tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68266992024-02-19T22:43:31.186+07:00Agam's GeckoPolitics, society, culture, freedom, democracy, Tibet, Thailand, Indonesia, Aceh, Southeast Asia, China, human rights, and any other subjects which are of interest to either Agam of Tapaktuan, or his unruly gecko.<br>
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The author may be contacted at agam [dot] tapak [at] gmail [dot] com Posting times are Bangkok time [GMT+7 = EDT+11].Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.comBlogger714125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-6254017779056335232009-07-13T21:38:00.002+07:002009-07-17T18:45:15.213+07:00FURTHER VIOLENCE IN URUMQI<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Ethnic-riots-spread-China-China/ss/events/wl/070609chinaethnic/im:/090713/ids_photos_wl/r3846819614.jpg/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeip5HBsR2K-WDD4RxekH-3gGrRmo3mFtP5ykDRAQtmEoYxBS1LsUUQBWw_6QTlP9NMcN-KtRSIkkfuryJf0i1Y5a9co0rSAy1HRASOhn-DP8lE96zCofuGHu38E1Simn4bhP/s320/pla-et_130709a.jpg" title="Patrolling the colonies" alt="Patrolling the colonies" border="0" height="205" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">'The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.' Chinese soldiers march on a main street in Urumqi, July 13, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: Reuters / David Gray</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">V</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />iolence flared again in Urumqi this afternoon, as Chinese soldiers gunned down at least two Uyghur men after they and a third man <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090713/wl_asia_afp/chinaunrestxinjianggunshots" title="Gunshots in Uighur area of China's Urumqi: residents - Yahoo! News"><b>tried to attack the soldiers with knives</b></a>. Two Uyghur men who witnessed the incident said the three had "hacked at the soldiers with big knives, and then were shot." Two Uyghurs were killed and the third was wounded. His condition is not known.<br /><br />However in a later report, an Urumqi city official named Mr. Fan told Associated Press that the three attackers <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090713/ap_on_re_as/as_china_protest" title="Gunfire erupts in Urumqi; Chinese police beat man - Yahoo! News"><b>had been going after another Uyghur man</b></a> when the paramilitary police shot them. The AP goes on to cite construction worker Zhang Ming, who said he also saw the men try to attack the soldiers. The security forces chased them, beat them and fired shots, he said.<blockquote>Photos taken at the time show one policeman raising his rifle to strike a man. Beaten, the man in a blue shirt with blood on his right leg lay on the ground. Police formed a ring around him, pointing their guns up at surrounding buildings.</blockquote>And according to a still later dispatch from Reuters, the official Xinhua state mouthpiece has now reported the incident, and stays on-message with Mr. Fan's version. Uyghurs were attacking Uyghurs, and the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090713/wl_nm/us_china_xinjiang" title="Two shot dead in renewed unrest in China's Xinjiang - Yahoo! News"><b>People's Armed Police saved the day</b></a>. <br /><br />Xinhua also had more good news for China, revealing the long-awaited <i>proof</i> that the unrest in Uyghur country was organized by outsiders. Demonstrations against China's longstanding suppression of the Uyghurs have been occurring around the world, some of which have resulted in attacks against Chinese consulates and embassies. <blockquote>"Supporters of the East Turkestan separatists started well-orchestrated and sometimes violent attacks on Chinese embassies and consulates in several countries soon after the riots occurred," Xinhua said, referring to name given to their desert homeland by some Uighurs.<br /><br />"The attacks against China's diplomatic missions and the Urumqi riots seemed to be well-organized."</blockquote>And there you go, what more proof could you need? Supportive demonstrations were <i>organized</i> in many countries, and were carried out by foreigners. Therefore the protesting students who marched in Urumqi's streets last Sunday afternoon were organized by foreigners too. It's so obvious! It couldn't possibly have anything to do with this:<blockquote>A Uighur security guard, who declined to give his name, said that while he did not support the violence, he understood people's frustration.<br /><br />"Look around you -- 90 percent of all the businesses are owned by the Han," he said, standing in Urumqi's main bazaar.<br /><br />"All I can do is get a job as a security guard," complained the university graduate. "The Han here can't even speak Uighur."</blockquote>A few days ago I mentioned that a Canadian journalist was among those being ejected from Kashgar, the Uyghur cultural capital in the western part of the territory. Mark MacKinnon is the Toronto Globe and Mail's Beijing bureau chief, and was in Kashgar to report on the demolishing of Kashgar's Old City by Chinese authorities. MacKinnon writes of his rushed eviction with fellow journalists <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/points-east/the-bums-rush-out-of-kashgar/article1213755/" title="The bum's rush out of Kashgar - The Globe and Mail"><b>here</b></a>. His story on the destruction of Kashgar's Old City, for which (surprise!) the Chinese government has never applied for a well-deserved UNESCO world heritage listing, <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/china-plans-massive-change-in-uyghur-cultural-capital/article1214548/" title="China plans massive change in Uyghur cultural capital - The Globe and Mail"><b>has now been published</b></a>.<br /><br />The Chinese government did the right thing by immediately allowing journalists into their 'New Dominion' to report on the conflict, but angry Han mobs probably didn't exactly fit into the desired narrative. An ABC news crew happened to see an attempted Uyghur lynching by a Chinese mob, which then <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/07/angry-chinese-mob-turns-on-abc-reporters-crew.html" title="Angry Chinese Mob Turns On ABC Reporters & Crew - The World Newser"><b>promptly turned on the journalists</b></a>.<blockquote>Thirty Han Chinese men were beating a Uighur man, kicking him and punching him and hitting him with sticks. He was not fighting back but just trying to get away. Hundreds of Han Chinese were cheering the men on. Eventually, the police dragged the Uighur away and put him in a vehicle for his protection. Then, the mob turned on us. They blocked our cameras, not wanting the images of Han Chinese beating a Uighur to get out. I was pushed. Then the group surrounded us and started yelling. They pushed us back up a highway ramp where we were shooting. They yelled that western journalists were biased against the Han Chinese and that we should delete our footage. One man tried to grab our camera and then pulled out a baton and held it over his head as if he were going to hit us. We turned around and ran. The oddest part of the whole experience was that there were swarms of police and troops around and none of them were really trying to break up the fight. </blockquote>The Boston Globe has another fine <a href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/07/ethnic_clashes_in_urumqi_china.html" title="Ethnic clashes in Urumqi, China - The Big Picture - Boston.com"><b>Big Picture series</b></a> on the ethnic violence in East Turkestan. It's good to see those big format images which make it easier to see people's faces. Some of it is disturbing, but the gallery offers a prior warning over the images which you may choose to skip.<br /><br />Last night I watched Alim Seytoff, the Vice President of the Uyghur American Association, interviewed on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. The thirty minute interview, with video footage and phone-in callers <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/07/12/WJE/A/20709/Alim+Seytoff+Uyghur+American+Association+VP.aspx" title="C-SPAN Video Player - Alim Seytoff, Uyghur American Association, VP"><b>can be viewed here</b></a>.<br /><br />I'll be in Indonesia this week, so I'm unlikely to post again until next weekend. Pro-Uyghur demonstrations have been held today in Surabaya and Jakarta, so I'm looking forward to learning what the Indonesian views are on the situation. (I'm also looking forward to ketoprak, sate, tempeh, nasi goreng, ikan bakar, etc. Heh.)<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-62204846574149293352009-07-10T22:17:00.001+07:002009-07-10T22:23:53.195+07:00CHINA'S OTHER COLONY EXPLODES<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5780852/Xinjiang-riots-Modern-Chinese-army-displays-ancient-preference-for-crossbow.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARgv_OGvNyVYCnrhzoyP7-BrgeNgFvyKeWygJ3a_v6hi6K72Wq4R2gdFKxKqvCHdcq40IBvV_2S22d_JpyEoc1lx-Qqa7XMZA0r2t8JaIZPFydvtc7SqVDgA6CjCin9U4ENhz/s320/pla-et_080709b.jpg" title="Chinese security" alt="Chinese security" border="0" height="242" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Keeping the peace in Sinkiang. Yes, those are crossbows.<br /><i>Photo: AFP</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">T</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />he Chinese Empire's conquered colonies are restless. More than a year after the latest Tibetan uprising, protest still continues in Tibetan areas and China's responses are as intolerant and repressive as ever. Now a spark has ignited the dry tinder of rage in Uyghurstan, which the Communist empire calls the <i>Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region</i>. A protest march in the regional capital Urumqi turned into a violent anti-Chinese riot, and protests have also been reported in Kashgar and several other towns. <br /><br />The vast culturally Turkic area of central Asia was once divided up between two competing imperial powers — neither of which had anything much in common with the people of the region. West Turkestan was conquered by the Russian Empire in the mid 19th century, around the same period that the Qing Dynasty Empire (Manchus who had previously subsumed China and were not themselves Chinese) conquered East Turkestan. After the Russian Revolution the communists held on to the empire's central Asian colonies, converting them into Soviet Socialist Republics (Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz SSR's). After the fall of Soviet communism, these all became independent countries.<br /><br />But the Turkic Muslims in the eastern part of this vast region <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Turkestan" title="East Turkestan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"><b>had a different fate</b></a>. With the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the advent of the new Chinese Republic in 1912, the fringes of the empire began to fall away. The Tibetans evicted the Chinese and declared their independence, while eastern Turkestan fell under the control of various warlords and ethnic insurgencies. An East Turkestan Republic existed briefly in 1933-34 until a Russian-backed Chinese warlord retook control. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_East_Turkestan_Republic" title="Second East Turkestan Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"><b>second East Turkestan Republic</b></a> was declared (in what is now northern Xinjiang) in 1944. With the advance of the Chinese communist revolution in 1949 and the People's Liberation Army's advance into southern Sinkiang, Chinese Republican government officials fled to other countries or surrendered to the communists.<br /><br />Uyghur resistance to the CCP continued, and the leaders of the East Turkestan Republic travelled to the Soviet Union in 1949 — where they were advised to cooperate with the Chinese communists. The five leaders boarded a plane in Kazakhstan, enroute to Beijing. The plane crashed, killing all on board. With all their experienced leaders now gone, the remaining figures in the East Turkestan government agreed to incorporate their republic into the "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region" of China. KGB files released after the collapse of Soviet communism revealed that the East Turkestan leaders had been killed <i>on orders from Stalin</i> — and in accordance with a <i>deal the Soviet dictator had made</i> with the new Chinese dictator, Mao Tse Tung.