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Agam's Gecko
Friday, April 04, 2008
 
TIBETAN UNITY AMID HARSH REPRESSION CONTINUES
Labrang water festival
Monks spray sacred water over Buddhist believers at the large Labrang Monastery, (Ch: Gansu province) during a festival on April 4, 2008. (The Thai water festival begins here next weekend for those interested.)
Photo: AP / Ng Han Guan
T

he people of Tibet are continuing to express their aspirations and solidarity -- despite the punishments, indoctrination sessions, and other forms of mistreatment they risk in doing so.

The latest current update from the exile Tibetan Government has much current information on the huge military deployments and mandatory forced "patriotic" re-education sessions in many areas. In some areas, people are reportedly being prohibited from leaving their counties (on punishment of losing household, land and agricultural benefits from the government).

Yet peaceful protests are reported from as recently as April 2, including the participation of monks, laypeople and school students. Postering campaigns are reported in several counties, as well as continuing resistance to the re-education sessions, which has resulted in further arrests.

TCHRD has been sent first-hand accounts and photos from a peaceful solidarity march in Holkha Township, Tsolho "TAP" (Ch: Qinghai province) on March 25. A prayer session for those who lost their lives in the recent demonstrations of Tibetan unity, was also included in the program last week. Tibetans marched through the main market square of the town, calling for an immediate end to the brutal crackdown.
In an unique display of their support for those who have lost their lives and were injured in recent protests, many marchers were seen carrying traditional prayer wheels in their hands while reciting prayers (Mani Mantra) and others holding a huge banner bearing text written in Tibetan and Chinese, that reads: Peace, Democracy. We mourn and pray (mani mantra) for our people who lost their lives. The marchers finally ended their procession at the Holkha Township government headquarters where they held a sit-in protest and recited prayer throughout the day. Although PAP and PSB officials were seen in their combat gear during the entire peaceful solidarity march, there was no report of arrest or detention of Tibetan marchers that day.
But three Tibetans were arbitrarily arrested in early morning raids on their homes after the event. Official public notices went out, demanding the "illegal" protesters to surrender by a deadline, or face severe punishment.
According to sources, following their arrest in the early morning raid on 26 March, more than 600 Tibetans from nine villages under Holkha Township staged a peaceful sit-in protest in front of Township government headquarters demanding immediate release of those arrested. The protesters sat for the entire day demanding the authorities to heed their demand. After a daylong protest, the protesting crowd finally dispersed after township authorities agreed to secure their releases. The sources confirmed that protesters pledge to undertake a similar protest at the government headquarters if authorities fail to deliver their promise.
No protest was reported in Holkha township on March 27, yet the market was beseiged by hundreds of additional PAP and PSB personnel in military trucks.
Later that day, four people, Malle and Tsekyab Gyal both male in their late 20's from Holkha Township and two Tibetan businesswomen from other parts of Tibet were arrested by the security forces for unknown reason. There is no information on the location of their detention. The present atmosphere in Holkha Township is known to be very tense with heavy presence of military forces.
See the photos of this event at the link above, including some banners written in Tibetan and Chinese, with their English translations.

ICT carries the comments of the courageous Jokhang monks, given during their unauthorized press briefing last week, translated into English.

Lodi Gyari, Dalai Lama's senior envoy during the six years of intermittent discussions with PRC authorities since 2002, has testified before a US congressional hearing, calling on China to cancel the "provocative and very insulting" move to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet.
He said the International Olympic Committee, if they wanted the games to be successful, "should tell China, 'Look that stretch of relay through Tibet needs to be cancelled.'

"Under the present circumstances, it would be really very insulting to the sentiment of the Tibetan people," said Gyari, who had led the Dalai Lama's delegation in six rounds of talks so far with the Chinese authorities to press for "meaningful autonomy" in Tibet.
He told the committee members that the responsibility for the current crisis is China's alone.
"What is happening in Tibet, the Chinese government must bear full responsibility. At every meeting in the last six years I told the Chinese, 'Please, you are pushing our people to the limits. If you continue pushing this policy, an unfortunate situation can happen."

"But they did not listen," Gyari said, accusing Beijing of "marginalization of the people Tibet" even though it was supposed to [be] an autonomous region.

"Tibet has become, particularly in the last few weeks, in every sense, an occupied province, brutally occupied" by the Chinese military, he said. "The Chinese communist party is running our monasteries."
Mr. Gyari called for the United States to press Beijing to allow a permanent US diplomatic mission in Lhasa, as required by US law. He called upon senior lawmakers to make an "urgent visit" to Tibet, saying, "The situation today is grim."
Gyari also expressed disappointment in the United Nations, saying China's powerful influence, as a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, was causing the U.N. to "shut its eye on Tibet."
Congress is beginning to kick into gear on this bi-partisan issue.
Republican Rep. Chris Smith, a frequent critic of China's human rights, compared the Beijing Olympics to Adolph Hitler's 1936 games in Berlin. He called on international aid groups to be allowed to visit Tibetan prisoners, who he said he feared would be tortured by Chinese officials.

