SWEEPS IN LHASA; PROTEST SPREADS ACROSS THE PLATEAU

Chinese occupation forces check identities in Lhasa, March 18, 2008. China has declared a "people's war" against supporters of Dalai Lama. Photo: Reuters / Kyodo

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s the tight security clampdown takes hold in Lhasa, with reports that at least 1,000 Tibetans have been detained there so far, protests continue to spread across the vast Tibetan plateau. Local people in Kardze county, in the eastern Kham region of Tibet reported that three protestors were shot dead yesterday afternoon during peaceful demonstrations.

The incident took place on 18 March 2008, today between 2:30 - 3:00 PM (Beijing Standard Time) when around 300 Tibetans from all walks of life staged a peaceful protest demonstration in the main market square of Kardze County, Sichuan Province by raising slogans calling for "independence for Tibet" and "Long Live the Dalai Lama".

Soon after, more and more Tibetans in the market joined the protest demonstration shouting the pro-independence slogans. According to eyewitnesses account from the scene of demonstration, the Chinese paramilitary troops started firing live ammunition indiscriminately into the demonstrators from a rooftop of one building. Protestors started dispersing in all directions for cover. After a short while, three dead bodies were found lying on the road. According to sources, two of them were identified as Gonpo Nadul, Nyiga and the name of the third victim is still unidentified at the moment.

Radio Free Asia has more:

"The protesters shouted ‘Long live the Dalai Lama,’ and ‘Free Tibet,’ and they distributed leaflets. …The Chinese authorities arrested 10 protesters. One person, Ngoga, who led the demonstration, was killed by gunfire. The other nine were dragged away, and they looked injured, but it wasn’t clear," the witness said...

Another man, a Buddhist monk, was killed in a separate incident in the same town, according to witnesses...

"The police stopped them on the way. The monks protested, and one monk was killed by gunfire," one witness said. The name and age of the monk couldn’t immediately be obtained.

Police in Lhasa are not only rounding up live Tibetans, they are also rounding up the bodies of their victims to hide the evidence. And they are following the lead of the Burmese regime's clean-up methods, and burning that evidence.

A Tibetan source in Lhasa described seeing police take possession of the body of a man killed by gunfire on Tuesday.

"His family had planned to take his body away for a funeral, but then the police came to their house and seized the dead body," the witness said. "The police told the family that they are taking away all the dead bodies to conduct post-mortems and other investigations."

"They were also told that all the dead bodies in the recent unrest would be cremated together, and that prior to the cremation, the individual families will be contacted and that they would be allowed to pay a visit to the cremation site after the cremation."

Despicable. There are also reports that in doing their sweeps through the capital looking for ex-political prisoners, security forces are detaining family members if their target can't be found. Exactly from the Burmese junta playbook. Burma regime and China regime -- two peas in a pod.

New photos and accounts of a protest on March 16 in Machu county of Amdo (Ch: Gansu prov.) are published at Phayul. These protests continued through Monday, and the death toll has since been revised to 19, bringing the overall casualty count confirmed by Tibetan sources, to 99.

At least 12 Tibetans were killed and some 200 Tibetans have been severely injured when Chinese police opened fire after more than 2000 Tibetans, led by monks and Tibetan students, took protest march in Machu County in Tibet’s Amdo Province, a reliable source told Phayul.com.

The situation in Lithang county, Kham is also reportedly very tense. This was a centre of rare protest last August when during a Tibetan summer fair, a nomad publicly called for the return of Dalai Lama. Ronggye A'drak was arrested by Chinese security, which sparked mass demonstrations in the town. He is now serving a long prison sentence.

On 15 March 2008, Barchog Lopoe, a 37 years-old teacher cum manager of Lithang Nyingma Monastery (one of the 113 branches of Lithang Gonchen Monastery) in Lithang County, Kardze "TAP" stopped a convoy of military trucks from marching forward by standing in the middle of the road. Barchog Lopoe shouted slogans calling for free Tibet and Dalai Lama's long life, which was later joined by bystanders. Barchog Lopoe was arrested soon after his act by the Public Security Bureau (PSB)officials and took away to the County PSB Detention Centre. The bystanders and local public followed him towards the detention centre and demanded his release. Sensing more protest by the public, the PSB officials released Barchong Lopoe the same evening. Currently he is under constant vigilance and people of Lithang county fear that he might get re-arrested anytime.

Thousands of Tibetans protested yesterday afternoon, launching a major demonstration in Sertha county, Kardze "TAP" in eastern Kham region (Ch: Sichuan). They shouted pro-independence slogans, and were quelled by the People's Armed Police.

TCHRD has received new photographic evidence of the Tibetans slain by occupation forces at Ngaba county, Kham on Sunday. Careful -- they aren't nice to look at.

Foreign reporters are under extreme pressure from Chinese authorities as they attempt to cover the uprising .

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said journalists had experienced interference in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Xining, as well as in Lhasa.

"You don't want to know what will happen if you don't show us the footage,'' the club quoted police telling Finnish reporter Katri Makkonen, who was detained yesterday in Gansu province, where Tibetan monks held protests against Chinese rule.

There is a photo on that page of a man who has been shot in the back of the neck.

Tibetan parliamentarians, in an unprecedented action today, began a hunger strike in an urgent appeal to world governments and to the world's people. There were no abstentions. They ask for four simple things.

1. Support immediate dispatch of a fact-finding representative(s) to monitor the situation inside Tibet.

2. Intervene to stop further bloodbath in Tibet and demand immediate release of all those arrested.

3. Urge the Chinese leadership to lift the ban on media and allow free movement of press in Tibet.

4. Ensure immediate and adequate medical relief to injured innocent civilians peacefully demonstrating in Tibet.

ICT has more details on the many events now taking place across the Land of Snows (and a couple of new photos).

Labels: China, Tibet

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