<br /><br />This is admittedly a thumbnail sketch of Uyghurstan's recent history, but we can surely better appreciate the depth of resentment on view over the past five days if we have at least an outline of the initial relations between the Uyghurs and the Chinese communists. Unfortunately for the latter, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. By his own rhetoric, Mao was a great liberator of humanity. But by his practice, he was determined to recover every square inch of land ever (even marginally) colonized by long-past Chinese empires. Mao evidently inherited the imperialist gene from the earlier emperors, including the non-Chinese ones.<br /><br />And Mao handed that gene down to his political descendants who have taken and run with it. At the time of the communists' victory in China's civil war, the Han Chinese comprised around 5-6% of the population in East Turkestan. Today, with its longstanding policy of transmigration into "minority" regions, the CCP has turned that around. The Han migrants now comprise around 40% of the entire "autonomous" region — three times the size of France. In the major commercial city of Urumqi (current population 2.4 million), the Han make up around 75% now.<br /><br />The trouble on late Sunday afternoon began with a student protest march through Urumqi (a Dzungar name meaning "beautiful pasture"). The students were photographed in a non-violent procession, chanting and carrying Chinese flags, making their way toward People's Square. After that, the sequence of events is murky (I held off making a post on this until a clearer understanding of what happened on Sunday evening could be known — it still isn't). Foreign journalists were permitted to flood into the city the next day, but reliable accounts of the time between the protest march and the (at least) 156 deaths that night are hard to find. <br /><br />Whatever happened, a non-violent protest march became — in the space of a few hours — an extremely violent anti-Chinese riot. Given the recent history of crowd control in Tibet, one might surmise that the smashing of shops and cars could have been triggered by a violent dispersal of the student protesters. Some hours later, Uyghur youths were hunting for Hans to beat and kill. Learning the exact sequence of events will be essential in understanding how this could happen, yet this short period (before journalists were present) is the murkiest of the past five days.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Ethnic-riots-spread-China-Chinese-security-forces-get-into-formation-People-Square-Urumqi-western/ss/events/wl/070609chinaethnic/im:/090708/481/16edff58e1aa4c8788c763c0b463b9ba/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJCCvvVr8F1-XPO0AyHu__8MbvCAA9rC6H7ZXvBSbHFP6my29vAN48-ToyTmglK8vO8iIjk1rZ6C7SeZdPCE8Euc9JTB10Kpe-TS-75HAD2rjLyFUE8jlOrvmcgGF3MIf_y10/s320/pla-et_080709a.jpg" title="Troop assembly" alt="Troop assembly" border="0" height="206" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Troops assemble in People's Square, Urumqi, July 8, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: AP / Ng Han Guan</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Did the police disperse the marchers with firearms, and were Uyghurs killed before the gangs began their rampage later in the evening? Or were the marchers merely beaten with clubs to prevent them reaching the square, and they initially responded by destroying property? Did the Han (remember, 75% of the city population) vigilante groups appear that night to retaliate, or did they only appear, as reported, the next day? Were the students who marched carrying China's national flag really the same people who beat and stabbed Han Chinese a few hours later? Will any of these questions <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/riots-07052009153209.html" title="Urumqi Tense, Quiet after Violence"><b>ever be answered</b></a>?<br /><br />One thing we do know about the spark for all this, is that it originated thousands of miles away. The students were marching to demand justice for some of their compatriots who had been lynched by a Han mob in Guangdong, a major industrial province in southern China. Those riots had been sparked by rumours initiated by a disgruntled Han factory employee, which claimed that Uyghur boys had raped some Han girls. At least one of the Uyghurs killed by the mob was reportedly a girl. After the riot and lynchings, it was found that <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/ethnic-clash-06292009102144.html" title="'No Rapes' in Riot Town"><b>the rape rumour had been false</b></a>.<br /><br />Rumours can be deadly, and perhaps the Chinese authorities are learning this. If China actually had a vibrant free press, the chances that one hateful person could start a baseless rumour and have it widely believed (with such deadly consequences) might be close to nil. The starting requirement is an unfettered press with journalists willing and able to investigate anything. Then it will still take time for various media outlets to establish themselves as trustworthy, or not. Until such time as citizens can trust the press, they will fall for rumours.<br /><br />Of course the Guangdong riot was not covered by the Chinese media in any detail, since the authorities believe that hushing up uncomfortable events is the best course. This is a nutritious environment for growing bigger and better rumours. Authorities claim that only two Uyghurs were killed by the lynch mob, but with no trustworthy journalism to dig up the story, Uyghurs were also inclined to believe rumours. Following the Urumqi riots, I came across at least three separate accounts by Uyghurs claiming that the Guangdong mob had killed <i>over 600 of their people</i>, and that the bodies had been chopped up and dumped into garbage bins. That's some fine rumour fuel for what would follow.<br /><br />The Chinese government must learn that an independent and trustworthy press is the only thing which can remedy this situation. But government officials continue to believe that they must control absolutely everything, especially information. This ridiculous attitude will cause many more deaths until the CCP learns their lesson.<br /><br />The clearest accounts of the Guangdong incident come from a secretly-conducted interview with some of the hundreds of Uyghur factory workers now held under the protection of Chinese police. They are not allowed to leave the place where they are held, much less go home. One of the workers had a hidden cell phone, though they are not permitted to communicate to the outside. Radio Free Asia's Uyghur service was able to establish contact and <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/armedchinese-07042009104353.html" title="Armed Assailants Stormed Dorms"><b>spoke with three of them</b></a>. Why aren't Chinese citizens permitted to know what happened that night, from the victims' perspective?<br /><br />But even the deadly rumour from Guangdong can't be blamed for everything that happened in Urumqi. A "Strike Hard" campaign (Tibetans know all about those) was <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/clampdown-06192009092600.html" title="Uyghurs Held in Clampdown"><b>launched in Xinjiang in April</b></a>. Many have been arrested over the past few months for taking part in "illegal religious activities" and regional Party leaders have been flying into their familiar Cultural Revolution-style tirades well before the Sunday night riot.<br /><br />For whatever reason, the Chinese are not precisely following their Tibet pattern in responding to this incident. The day after the initial riot, foreign journalists were welcomed to travel to Urumqi and were afforded the only open internet connections in the city (at their hotel). But the authorities were unable to <i>completely</i> dispense with their impulse to control the message, and they set up guided "tours" for the press — apparently believing they had things well in hand. Suddenly, out of the lanes and alleys of an impoverished Uyghur neighbourhood, dozens of women and children appeared and wailed over the disappearance of their husbands, fathers and sons. Yet <i>another</i> staged media event (Labrang, Jokhang...) had gone awry. <br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://www.thenewdominion.net/990/images-from-tuesday-urumqi-demonstrations/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbVqnrOUDVWyoPZCYK__eYp2XHqp_5lt9x495c24iDBLCLMftNikemFXv6sOc0nM-5gX-AVCqxk2m8vCbfvx_vaJ8DZb5Vf-IbJi1esTjbNArPMdMoaKBiw1QID70yJCvLBTi/s320/urumqi_070709a.jpg" title="Tursun Gul" alt="Tursun Gul" border="0" height="212" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Tursun Gul walks with her crutch toward the might of the Chinese state, July 7, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: agencies</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The women and children displayed the identity cards of their menfolk who had been swept up by the security forces during the night — the figure of 1,434 arrested has not been updated for days now. One woman, who was present with a small child, hobbled alone on her crutch toward the ranks of soldiers and armoured vehicles, shaking her finger at them and demanding the return of her husband. In an incredible scene the lone handicapped woman advanced, and the mass of assembled troops and their high-tech machines <i>began to retreat</i>. The image has already achieved an iconic status similar to "Tank-man" at TAM Square. <br /><br />The only video I've found of this event is in a report by Tania Branigan and Dan Chung in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jul/07/uighur-confront-china-troops" title="Video: Uighur residents confront troops | World news | guardian.co.uk"><b>The Guardian</b></a>. Watch for the soldiers and their equipment backing up at Tursun Gul's approach, in the opening seconds of that clip. Peter Foster of the Daily Telegraph <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5777957/Uighur-woman-who-defied-Chinese-riot-police.html" title="Uighur woman who defied Chinese riot police - Telegraph"><b>tells her story</b></a>. Without the accidental presence of foreign media, her act of courage would not have been known by the world.<br /><br />But there was more to come. That same day, a new mob was taking over the streets. Angered by their own army's failure to protect them from the angry, marginalized and colonized minority, the Chinese citizenry organized vigilante gangs. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/07/china-urumqi-protests-curfew-han" title="China lockdown as decades of suspicion boil over | World news | The Guardian"><b>Armed with crude weapons</b></a>, they went hunting for minorities to kill.<blockquote>It was too quiet. At two o'clock on another hot, dry afternoon they strolled up towards the People's Square. Some were in smart shirts and ties, others in jeans and trainers. In their hands were iron bars, knives, staves of wood, metal chains and nunchuks, golf clubs and meat cleavers, lengths of piping, shovels and axes.<br /><br />Little by little the numbers swelled, almost imperceptibly. Within half an hour there were hundreds of Han Chinese on the streets of Urumqi – then thousands. At first the talk was of self-defence. Then it turned to vengeance.</blockquote>For the rest of the week, Chinese riot police and soldiers have played cat-and-mouse with the roving gangs of vengeance-seekers and the defiant remaining pockets of Uyghurs willing to challenge them. At some points the two groups were hurling rocks at each other over the heads of security forces. Heavy military deployments were made around Uyghur neighbourhoods in attempts to keep the Hans out — not always successful. But over those few days the vigilantes were kept on the move and unable to congregate in one place, earning the security forces an unaccustomed praise for their tactics from some foreign media members.