Also Thursday, a group of 27 senators said they have sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging direct talks with the Dalai Lama.
Having Boxer and Brownback on the same side of an issue is indicative of the broad support Tibetans have from across the spectrum.

China has announced that Tibet (the TAR region only) will re-open to foreign tourists on May 1, and that over a thousand detainees will be tried in courts before that date. They wish to close the book on all this well before their big party in August.
Trials for rioters will held before May 1, Lhasa's deputy Communist Party secretary was quoted as saying in the state-run Tibet Commerce newspaper. Wang Xiangming said about 1,280 alleged rioters have been captured or turned themselves in to police.
But what sort of treatment will Tibetans receive, either before trial or after conviction? Imagine the worst and you won't go too far wrong. It's good that John Kamm's Dui Hua Foundation is getting involved. He's had more (limited) success in coaxing political prisoner releases than anyone else I know of.
Rights groups have voiced concerns over the potential abuse of prisoners, and American activist John Kamm said he had submitted a list of 17 Tibetan monks who were detained on March 10 at the start of peaceful protests that turned violent four days later. The protests have been the largest and most sustained among Tibetans in almost two decades.

Kamm, executive director of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, said China appears determined to defy international criticism over its Tibet policies, even though some officials seem to realize the country's reputation has suffered in the run-up to the Games.

"What gives me some hope is that there's some recognition that China's international image has taken a beating," Kamm told reporters in Beijing.
An optimistic note, I hope it's true. The following quote from the story is included here just for its sheer oxymoronishness. An official from the county where the Ngaba Kirti massacre took place:
At a news conference in Beijing, Aba's deputy chief Xiao Youcai, said life was "completely normal" in the area, but insisted also that it remained "too dangerous" for foreign journalists.
In another optimistic sign, a group of lawyers in China are offering their legal assistance to the Tibetan detainees, for which the Kashag (Tibetan cabinet) has offered genuine thanks.
"We are heartened and inspired to learn that a group of Chinese lawyers based in Mainland China have offered their legal assistance to Tibetan arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned by Chinese authorities following the peaceful protests starting March 10, 2008 in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas." the Cabinet stated.
The Chinese lawyers have called for their government to "obey the constitution" -- in other words, follow proper legal procedures as laid out in law.
"The Kashag would like to thank all those Chinese lawyers who have taken upon themselves to protect the legal rights of the Tibetans as well as Chinese people and have come forward to save the arrested Tibetans from the onslaught of a regime bent on curbing the fundamental rights of its own people to have a fair and just legal representation."
In Nepal, where the police force and governmental authorities have been so willing to do China's bidding, and in such a brutal fashion as to convince some inattentive news organisations that they actually are Chinese, the security forces once again are adding threats of deportation to the beating and arresting regimen meted out to Tibetan demonstrators.

This is not exactly new; Nepali authorities have periodically rounded up refugees from Tibet over the years, driven them right up to the border, and handed them over to Chinese officials waiting there. These people are known to have gone directly to prison or re-education work camps, and are probably tortured. This is called refoulement in international law, and is a big no-no. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued a joint statement on Tuesday, expressing concern for this as well as assaults (including sexual, on minors) against Tibetan detainees.
The threat of deportation constituted "a serious violation of Nepal’s international human rights obligations," the statement said. "China has been cited by the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment for its abuses of political dissidents in China, and those who have been protesting Chinese rule in Tibet will almost certainly be treated as dissidents."
Wai to Hunter-Seeker for the tip. China also complained yesterday that Nepal was not being tough enough on the Tibetans.

Yet even with this kind of treatment at the hands of Nepali security apparatus, the Tibetan exiles there have suspended their protests against China's aggression, out of respect for Nepal's democratic process. The country is holding elections next week.
"We have called off our anti-China protest in Kathmandu in view of the upcoming elections in Nepal," Thupden Tenzing Jamphel, chairman of the Nepal Tibetan Volunteer Youth for Free Tibet group told AFP.
Tibetan actions will resume after the elections.

The Italian news agency AsiaNews receives clarification on the issue of Chinese soldiers dressing up as monks. The Tibetan Government received reports of at least 4 different PLA units which have engaged in this. That now-infamous photograph had nothing to do with it, but the reports just keep coming. Tsering Choedup, south Asia coordinator of the International Tibet Support Network in Dharamsala:
Choedup says that "it is not only a matter of a photo, eyewitnesses living in Lhasa have confirmed this for us. Through cell phones given to them by relatives here in India, they have confirmed for us that they have seen Chinese soldiers and security agents changing into monks' robes, and inciting the crowd. After the accusations of Wu Heping, we are afraid that Chinese might dress as Tibetans and carry out attacks".
Wu Heping is the PRC official who most recently charged that Tibetans are planning bombing attacks and suicide missions. The exile organisations, Tibetan Government and Dalai Lama have all strenuously denied the accusation, while China has provided no evidence for it at all.

