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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.”
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.
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.
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.