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Ethnic-riots-spread-China-Urumqi/ss/events/wl/070609chinaethnic/im:/090707/481/28fa1c22a1a3421e9f9e487a8cea5143/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7dgQofoA6tRmzm3B68kndnuWiYsb4rTCusJnfUSpmp69BdBijUh4ElevdhHvxwRaOBaROUbZfGqmMnz1ulK1rN8p-Lj8D2UpqJHgmbxar8hp3iDpUuX5oopKGDSQ5LtdbflAA/s320/hanattacka.jpg" title="Han Chinese vigilante" alt="Han Chinese vigilante" border="0" height="213" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">A Chinese vigilante joins a mob attacking Uyghurs on July 7, 2009, showing off his multi-tasking capabilities in beating and documenting with one hand.<br /><i>Photo: AP / Ng Han Guan</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Each day has seen thousands more troops brought into Urumqi's streets, and it seems finally to have reached the saturation point at which action by any side is no longer possible. But an overbearing military occupation can't continue indefinitely, and people on both sides of the ethnic divide now fear what will happen when the soldiers leave. Frictions between the native Uyghur and the migrant Han have been kept under a tight lid for many years, but now that it has blown off in such spectacular fashion, things will never again be as they were. <br /><br />Some things, though, will never change under the CCP. Prominent Uyghur intellectuals <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/Tohti-07082009151608.html" title="Outspoken Economist Presumed Detained"><b>disappear</b></a>, presumably by police action (and even if he lives in far-off Beijing). The initial unexpected openness toward foreign media has an expiry date, as news agency reporters have now been ordered out (including a Canadian in Kashgar). Being that Friday is the most important Muslim prayer day, it's only sensible for the government to padlock the mosques and order everyone to pray at home, right? That was the decision this morning, but evidently <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090710/ap_on_re_as/as_china_protest" title="Riot-hit western China allows Friday prayers - Yahoo! News"><b>that one won't fly right now</b></a>. Urumqi's Uyghur population was able to get into at least some of their mosques today.<br /><br />Also on the 'never change' list is the standard, number one response of the CCP — blame some outsider for your own deficiencies. With Tibet, of course, everything is always the Dalai Lama's fault. Party functionaries dream up conspiracies of plotting death and destruction, with His Holiness always at the centre. They have "plenty of evidence" but none is ever presented — only elaborate passages in official speeches lifted straight out of the Cultural Revolution, disseminated far and wide on the state controlled media mouthpieces. For the Uyghurs? That's easy: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124698273174806523.html" title="The Real Uighur Story - WSJ.com"><b>Rebiya Kadeer did it all</b></a>. What would these vile repressive dictatorships do without a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070804141.html" title="The Mother of the Uighur Movement - washingtonpost.com"><b>small but tough woman</b></a> to blame for everything? (Is Hu taking lessons from Burma's Than Shwe?)<br /><br />And let us not forget the clever strategy of <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_as/as_china_protest" title="China vows executions for rioters behind killings - Yahoo! News"><b>vowing to execute as many as possible</b></a> — that's always a smart move, and quite helpful at calming inflamed passions. It worked so well in Tibet, right? Oh wait... well, it couldn't hurt to try, eh?<br /><br />A good source for keeping up with events in Uyghurstan is <a href="http://www.thenewdominion.net/" title="The New Dominion"><b>The New Dominion</b></a>, a well-written and apparently well-connected website which has followed this episode from its first hours. The latest article is a <a href="http://www.thenewdominion.net/1007/a-letter-from-kashgar/" title="The New Dominion » A Letter from Kashgar"><b>letter from an anonymous foreign traveller</b></a> who flew into Kashgar from Urumqi just before the riot. There is an account of the Kashgar protest, and the crackdown that followed it. Chinese CCPatriots will be pleased to know that it is depressing; if you want to experience Uyghur culture, you'd better hurry. The Motherland is burying it as quickly as possible. <br /><br />Striking up a conversation with a police officer, the letter-writer asks him his thoughts on the situation. The officer replied that everything would be fine. "You know, in the next ten years, we’ll just send more Han here and that’ll just end the problem once and for all."<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-22306605899337174632009-07-01T23:13:00.001+07:002009-07-01T23:23:59.839+07:00COME HOME (VIDEO)<table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">I</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />mages — From the book "<a href="http://ourtibet.com.au/" title="Tibetan Culture - Tibetan History"><b>Our Tibet</b></a>" © 2008 Flying Mystics Press, and from the <a href="http://www.atc.org.au/" title="Australia Tibet Council - Welcome to the Frontpage"><b>Australia Tibet Council's</b></a> "50 Years of Hope and Courage" photo Exhibition 2009.<br /><br />Words — "Come Home" by Woeser, written on March 10, 2000. Translated by A. E. Clark in "Tibet's True Heart — Selected Poems" published by <a href="http://www.raggedbanner.com/" title="Woeser Poetry"><b>Ragged Banner Press</b></a>.<br /><br />Sound — "Om Mani Padme Hung" from Tibetan Wind. © 2004<br /><br />Compiled by <a href="http://robperry.weebly.com/personal-blog-page.html" title="Rob Perry"><b>Rob Perry</b></a>.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWPo13rTwvU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWPo13rTwvU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-46745002912583463982009-06-30T22:05:00.003+07:002009-06-30T23:12:37.126+07:00CLASHES, DETENTIONS, RELIGIOUS PROHIBITIONS CONTINUE IN TIBET<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Tibet-Dalai-Lama-Tibetan-plateau-Lhasa/ss/events/wl/031009tibet/im:/090619/481/fec4d83bfeae43a6823f17d0b25ef1d8/;_ylt=Ao_BBt.wzndTRLDJ_UkWlzvlWMcF"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7E8qW53dSv1VVPxsAusXHp2fEow9Ldpwzkbmo0Jd6rQ2xVBoNb2zyY189O1brtQzPWx8Dn8N2h7OQPxVWVeKvZjAwxOEiZOPwkXPYeQiWNSelCEoff9CnV6neP38EM-xdU7gs/s320/Lhasa_19-06-09a.jpg" title="Watching the pilgrims" alt="Watching the pilgrims" border="0" height="222" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Chinese security guards watch Tibetan pilgrims on the Barkhor, near Jokhang Temple.<br /><i>Photo: AP / Greg Baker</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">C</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />hinese authorities <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=956&articletype=flash" title="CTA: China strengthens repression during religious festival in Tibet"><b>imposed harsh restrictions on religious activities</b></a> ahead of the Tibetan <i>Saka Dawa</i> observances which fell on the 15th day of the fourth Tibetan month, or June 7. The occasion marks the birth, enlightenment, and passing of Lord Buddha (a <i>very</i> important holy day for all Buddhists — in Thailand it is <i>Wisakha Bucha Day</i>, usually in May).<blockquote>Sources said the concerned government offices in Lhasa had convened meetings of staff members and people under their jurisdictions and subsequently issued strict orders particularly to students and government officials not to visit temples during the festival.<br /><br />The normal life of people has been affected as the government have sent reinforcement of security forces and deployed a large number of intelligence officials across the city.</blockquote>The stepped up security featured increased scrutiny of foreign arrivals and continuing investigations of Tibetan families with members outside the country, who are asked to provide their details and contact information to the authorities.<br /><br />On the holy day itself, <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24922" title="Six Tibetans arrested for symbolic Saka Dawa protest in Lhasa - www.phayul.com"><b>more than 200 Tibetans gathered</b></a> at around 11:00 am in Lhasa’s Tromsikhang Market. They collected donations and proceeded to the Jokhang Temple to offer butter lamps and perform rituals. These observances were reportedly led mainly by Lhasa merchants from the Kham region. It was the same day that Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe was due to confer his city's "Citizen of Honor" award to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.<blockquote>The crowd then moved through the open Barkhor street and assembled at the compound in front of the Potala Palace, the official residence of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet. Turning their back to a stone pillar placed by Chinese government and facing the Potala Palace the Tibetans wore ceremonial scarves around themselves and again shouted "Lha Gyalo" ["May the Deities Prevail" -ed.] in unison, sources explained.<br /><br />A large number of Chinese security forces later stopped the group as they headed towards the monastery of Nechung (Tibet's State Oracle) and forced them to retreat.</blockquote>At around 4 pm a larger group gathered again at Tromsikhang Market. The police seemed alarmed with so many people gathering and demanded an explanation from the faithful pilgrims. The Tibetans replied that they were exercising their "freedom of religious belief." A number of Tibetans were arrested and all but six were later released. The Tibetans demanded release of the remaining six, and the Chinese authorities promised the angry crowd they would be released after their inquiries were complete. But the six — Pedo, Phurba, Dolkyab(Dokyab), Dorjee Tsering and Pema Demay from Kham Derge and Thuppa from Kham Nangchen — were not released. This was not a protest (despite the previous headline) but was in fact <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/detain-06102009122151.html" title="Tibetans Held After Gathering"><b>a religious observance</b></a>.<blockquote>"It was not a protest but a sangsol," or a special offering to Buddhist deities, one Tibetan man, a resident of Lhasa, said in an interview. The man said he had been detained for three days, from June 7-10.<br /><br />"Many of us were detained, and it is not easy to give details on the phone," he said.</blockquote>It is unclear exactly how many were originally arrested, or later released like the man quoted above. But some Chinese officials are not shy about denying confirmed facts.<blockquote>Municipal officials declined to comment.<br /><br />But an official who answered the phone at the Lhasa Public Security Bureau said, "No one was detained. It was a religious event."</blockquote>We continue to receive new details of March 14, 2008 — the night violence broke out in Lhasa following 5 days of violent suppression against peaceful processions of monks and nuns. They were beaten and they were arrested for five days straight, until some of the anti-government protesters themselves became violent and set fires in the city. After five days of seeing their monks and nuns dragged away from <i>sit-down</i> protests and trucked off to the detention cells, many people believed that some of these detainees had already been killed in custody.<br /><br />Sometime after the riot broke out, the official crackdown came. The very few western witnesses present were all astounded at how long the anti-riot response took to show up. PAP photo/video-graphers were out capturing the scenes for later productions (which later played on state TV with high repetition for months). Having a platoon of armoured riot police marching into these scenes could certainly have spoiled the movie. The Chinese tactic was to take loads of pictures and video first, then send in the anti-riot violence later. When it came, it came with a vengeance.