudden closure of sacred monasteries.

On the other hand, the Chinese authorities and “work team” were conducting major “Patriotic re-education” campaign in Khenpa Lungpa Monastery.

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