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- posted by Agam @ 4:55 PM 12 comments

12 Comments:

it's not true!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 04 April, 2008 23:21  

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The Chinese authorities have had to crack down on the riots and violence out of necessity. I find it unbalanced when I only read one side of the issue about the repression of the Tibetans. Yes, they have been repressed and treated poorly over the years by the Chinese gov't, but the Chinese authorities had to act to keep the rioting and violence under control for the sake of the safety of all citizens, chinese and tibetan.
Regards,
Wallace Tran

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 04 April, 2008 23:24  

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7329040.stm

BBC confirmed the source that there might have been evidence suggest some protesters were making Bombs. IF they did, they will be associated with terroism.IS there any explainations to this?

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 05 April, 2008 00:56  

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anonymouse #3:

Why don't some of you anonymouses choose a name so I can tell you apart? (Not you Wallace, thanks for distinguishing yourself)

WHERE in that story does it say ANYTHING about "protesters" making bombs? It doesn't say anything about "evidence" that "protesters" may be making bombs.

Or maybe someone should make an anti-bbc.com website, because come on - look at that picture accompanying the story. Those killed in the explosion haven't been identified yet, but they "may be Tibetans", and Siliguri is a hotbed of Indian rebel groups, and Nepali and Indian Maoists.

Even IF the bombs were being made by radical Tibetan extremists, there's nothing there to suggest they were "protesters" like the guy in the picture.

If the shoe was on the other foot, Chinese patriots would be screaming blue murder at the unfair and biased use of that photo.

Wallace Tran:
Yes of course they had to crack down on the riot. That was March 14, after 4 days of peaceful monks' processions were broken up forcefully. The Lhasa riot was over 3 weeks ago. Tibetans are still being shot and killed today, such as the latest incident reported here last night.

Agam

By Blogger Agam, at 05 April, 2008 09:21  

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Chinese Government must promptly crackdown the violence to protect people's lives, properties and social stability. Every nation will fall if let those lawless people freely disturbing the societies.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 05 April, 2008 12:13  

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anonymouse #3:

The blast in Siliguri is now confirmed as the responsibility of MAOISTS from NEPAL. Local police said of the three killed: "The three have been identified as Dipen, Likta and Akash Rai. They had connections with the Communist Party of Nepal-Youth League." Arrests have been made, of other Nepali communists, with SIM cards operating out of Nepal.

Police identify extremists

and

Police arrest three suspects

Do you think the BBC will remove that photo of peaceful Tibetan protesters from their story now?

Agam

By Blogger Agam, at 05 April, 2008 13:00  

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A woman and two men were among those killed when a powerful bomb accidentally went off inside a house in West Bengal's Siliguri district.

The rebel groups that are suspected of being involved in the blast include Madhesi rebel group operating in the nearby Terai region of Nepal, who are demanding a separate Madheshi State and are boycotting next week's crucial elections in Nepal.
see report http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20080405/925161.html

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 05 April, 2008 15:35  

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See all those extremist were doing the same things that damaging the societies and killing people and boycott election or Olympic Game.

Police must arrest them and put them into jails to protect other people's human right.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 05 April, 2008 15:42  

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Luke: What do you mean "all those extremists were doing the same thing"? Tibetans are standing up for the rights and freedoms denied them, resisting Chinese "re-education", and getting killed for it.

Then certain people tried to blame this bomb factory in India on them too! It turns out it was radical communist bomb makers, not Tibetan at all, and you want to claim they're "all the same" anyway?

Nothing illegal about boycotting an election, that's anyone's right. Blowing stuff up, killing people, is not "the same". Boycotting China's party is everyone's right also. You'd like them thrown in jail?

I suspect that asking you to be sensible about this would be a lost cause.

Agam

By Blogger Agam, at 05 April, 2008 16:01  

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This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 05 April, 2008 19:55  

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Luke, if you're not going to listen or respond to what I'm saying to you here, and especially if you plan to use these comments as a platform to push CCP propaganda and outright lies about the Tibetans, my tolerance for engaging with you here will rapidly evaporate.

You haven't even looked at the more recent articles on the blog, have you? The Tibetans are standing up against this half-century of abuse, like no one could have dared imagine they might. And they are continuing to be killed for it. They can't take it any more.

To claim that the exile Tibetans in nearly every major city in the world, with their flags and their painted faces, their national songs and freedom slogans, who are embarrassing Chinese embassies and consulates everywhere, are the same as those few who harmed and killed in Lhasa on that one single day of rage, is simply idiotic.

And if you tell more of your disgusting LIES about Dalai Lama here (some of you chauvinists really must have unbelievably vile imaginations, or astonishing gullibility), you will be gone for good.

I'm torn between deleting that garbage contained in your comment right now, or waiting to see what you have to say about this. (I'm expecting you to say nothing about this, but post some more trash links.)

I don't know how long my patience, hoping to see signs of a marginally open mind from you, will last.

By Blogger Agam, at 05 April, 2008 21:09  

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Luke Albert:

Your last comment stood for 2 1/2 hours. I took my dogs for a walk to think about it, and decided that if anyone of my few readers had actually gone to view your despicable, lying, Han chauvinist porn videos, it would have been on my responsibility.

Don't do it again. Either respond honestly to my comments to you here, as I have with you, or don't bother.

By Blogger Agam, at 05 April, 2008 22:36  

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