<br /><br />That night Phuntsok, a 21 year old driver, was at home with his wife and one year old child in eastern Lhasa. He wasn't protesting or chanting in the streets, much less setting fires. His vehicle for livelihood was his "three-wheeler," which I think would mean one of the canopied motorcycle-rickshaws used in Lhasa for passengers and goods. In other words Phuntsok was a poor man providing for his family. <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=966&articletype=flash" title="CTA: A Tibetan Crippled Due to Police Beating"><b>Chinese security forces arrested Phuntsok</b></a> and took him away from his home that night.<blockquote>"After the arrest, the PAPs beat him fiercely and then locked him — along with other innocent Tibetan detainees — in the storeroom of the Lhasa railway station. He was released after having detained there for 20 days."<br /><br />On returning home, the source further said, he was given the bests of medical treatment but his condition did not improve much. "At the moment, his physical condition is very poor; he has to rely on walking sticks and cannot stand straight due to back injury that he sustained from severe beatings at the hands of the PAPs."</blockquote>The Tibetan farmers' boycott campaign, prevalent mainly in Kardze Prefecture, has reportedly taken root in Jomda County, Chamdo. At the end of May, boycott supporters were <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=969&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Chinese Police Fire at Tibetan Protesters in Eastern Tibet"><b>arrested, beaten and shot by security forces</b></a>, and arrests were made at Vara and Jobhu Monasteries. All but three of those arrested at the monasteries were later released, but Sonam Palmo (alias Sopal), Lobsang Palden and Yeshe Dorjee are being held as suspected boycott leaders.<blockquote>Tsering was hit by a bullet and Paga and Lhadher were taken away after being seriously beaten and injured by police with a baton. Samga was also beaten with the barrel of a gun. All these cases took place in Jomda County (Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region TAR) in the end of May.</blockquote>It was also reported that Gyune Monastery was surrounded by armed security forces, and that eight residing retreat lamas were beaten during a night raid. Retreat lamas at Palchen Monastery were also beaten, the report said.<br /><br />In Markham County, Chamdo, three Tibetans were sentenced for destroying equipment used to broadcast Chinese slurs and abuse against the Dalai Lama. The young men were arrested in October 2008 and sentenced on June 1. Ngawang Tenzin, 19, was sentenced to five years, Tenzin Rinchen, 17, was sentenced to two years, and Tenzin Norbu, 21, was sentenced to five years in prison.<br /><br />A local source in Jomda County told Radio Free Asia that on June 13 authorities went to six Jomda monasteries to <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/crackdown-06182009161443.html" title="Clashes, Detentions in Tibet"><b>enforce the "patriotism re-education campaign"</b></a>. Three monks and an attendant from Nyedo Monastery were detained. Hundreds of Tibetans from nine nearby villages gathered at the detention centre demanding their release, and several hundred security officers dispersed them with tear gas and beatings.<blockquote>"One Tibetan named Kalsang who was in the Chinese army and spoke Mandarin well tried to go toward the security forces and appeal to them to stop using poisonous gas. They beat him up," he said.</blockquote>The monks were later released. Many monks in Jomda are reported to be leaving their monasteries to avoid the government's indoctrination, which requires them to denounce the Dalai Lama. Monasteries have been told they must accept the indoctrination or be closed down. All non-cooperating monks are threatened with detention.<br /><br />Protests against a mining company's <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24984" title="Tibetans in Meldro Gongkar clash with miners, 3 injured - www.phayul.com"><b>water diversion project</b></a> in Meldro Gongkar County (in the eastern portion of Lhasa municipality) have sparked a violent suppression by security forces. The large scale project channels water from the upper reaches of the Gyama Shingchu River to the mining site via pipes laid over agricultural lands (which were seized by the government without compensation to farmers). The mining of the upper Gyama region began in 1990, but the loss of their water was the last straw for local Tibetans. Gyama Shen is the birthplace of the great Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo (617-650 AD).<br /><br />After authorities refused to hear the residents' appeals, clashes broke out between Chinese miners and angry Tibetans on June 20, followed by a police crackdown which left three Tibetans wounded. One seriously injured person was <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=977&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Protests over China's mining project in Tibet, 3 Tibetans seriously injured"><b>denied admission to a county hospital</b></a> and was transported to Lhasa. It isn't known whether that person survived. After the incident, representatives from every family in the affected farming villages protested at the local government office.<br /><br />Water for irrigation has been cut off in Gyama Township by the mine project, and last year toxic mining wastes were dumped into the river causing many livestock and wild animal deaths. The fifteen villages in the valley depend on the river for their water, but since the destruction of its source by the diversion project, the river has dried up as have many of the area's natural springs. Pastures are parched and drinking water is toxic.<br /><br />The government of the T-"A"-R sent a group of senior officials and security forces to the area on June 21 for a meeting with the residents. After the meeting, at which the locals demanded an end to the mining activity, security forces left the area along with a large number of the mine workers. The demonstration at the township government office continued until the next day, with people seen laying down and preventing passage to the mine site.<br /><br />A previous mining dispute is reported to have been settled in Markham County, Chamdo. Radio Free Asia reports that the sacred <i>Ser Ngul Lo</i> site <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/minedisputesettled-06092009162824.html" title="Mine Dispute Largely Settled"><b>has been saved</b></a> from becoming an open-pit mine, after four months of local protest.<blockquote>Both sides agreed June 8 that the mine—which had operated in Markham [in Chinese, Mangkang] county, in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) Chamdo prefecture—would cease operations, sources said.<br /><br />"It was agreed in writing that there will be no mining in the area," said a local Tibetan man, speaking on condition of anonymity.<br /><br />"All the Chinese security forces deployed in the area will be withdrawn. The Tibetans who are blocking the road will also return to their respective areas."<br /><br />"Chinese authorities will build concrete barriers to block the poisonous residue of earlier mining in the area so that this will not filter down into the drinking water," he added.</blockquote>There is still no word on the outcome of the strong local resistance in Tawu County, Kardze to the construction of a major hydro-electric project which will displace tens of thousands from their ancestral lands. Protests there have been <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/05/tibets-natural-wealth-coveted-by.html" title="Agam's Gecko: TIBET'S NATURAL WEALTH COVETED BY NEIGHBOUR; RIVERS OF MONEY CAN'T BUY LOVE"><b>suppressed with firearms</b></a>, leaving six women seriously wounded last month.<br /><br />A reminder of the dangers Tibetans face if they dare to provide information to the outside world was recently provided by the <a href="http://www.duihua.org/" title="Dui Hua :: Welcome to Dui Hua"><b>Dui Hua Foundation</b></a>, a human rights advocacy organisation. Gonpo Tserang, a 32 year old tour expedition guide in the Dechen Tibetan "Autonomous" Prefecture (Ch: Yunnan province), was sentenced to three years imprisonment for "inciting separatism" by <a href="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1485261.php" title="China jails Tibetan for three years over messages about unrest - Monsters and Critics"><b>sending email and text messages</b></a> during the unrest last year. At the trial in September 2008, Gonpo Tserang was found to have "used the internet to deliberately fabricate rumours, distort the true situation and incite separatism" in his communications with six named people outside Tibet. An appeal was rejected by a higher court in January.<br /><br />The Foundation notes that this is the <a href="http://www.duihua.org/hrjournal/2009/06/tibetan-guides-incitement-case-surfaces.html" title="Dui Hua Human Rights Journal: Tibetan Guide's Incitement Case Surfaces: 3-Year Sentence for Emails, Text Messages"><b>first known case</b></a> of a Tibetan in Yunnan to be convicted on state security grounds since the latest Tibetan uprising began in March 2008. The content of his messages is never specified in either the original indictment or the appeal rejection (<a href="http://www.duihua.org/work/verdicts/indictment_verdict_Gonpo-Tserang_en.htm" title="Gonpo Tserang Indictment and Verdict (English)"><b>both are translated here</b></a>). Gonpo Tserang was not represented by counsel. Phayul News adds that he has been <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24992" title="Tibetan guide put behind bars for 'smuggling' protests news - www.phayul.com"><b>well respected in his professional career</b></a>, having trekked with "foreign celebrities" and participating in high profile mountain rescue efforts. This case demonstrates the extent to which Chinese surveillance is able to monitor Tibetans' communications with the outside world, for which the authorities have zero tolerance.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/Tibetandishes-06202009092817.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6-dBWGVsiEqji5JalnL5C3SbTjTpfnwtwVkiH8ImLzz5IhDexxqpVPjgMLfg08NWEsCIPlR83oTgZx0n3f66nB5IicBriSA71ydiOyqQJn9W9jBP2BPkKW_XmBmVjNeHmFHB/s200/sat_dishes.jpg" title="Sat dishes destroyed" alt="Sat dishes destroyed" border="0" height="157" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Satellite dishes confiscated and destroyed by authorities in Labrang, Amdo, May 20, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: <a href="http://woeser.middle-way.net/"><b>Invisible Tibet</b></a> (Woeser)</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The Chinese government's goal is for no inside information getting out, and <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/Tibetandishes-06202009092817.html" title="Tibetan TV Dishes Pulled"><b>no outside information getting in</b></a>. For years the PRC has been jamming broadcasts of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America (which both have Tibetan language services), and hundreds of jamming towers have been built in Tibetan regions according to the Tibetan writer-journalist Woeser. The latest campaign of seizure and destruction of satellite dishes began in April and was focused in Kanlho T-"A"-P (Ch: Gansu province). <blockquote>A Gannan prefecture document obtained by RFA, citing State Council document #129, describes what it calls "unprecedented efforts to collect satellite dishes" to restrict access to long-distance broadcasts in Gansu province, a site of repeated Tibetan protests against Chinese rule during the past year.<br /><br />Anyone failing to comply with government directives to remove the dishes would be "dealt with in accordance with law," the memo said.</blockquote>The destroyed satellite receiving equipment is being replaced with cable which carries only government-produced programming.<br /><br />Chinese state-media mouthpiece Xinhua <a href="http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/official-acknowledgement-suicide-monk-after-protests-due-stress" title="Official acknowledgement of suicide of monk after protests due to 'stress' | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>made a rare admission</b></a> early this month, attributing the recent suicide of a Tibetan Buddhist monk to "stress." Sheldrup, a 43 year old monk in Rebkong County (Ch: Qinghai province) had been detained following protests at his monastery on April 17, 2008, and was severely tortured in custody (a detail Xinhua inexplicably missed). He was later released. <br /><br />Sheldrup's name then appeared on a PSB wanted poster and he left his monastery to go into hiding, during which time his health deteriorated badly. Earlier this year he returned to his monastery, and soon afterwards he hanged himself according to Xinhua, which specified the sources of his "stress" to "illness and deaths in his family." The monk had spent around 10 years studying at Gaden Monastery in India, returning to Tibet in 2006. A rash of suicides by monks and nuns in Tibet has been <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090607.html" title="TCHRD: Monk suicides on the rise in Buddhist Tibet"><b>described in a report</b></a> submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Religion.<br /><br />Suicide is a grave sin in Buddhism, and certainly any monks or nuns who choose death by their own hand have been pushed beyond the limits of endurance. Yet another example of the extreme measures taken against them (especially if they have spent time in India as Sheldrup had) was given by a Tibetan woman who recently reached freedom in exile. Tenzin had previously attended a Tibetan school in India for three years, and then became a nun and studied at a monastery in Dharamsala. In 2005 her father became ill, and her family asked her to return to Tibet to see him. Authorities somehow learned that she had been in India, and <a href="http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/tibetan-nun-gives-account-rape-custody" title="Tibetan nun gives account of rape in custody | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>they made her three-month home visit intolerable</b></a>. She prepared to escape again, through the border area of Burang. Her group was intercepted by Chinese border police and taken to an army barracks in that region.<br /><br />Tenzin was taken into a dark room and asked by a soldier whether she was a nun. She replied that she was. She was then beaten with batons and belts until she felt numb and went unconscious. After five days of interrogation and beatings, the group was taken to a detention centre. There, Tenzin was raped by her jailers.<blockquote>"For many days they locked me up in a solitary confinement cell which was big enough for only one person. Both my arms and feet were handcuffed to a wooden bed. Then one night the light was switched off, and two prison guards came into the cell and told me that I had to take some medicine. I said I was not going to take any medicine. I thought that time that they were going to kill me by giving me that medicine. So I struggled to shake my head while they were forcing to put the medicine to my mouth but they forced me to swallow it down by pouring water into my mouth and blocking my nose by pressing it. [The type of medicine or drug given to Tenzin is not known.] After that, two guards went out and chatting with each other outside the cell. Then moments later they came in, and I sensed something bad was going to happen, I screamed as loud as I could in the hope that someone would come to stop them. But all was in vain, one of the guards covered my head with his coat and was trying to stop me from screaming while the other raped me. Later I fell unconscious. I dont know if that was because of the medicine they gave me or out of fear. I could not feel anything, especially the lower part of my body."</blockquote>Tenzin was sent to a police department in Ngari (western T-"A"-R) and then on to a "re-education through labour" camp for a three year term of punishment. She was initially kept in solitary confinement. Continuing torture, poor living conditions and lack of sufficient food cause her health to deteriorate, and she was released after about one year because the authorities believed she would soon die. Her family spent nearly all their savings on her medical treatment, and after some months at various hospitals she returned home. Tenzin remained under heavy surveillance and her movements were curtailed. After the outbreak of protests in March 2008, officials visited her home every day pressing her to denounce the Dalai Lama. She re-entered hospital for several months and then resolved to try escaping again. She reached India earlier this year.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 154px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090603.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmzXaIkNXdqiqiiLFFdCt-9VnCIybZORvhJWtzdQl-pvqnjW5fv7Cq_hs4MoeXPFaFOD0OloeEK9MMDTH07VP5tZEhF0T7snejEzJGaVAMJzYT1Wy1ABHFlSJZOK7CpF_IlgC/s200/Tsundue_Gyatso.jpg" title="Tsundu Gyatso" alt="Tsundu Gyatso" border="0" height="200" width="154" /></a><div class="caption">Tsundue Gyatso, a Labrang monk, has been arrested for the fourth time.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Two Labrang monks were arrested last month <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090603.html" title="TCHRD: Two Monks disappeared after raid in Labrang Monastery"><b>for the fourth time since last year's protests</b></a>. Tsundue Gyatso, 35, and Sonam Gyatso, 38, were taken during a sudden raid on Labrang Monastery by a large number of PSB officers on May 14, 2009. Both had been arrested and released on three earlier occasions. It is not known where they are being held. <br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 152px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090603.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZdI8bS071u37MvE18GTmgxD9MyzYZOm9boAn9_pUJhIvbLNzTy0K3RQCku91HRbdjV_3PzdptoPpN7nrazOlz5FvhxuwZ_k2gsX-UjU_mAde0r_70YRleFwjASSOcX5LrfTM/s200/Sonam_Gyatso.jpg" title="Sonam Gyatso" alt="Sonam Gyatso" border="0" height="200" width="152" /></a><div class="caption">Sonam Gyatso, a Labrang monk, has been arrested for the fourth time.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Ngagchung, a monk from the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Serthar County, Kardze was arrested on July 8, 2008 along with two other monks named Taphun and Gudrak. The latter two (who are brothers) were released after interrogation, but after more than one year <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090624.html" title="TCHRD: The fate of Sertha monk remains unknown year after arrest"><b>Ngagchung's fate remains a mystery</b></a>. His last known location was in the PSB Detention Centre in Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital. All requests by his family to see him have been refused. <br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 150px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090624.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zaU7Om_gI49WzHvwD1LUTx4M97lBBTLnL8R1h_-CQ1vQ6au1YsXtphrbnz2JMglTLJCU_BroyIbEtIIb70rSgGR-izrbl27XxxUtmpbgd6IOoJUA5hxNe66efFh45bK8SdsE/s200/Ngagchung.jpg" title="Ngagchung" alt="Ngagchung" border="0" height="200" width="150" /></a><div class="caption">The fate of Ngagchung, a monk at Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, remains unknown more than one year after his detention.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Ngagchung is a nephew of the late (and highly respected) founder of Larung Gar, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok. The Institute had come under repeated and severe government crackdowns beginning in 1999, after authorities decreed the expulsion of most of its resident monks and students. More than 7,000 residents, most of whom had come from China and other Asian countries for study, were forcibly evicted and their homes destroyed in 2001. Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok was himself detained by Chinese authorities, and he passed away in a hospital on January 7, 2004.<br /><br />The Chinese government conducted <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet" title="Foreign reporters allowed scripted trip to Tibet - Yahoo! News"><b>another farcical show tour for selected foreign media</b></a> last week. For the occasion, the large numbers of paramilitary police which patrol the Tibetan capital changed out of their usual military-style uniforms and into fashionably non-threatening black and yellow track suits. The reporters were taken on rushed visits to a primary school, a monastery, and one Tibetan family's home. The marching track suit-clad patrols of crew-cut young men told the journalists that they were "students" — and some even carried school books to prove it — but local residents confirmed that they were the same PAP squads which have become a dominating and constant presence in Lhasa's streets since last spring.<br /><br />The reporters were taken to the Jokhang Temple on their official tour, and found it nearly deserted. They were permitted only to meet the "chief monk" who gave them the Chinese government's version of the situation. The next day, reporters saw around 100 monks being returned to the Jokhang in buses. <br /><br />One monk was able to arrange a secret meeting with an Irish radio reporter. He outlined the political indoctrination classes he and his fellow monks are forced to attend, describing them as "painful." They are forced to criticize the Dalai Lama in these classes, he said, and more than half the monks at his monastery had left because "they found the pressure too much." <br /><br />The landmark report on the Tibetan situation by the Beijing-based academic think-tank <i>Gongmeng</i> (Open Constitution Initiative), which conducted a survey of Tibetan areas last year, has now been <a href="http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/bold-report-beijing-scholars-reveals-breakdown-china%E2%80%99s-tibet-policy" title="Bold report by Beijing scholars reveals breakdown of China’s Tibet policy | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>translated into English</b></a> by the International Campaign for Tibet. It is the first Chinese study to find that PRC policy failings are primarily responsible for the high level of discontent in Tibet.<br /><br />But the Chinese public is as unlikely to see mention of this report as it is to find any coverage of the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062604343.html" title="China, Cuba, Other Authoritarian Regimes Censor News From Iran - washingtonpost.com"><b>Iranian freedom movement</b></a> in any Chinese media.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-28592774360421337762009-06-27T15:09:00.001+07:002009-06-27T15:13:42.241+07:00NO SOUNDS OF SILENCE, PLEASE<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 307px;"><a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/06/iran-revolution-day-14-makeshift-hospitals-news-blackout.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljWZmNhqdgpNb2Lu07R9gwr2udSsQyqpSqwOfhw-ZPCHD_0DllsauRNVZIZDDVfJ1kghLfVlmWDgQMQf1xXmwACi52wYyaTjDV-gvDcN7E5B5zQno4-nZiVsPK4EETWpcz8HS/s320/Iran_boy.jpg" title="Defiance" alt="Defiance" border="0" height="320" width="307" /></a><div class="caption">Spirit of Defiance I: "You think <i>you're</i> tough?"</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">A</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />s the Michael Jackson eulogies look set to completely dominate the news cycle for the next few weeks at least, the Iranian revolution's soundtrack could now become the Sounds of Silence.<br /><br />If that happens, it won't be Jackson's fault. Celebrity still trumps everything else in the pop media, and the loss of the critically important world attention for the Iranian freedom seekers will be on the heads of moronic Western media mavens. And silly politicians like Jesse Jackson Jr., who led a Congressional silence for Michael yesterday. What about all the Nedas in Iran, where's <i>their</i> moment of silence and tribute for dying too young? <br /><br />As one of the most senior Ayatollahs preached about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/26/ayatollah-khatami-iran-pr_n_221307.html" title="Ayatollah Khatami: Iran Protesters Will Be Punished 'Without Mercy'"><b>executing protest leaders</b></a> during Friday prayers yesterday, and other Iranian officials variously claim that either the CIA or the demonstrators themselves killed Neda Agha Soltan, continuing international attention to the situation is essential to freedom's cause.<br /><br />One Iranian YouTuber (outside Iran) decided that if you can't <i>beat</i> 'em, join 'em. I just couldn't resist this one. [those viewing on tiny laptops may need to scroll down past the sidebar to see the video.]<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TvOx4avw8WY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TvOx4avw8WY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object></div><br /><br />If you're in the mood for another — <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMxFa6-6gJ4" title="YouTube - Iran 'Invincible' photostream..(RIP NEDA)"><b>"Invincible"</b></a>.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 221px;"><a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/06/iran-revolution-day-14-makeshift-hospitals-news-blackout.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcS2xQooTv_AoG0KrselxLNLldQjZvcN8UVHb55mtrjyD-AtwQBAJSpZVVA7NeLRIJg-Jlg1229KmoscbvFAp2l_4_4KAKmdvIiSgHb6bMyGy0XehpHNAJE_fV934wb0xzWlIN/s320/Ajad_fingered.jpg" title="More Defiance" alt="More Defiance" border="0" height="320" width="221" /></a><div class="caption">Spirit of Defiance II: Dictator fingered to his face.</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>I've heard via a reliable source that Neda's father has been forced to appear on national television saying that the <i>protesters</i> killed her, and not the regime's Basiji thugs. Disgusting. First they force the grieving family out of their home, and now this.<br /><br />The two photos on this page come via Atlas Shrugs, where Pamela is doing some fantastic coverage. Click on either image to see the large scale versions in her latest article, or <a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/iran-the-revolution/" title="Atlas Shrugs: Iran: The Revolution"><b>go here</b></a> for all her Iran revolution posts.<br /><br />It's getting more difficult each day for Iranians to communicate with the outside. The most crucial technology which is helping them to stay connected is TOR. A <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/26/protesters-use-navy-technology-to-avoid-censorship/" title="Iranian protesters avoid censorship with Navy technology - Washington Times"><b>very good piece by Eli Lake</b></a> in Washington Times explains how it's done, and offers this interesting background information (I hadn't known that TOR was originally a US military invention):<blockquote>Designed a decade ago to secure Internet communications between U.S. ships at sea, The Onion Router, or TOR, has become one of the most important proxies in Iran for gaining access to Web sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.<br /><br />The system of proxy servers that disguise a user's Internet traffic is now operated by a nonprofit, the Tor Project, that is independent from the U.S. government and military and is used all over the world. </blockquote>Invented by the US military and handed over to civil society to use for human liberty. That's the spirit!<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-73568084982544856402009-06-25T18:37:00.005+07:002009-06-26T11:13:33.730+07:00THE TYRANT SYNDROME **updated**<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsiB41zVOAxT8Lj9xMimG6jcby80PjrlLkPX94d63nZSy7KtpeyaQhsrlSGJ4eLpY8cDitIQxlsG0sSZ1_1KZtZkv68o8OS5RoeTgmrVSHTHcwlZn5cNECqR1TX6a3UeMXvb6/s320/asgari_marhoni_ajad2.jpg" title="No Gays" alt="No Gays" border="0" height="238" width="320" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">I</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />t's an evident truism that governments which are operated under the framework of immoral tyranny tend to act alike. Brook no dissent, counter it with brutality, lie about everything — that sort of thing. <br /><br />The photo shown here was taken on July 19, 2005 in Mashad, Iran. It shows Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, aged 14 and 16 at the time of their "offences" (homosexuality), preparing for Islamic Revolutionary justice. Dinnerjacket's statement was made a couple of years later, in an address at Columbia University. I've <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2006/12/march-to-mecca.html" title="Agam's Gecko: MARCH TO MECCA"><b>written about this previously</b></a>.<br /><br />Over the past week and a half, I've been amazed at the familiarity of some of the measures taken by Iran's security forces. Seizing dead bodies and live injured out of hospitals to be carted off to unknown destinations. Refusing to hand over remains to families and disposing of the bodies in secret burials. Ramping up expeditious special courts to deal with the hundreds (or thousands?) of detained dissidents. Persecuting the relatives of those killed, injured or arrested.<br /><br />They are charging the families for the cost (highly inflated) of the bullet used to kill their loved ones. Detainees are paraded in public, and some are coerced to issue ludicrous public confessions blaming outsiders. The regime launches pathetic, unhinged accusations against foreign scapegoats. <br /><br />Is any of this sounding creepily familiar? Just change "secret burials" to "secret cremations" and you'll get it.<br /><br />I've spent most of the past year and a half focusing mainly on the Tibetans' struggle with Communist Chinese rule, and these are all very, very familiar. (If I've left some out, additions are welcome in comments.) At least the CCP doesn't execute teenagers just for being gay, so that's something.<br /><br />Special courts will "<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55F54520090623" title="Iran says courts will teach protesters a lesson | International | Reuters"><b>teach protesters a lesson</b></a>," and a few who "learned" their lesson early have been appearing on state-run television with their "confessions":<blockquote>"I think we were provoked by networks like the BBC and the VOA (Voice of America) to take such immoral actions," one young man said. His face was shown but his name not given.<br /><br />A woman whose face was pixilated said she had carried a "war grenade" in her hand-bag. "I was influenced by VOA Persian and the BBC because they were saying that security forces were behind most of the clashes.<br /><br />"I saw that it was us protesting ... who were making riots. We set on fire public property, we threw stones ... we attacked people's cars and we broke windows of people's houses."</blockquote>Neda Agha Soltan was perhaps the first named martyr of this freedom struggle and became its icon, but there are untold numbers of Nedas across Iran. Kaveh Alipour, 19, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124571865270639351.html" title="Son's Death Has Iranian Family Asking Why - WSJ.com"><b>was one of them</b></a>. He was returning home from a class on Saturday, and was to be married in a week.<blockquote>At the crack of dawn, his father began searching at police stations, then hospitals and then the morgue.<br /><br />Upon learning of his son's death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a "bullet fee"—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.</blockquote>Mr. Alipour didn't have that kind of money, for those <i>highly</i> expensive bullets. He was eventually able to take his son's body on condition it was immediately taken out of Tehran for burial. Other families don't know where their loved ones are buried.<br /><br />The authorities have persecuted the family of Neda Agha Soltan <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/24/neda-soltan-iran-family-forced-out" title="Neda Soltan family 'forced out of home' by Iranian authorities | World news | guardian.co.uk"><b>right out of their home</b></a>, after forbidding them from conducting normal grieving rituals. Regime media have also accused the expelled BBC journalist, John Leyne, of having paid for her assassination in order to make a documentary film.<blockquote>Neighbours said that her family no longer lives in the four-floor apartment building on Meshkini Street, in eastern Tehran, having been forced to move since she was killed. The police did not hand the body back to her family, her funeral was cancelled, she was buried without letting her family know and the government banned mourning ceremonies at mosques, the neighbours said.<br /><br />"We just know that they [the family] were forced to leave their flat," a neighbour said.</blockquote>The family's former neighbours continue to live in fear.<br /><br />Remember the doctor who struggled alongside Neda's music teacher on Saturday, trying so very hard to save her life? His friend, <a href="http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/24/the-doctor/" title="The Doctor at Paulo Coelho’s Blog"><b>author Paulo Coelho</b></a>, has just published their email correspondence beginning the day after Neda's death. After getting his wife and son out of the country, the doctor fled to London on Wednesday. In which other countries must a doctor fear for his and his family's safety because he tried to save a life?<br /><br /><b>*UPDATE*:</b> (26/06/09: 1100) Dr. Arash Hejazi <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8119713.stm" title="BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran doctor tells of Neda's death"><b>gives an interview to the BBC</b></a>, in which he explains why he is going public about Neda's death despite the jeopardy it places him in. "Because of the innocent look in her eyes" when she died, he says. He also describes that the crowd actually nabbed the shooter, a Basij member, who cried to them that, "I didn't want to kill her." His identity cards were taken from him, bystanders took his photograph, and he was released. The interview is 19 minutes (video at the link), a riveting conversation with this very fine man. [end of update]<br /><br />Some former apologists of the regime have been <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/ottolenghi/71191" title="Commentary » Blog Archive » Cohen vs. Cohen"><b>mugged by reality</b></a>. It's the NYTimes' Roger Cohen vs. the NYTimes' Roger Cohen — separated by less than four months. Remarkable. Faster please!<br /><br />The previously planned July Fourth parties with diplomatic agents of the murderous thugocracy will have to go ahead without their presence, which one would have thought would be as unwelcome as fire ants at the picnics. After almost two weeks of this — the evident election fraud, a massive and peaceful popular uprising, and the hellishly barbaric crackdown — they've finally been disinvited by the White House. Weanie diplomacy is taken off the grill, and somebody else will have to bring the potato salad.<br /><br />[In case anyone using RSS or other website feeds of this site hasn't noticed (and these feeds often don't pick up on article changes), the previous couple of posts have been updated since they were published. Last night's was updated three times. Please have a look.]<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-76834568574587384322009-06-24T22:36:00.007+07:002009-06-25T15:52:55.743+07:00THAT OLD TAM FEELING **updated x3**<table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">A</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />nd that stands for Tian An Men. But you knew that.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://tehranbureau.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/475945531.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJtKB_wG7ISbA1Gs6LjOxMpa4KunHz_eJZ_TF5UwfqQQEjMYxjFKrSo2UF1YJdnRr-nC_3PYtVHUB2SRLQWTPehLRkrbu-r-ydWu4UcpA8elt4d27UIQ-auRF2SDfxXlVFxTKk/s320/expel.jpg" title="Correspondents" alt="Correspondents" border="0" height="251" width="320" /></a><div class="caption"><i>Image: Wasserman / Boston Globe</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Iranians had been further threatened with violence today, and it looks like the Ayatollah delivered on it. The free elections movement attempted to gather at Baharestan Square, near the parliament, in late afternoon. Khamenei's forces were out in force. <br /><br />Citizen journalist <a href="http://twitter.com/persiankiwi" title="persiankiwi (persiankiwi) on Twitter"><b>persiankiwi</b></a> was in the square, and I take the liberty of taking his series of tweets out of <i>crimped-speak</i>.<blockquote>Just in from Baherestan Square, the situation today is terrible. They beat the people like animals. I've seen many people with broken arms, legs or head. Blood is everywhere, and pepper gas. It's like war.<br /><br />They were waiting for us, they all have guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mouse trap, people being shot like animals. I saw 7 or 8 militia beating one woman with a baton on the ground. She had no defense, nothing. I'm sure that she is dead.<br /><br />So many people are arrested, young and old. They take people away, we lose our group. People run into alleys, and militia are standing there waiting. From two sides they attack people in the middle of the alleys.<br /><br />All the shops were closed. Nowhere to go, they follow people with helicopters. Smoke and fire is everywhere.</blockquote>An Iranian student, who had been twittering under his own name before things began heating up, stopped broadcasting on Saturday afternoon. <a href="http://twitter.com/Change_for_Iran/status/2259645169" title="Iranian Student (Change_for_Iran) on Twitter"><b>His latest entry</b></a>.<blockquote>I'm going to sleep a little before joining with the others, please pray for all people of Iran & wish us peace & freedom<br /><br />5:55 PM Jun 20th from web </blockquote>More from persiankiwi just now as I'm about to post this. I'll give them to you raw (hover your mouse over the <a href="http://twitter.com/persiankiwi" title="persiankiwi (persiankiwi) on Twitter"><b>icon here</b></a> for current):<blockquote>rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now - #Iranelection34 minutes ago from web <br /><br />reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now - #Iranelection - Sea of Green - Allah Akbar29 minutes ago from web <br /><br />in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection RT RT RT27 minutes ago from web <br /><br />they catch ppl with mobile - so many killed today - so many injured - Allah Akbar - they take one of us - #Iranelection25 minutes ago from web <br /><br />Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere - #Iranelection24 minutes ago from web <br /><br />they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us - #Iranelection20 minutes ago from web <br /><br />Everybody is under arrest & cant move - Mousavi - Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard - #Iranelection -15 minutes ago from web <br /><br />we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast - #Iranelection9 minutes ago from web <br /><br />thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls remember always our martyrs - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar #Iranelection6 minutes ago from web </blockquote><b>*UPDATE*:</b> (23:30)<br /><br /><div align="center"><script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=int&vid=/video/world/2009/06/24/bpr.iran.proests.baharistan.cnn" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a></noscript></div><br /><br /><b>*UPDATE-2*:</b> (01:40) CNN is playing around with the videos — when I posted that at 11:30 pm, it was four minutes long. They cut off the most gripping descriptions of the carnage and her heart-rending pleas for help, right after she tells of the large mob emerging from a mosque to beat people. They trimmed it down to the first minute.<br /><br />I'll leave it up there in case the following YouTube version doesn't stay up. This is the full segment. It's in a wide format and I can't make it any smaller, so if your browser window is too narrow and it doesn't appear directly below, scroll down past the end of the sidebar to see it:<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mEtVRgZ3Szw&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mEtVRgZ3Szw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object></div><br /><br /><b>*UPDATE-3*:</b> (25/06/09: 15:30) I'm feeling really annoyed that CNN has apparently deep-sixed most of this interview. The one-minute family-friendly version replaced the four-minute original, as near as I can tell, within two hours of its first airing. Only the truncated interview has been broadcast today, at least on CNN International.<br /><br />I know that some people can't view embedded videos, so for the non-clickers here is a transcript, partly done by <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/latest-updates-on-irans-disputed-election-5/#t13h15m" title="Latest Updates on Iran’s Disputed Election - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com"><b>The Lede Blog</b></a> and finished by me.<blockquote>I was going towards Baharestan with my friends…. This was everyone, not just supporters of one candidate or another, everyone — all of my friends, we were going to Baharestan to express our opposition to these killings these days, and demanding freedom. But the black-clad police stopped everyone at Saadi. They emptied the buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on…. We went on until Ferdowsi then, all of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs and woods, they came out of [Hedayat] mosque and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone.<br /><br />[This is where CNN has trimmed off the rest of the interview, both from their online video offering and in its broadcasts.]<br /><br />And they tried to beat everyone on Saadi bridge and throwing them off of the bridge…. And everyone also on the sidewalks. They beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood and her husband, who was watching the scene, he just fainted. And I also saw people shooting, I mean the security forces shooting on people, on Lalezar. And of course people were afraid… the security forces …<br /><br />They were beating people like — hell. This was a massacre. They were trying to beat people so that they would die. They were cursing — saying very bad words to everyone. They were beating old men. And this was — this was exactly a massacre. You should stop this. You should stop this. You should help the people of Iran who demand freedom. You should help us. … <br /><br />[Here ends The Lede's transcript, the rest is added by yours truly.]<br /><br />[nearly speechless interviewer: "How many of you were there in this terrible situation?"]<br /><br />There were thousands of people on the streets, but it was me and ten of my friends.<br /><br />[interviewer: "And you said the security forces were shooting <i>at</i> the people? Did you see anybody injured by gunfire?"]<br /><br />No, as I explained earlier I didn't see, I heard the shooting and my friends and I we just scattered. We heard the shooting near Lalezar and we were near there, and we just ran away. I didn't see again what happened, I'm sure people are dead there but I couldn't see, I couldn't catch the film or anything. <br /><br />[interviewer relates to her some other received reports of shooting and beating the people "like animals"]<br /><br />Yes exactly, exactly, exactly. This is what's happening, they beat people so bad. You know in the previous days they are killing students with axe. You know they put the axe through the hearts of young men and it's so... <i>devastating</i>, I don't know how to describe it I can't find the words, but this is horrific. This is genocide, this is a massacre, this is Hitler! And you people should stop it! It's a long time we have been exposed to this and nobody takes action! It's time to act!</blockquote>If anyone is thinking, "Yeah, that axe thing is just a rumour," brace yourself. <a href="http://threatswatch.org/rapidrecon/2009/06/unimaginable-horror-in-tehran/" title="ThreatsWatch.Org: RapidRecon: Unimaginable Horror In Tehran Today"><b>ThreatsWatch.Org</b></a> has posted a photograph taken on Saturday, June 20 (the same day Neda Agha Soltan was murdered). Don't click through until you have prepared yourself to witness gruesome barbarity. If you're in doubt of your ability to handle it, don't. You can't unsee something like that.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-85427445137210603142009-06-23T18:43:00.004+07:002009-06-24T00:41:09.439+07:00WHO'S TWEETERING NOW? **updated**<table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">I</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />ranian tough-guy Prez Mahmoud has been in a rough mood these days but he's now coming out of his shell to throw down the gauntlet, in a challenge to those who <i>object</i> to shooting lovely and dignified women in the heart on the street. <br /><br />Take it away President Ahmatwitterjad:<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q3puJa2EfcM&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q3puJa2EfcM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br />Seriously....<br /><br />Iran's digital tracking capabilities against online citizens is far more extensive than previously known, far outstripping the snooping capacity of even China's net police, and also <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124562668777335653.html" title="Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology - WSJ.com"><b>aided by western technology companies</b></a>.<br /><br />Her passion was travel, and she hoped someday to be a guide for Iranian tour groups to other countries. She had saved up and made trips to Turkey, Dubai and Thailand. She also loved and studied music. Her friend told her not to go out, that it was too dangerous. "Don't worry," she said. "It's just one bullet and it's over." <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-neda23-2009jun23,0,6240992.story" title="Family, friends mourn Neda Agha-Soltan, Iranian woman whose death was caught on video - Los Angeles Times"><b>Family and friends remember Neda</b></a>.<br /><br />Professor Fouad Ajami on <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124563005022735881.html" title="Obama's Persian Tutorial - WSJ.com"><b>Obama's Persian Tutorial</b></a>. Please let him be a quick learner. Joe warned us about this, but no one listens to Joe (not the plumber, the other one).<br /><br />This Friday a new film starring the magnificent Shoreh Aghdashloo ("The House of Sand and Fog") opens in North America. Be there or be square, wider release will follow. Take all your friends. <a href="http://www.thestoning.com/" title="The Stoning of Soraya M."><b>The Stoning of Soraya M.</b></a><br /><br />Hotdogs! Mustard! Diplomatic Action! July Fourth partying with the official agents of Neda's killers will proceed as planned. You guys bring the potato salad, ok? <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hMtZsaQT4cTxcgA51WrpiUS6cWGg" title="AFP: US says hot dog diplomacy still on with Iran"><b>AFP: US says hot dog diplomacy still on with Iran</b></a>.<br /><br />The President needs to add a new word* to his vocabulary, and to pair it with another word he uses too much. The latter word is "I", the former is "condemn". Try it out, man. It's not that hard. Beating and shooting people who hunger for freedom is no clerical error. Nothing could be more deserving of clear condemnation, whether in Tibet, Burma, China, Iran, or formerly in South Africa, Poland, Hungary... the list is long. The leader of the free world position has always carried with it certain responsibilities.<br /><br /><b>*UPDATE*</b> (00:30): Gecko gets results! (Actually, <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0622/p09s03-coop.html" title="What Obama must do now on Iran | csmonitor.com"><b>Trita Parsi</b></a> made the same request earlier in the day.) "<b>I strongly condemn these unjust actions</b>," <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama" title="Obama talks tougher on Iran violence - Yahoo! News"><b>Obama said in a news conference at the White House.</b></a><br /><br /><b>Addendum:</b><blockquote>"She died full of love," Golshad said.</blockquote>From the above LAT story on Neda's family and friends. Golshad is not her real name.<br /><br />The grey haired gentleman with Neda was not her father but her music teacher, Hamid Panahi. Her family was forbidden to eulogize her, but Mr. Panahi defies them saying he has nothing to lose.<blockquote>"They know me," he said. "They know where I am. They can come and get me whenever they want. My time has gone. We have to think about the young people."<br /><br />Neda, he said, was smart and loving. She had a mischievous streak, gently teasing her friends and causing them to laugh. She was passionate about life and meant no one any harm.<br /><br />In the election unrest, friends found in her an unexpected daring, a willingness to take risks for her beliefs.<br /><br />"She couldn't stand the injustice of it all," Panahi said. "All she wanted was the proper vote of the people to be counted.<br /><br />"For pursuing her goals, she didn't use rocks or clubs," he said. "She wanted to show with her presence that 'I'm here. I also voted. And my vote wasn't counted.' It was a very peaceful act of protest, without any violence."<br /><br />As to the person or persons responsible for her death, they will not be forgiven, he said.<br /><br />"When they kill an innocent child, this is not justice. This is not religion. In no way is this acceptable," he said. "And I'm certain that the one who shot her will not get a pass from God."</blockquote>Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-790542094340601322009-06-22T18:41:00.004+07:002009-06-23T23:09:15.665+07:00LIONESS DOWN, SPIRIT SOARS<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://twitpic.com/817ft"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3cNsmkAXN2KT-WMCAO9sMmtCp2jqFUKwz6A4_IO8p-WxQFB8nabX8ygRaV9j_UX3G9ZzztDdNam9uYhlwqS9weGwY2eh5kh7OAH5vDz6m8Xchdk4MTizOJozHo6vSbvMR4uE/s320/Neda.jpg" title="Neda Agha Soltan" alt="Neda Agha Soltan" border="0" height="251" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Neda Agha Soltan, a 27 year old philosophy student, died by the hand of the Islamic Republic's Basij militia on Saturday.<br /><i>Photo: "A Voice for Neda"</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">H</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />er name is Neda. Her name will always be Neda. When she fell and left it behind her, it was raised by hundreds, then thousands, now millions. Not <i>was</i> — her name <i>is</i> Neda.<br /><br />Neda Agha Soltan was a 27 year old student of philosophy in Tehran. The bare outline of her story can only be provisionally pieced together from the unconfirmed snippets of discussion trickling out of Iran by her compatriots in freedom's cause. Perhaps one day soon, when journalism is no longer illegal in that country, her full story will be told.<br /><br />It is said that she was standing on the sidelines of Saturday's forbidden protest, watching beside her <strike>father</strike> teacher. A wobbly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWHT37pQmmE" title="YouTube - NEDA before she was shot"><b>cell-phone video</b></a> shows the two of them together among the crowd. He is the grey-haired man in a blue striped shirt, she wears black.<br /><br />If the gentle reader has not yet seen what happened to Neda (some news outlets are showing it), and is willing to have his or her heart broken yet again, then click the button while observing my <i>strong content warning</i>. Neda was alive at the beginning of this scene, but not at the end.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="450" height="370"><param name="movie" value="http://www.liveleak.com/e/0db_1245519048"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.liveleak.com/e/0db_1245519048" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="450" height="370"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0db_1245519048" title="LiveLeak.com - Young girl being killed by plainclothes"><b>Direct Video Link</b></a></div>The original upload carried the following description:<blockquote>At 19:05 June 20th<br />Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st.<br /><br />A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes.<br /><br />The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St.<br /><br />The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me.<br /><br />Please let the world know.</blockquote>I've gathered from reading many Iranians (who have become like autonomous solo broadcasters) these past days that her name, Neda, means "Calling" or "Voice". The man believed to be her father is calling to her as she dies, which has been translated as:<blockquote>"Neda, don't be afraid. Neda, don't be afraid. [obscured by others yelling] Neda, stay with me. Neda stay with me!"</blockquote>Courageous women have been the backbone of these demonstrations, according to many witnesses. I listened to an Iranian professor this morning talk about the phenomenon, which is not new. "Shirzan" is the Persian word he used for them, which he said Iranians will commonly use to describe such women without fear. It means "lioness" or "lion-woman," he said. Women have been estimated to comprise around 40% of the freedom protesters during the past 10 days.<br /><br />No one knew whether the planned Saturday protest would go ahead or not, following the unveiled threat delivered by Supreme Ayatollah Khamenei on Friday. Everyone who considered going out of their house on Saturday <i>knew</i> that they could be risking their life. Mr. Moussavi had promised a statement in the afternoon, but it never came (his website has come under attack as well). Yet less than an hour after the planned meeting time of 4 pm, everyone who was following any of the <i>many</i> autonomous solo broadcasters (twitterers with a reliable reputation), knew that Tehran's people were in the streets again and were being foiled by huge numbers of riot police and Basijis already occupying their meeting places in the public squares. International media continued for hours saying the streets were quiet, while heads were already being cracked. CNN's not the "first name in news" anymore, and if they keep getting "Khomeni" and "Khamenei" mixed up and refering to demonstrators as "rioters" for defending themselves, they'll be the last name in news before long. <br /><br />While earnest news anchors were saying that no one had seen Mr. Moussavi on Saturday, those who followed the solo tweet-casters already knew that he had spoken to the demonstrators in Jeyhoon Street. Before long, his words were translated, posted and linked by the Iranian tweeters.<br /><br />By late night in Tehran the truth was evident to all, finally including international media. A vicious crackdown was underway, an unknown number of the freedom movement had been killed, and protests were continuing in most (if not all) Iran's major cities. Tweets from eyewitnesses circled the earth in seconds, thousands of citizen videos were uploaded to sharing sites, there are no secrets any more — at least, nothing <i>this</i> big can be kept secret when technology and an adept people are present. <br /><br />I'm in a time zone two and a half hours ahead of Tehran. At around 2 am on Sunday morning here, the screen of the AP satellite feed showed a caption warning agencies to be ready. (paraphrasing) "Standby. White House statement 3:10 pm. Standby." The time corresponded to 02:10 am Bangkok time, in other words, imminent. It was just before midnight in Tehran, and we all knew what had happened during the afternoon and evening there. The White House was finally ready to take a stronger moral stand after these latest brutal killings, I thought. It could have come days earlier, after Basijis had raided Tehran University, beating and killing a number of students in their dorms. Or, a day or two before that when Basijis shot up a crowd around one of their bases, killing at least seven. But better late than never. I waited.<br /><br />Nothing came across the AP feed after an hour, then after two hours of staying awake refreshing some pages of those solo broadcasters, I crashed out around dawn. Sunday afternoon, I learned what the "Standby" was all about.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOYJL_nx-p7AskNAj2bPiLc75PYL-dQs1YIgvvAeGyQw4Az-jQZfYvY6UBpQ2T-ycuYs161unie9p-o8H0g8dAlQrqsgUE3R0JThL3gAnet59qsi_NWCPMJg4sZpnS_BLuWkg/s200/O-ice.jpg" title="I scream" alt="I scream" border="0" height="200" width="200" /><div class="caption">Can't a man enjoy his waffle(cone)?</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The White House statement was that the President had taken his daughters out for a Father's Day ice cream. Seriously! And that's not all. Bo got frozen Puppy Pops to go. (The photo is from an earlier ice cream excursion, I can't find any pictures from Saturday's fun.) Take a look at <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/20/contrast-iranian-protestors-shot-as-obama-goes-for-ice-cream/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Contrast: Iranian Protestors Shot As Obama Goes for Ice Cream"><b>Patterico's</b></a> juxtaposition of contemporaneous tweets out of Iran and Washington. Hey, did you know that <i>real</i> journalists use Twitter too? It's true! But only click on that one if you don't mind your heart being broken yet again.<br /><br />Earlier, President Obama had <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090620/wl_mideast_afp/iranpolitics" title="Iranian rally organiser backs down - Yahoo! News"><b>said something</b></a> which seemed stronger than the previous "concern" and "bearing witness."<blockquote>"I'm very concerned based on some of the tenor and tone of the statements that have been made that the government of Iran recognise that the world is watching," Obama said on US television on Friday.<br /><br />"And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard will, I think, send a pretty clear signal to the international community about what Iran is and is not." </blockquote>Well, it nudged the concern and witness ideas ahead a little bit (if ya squint!). <a href="http://adjix.com/nw7k" title="Adjix"><b>A later written statement</b></a> added the mourning of innocent life lost to the bearing of witness and concern. The toughest line was, "We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people."<br /><br />Those brave 21st century Iranians need to hear that the free peoples of the world are with them. The placards, chants and comments of the demonstrators have often asked specifically for this, and it would mean a lot for them to hear it unambiguously from the leader of the free world. Whether he makes a strong, principled statement on the urgent need for liberty and the dignity of Iran's freedom-seeking people, or sticks with the current weak expressions of concern, makes no difference to the ruling hardliners in that country. They are blaming Britain, France, USA and all western countries for fomenting the rebellion in any case. To hell with <i>them</i> — speak directly to those millions of Iranians who are demanding their fundamental rights. They are the only ones who count, and the only ones listening anyway. <br /><br />So far, the Prophet of Cairo seems to be all Barack and no bite. His original "on the one hand, but on the other hand" stance (that dealing with Ahmedinejad or Moussavi makes no difference to him, that they are about the same) certainly <i>did</i> offend many of those risking life and limb for liberty, and they should expect clearer messages from a US president. For better or worse, those who want to live in a free(r) country have gathered together with Mr. Moussavi, demanding the fair election they have yet to receive. That alone means that the two are <i>not</i> the same.<br /><br />A Life Magazine photojournalist disappeared on Saturday in Tehran. You can view his gallery <a href="http://www.life.com/image/ugc1002722/in-gallery/28782/eyewitness-from-tehrans-streets" title="Eyewitness: From Tehran's Streets - Photo Gallery, 24 Pictures - LIFE"><b>here</b></a>, with the following notification:<blockquote>A NOTE TO OUR READERS: We are saddened to report that the Iranian photojournalist, whose pictures appear in this gallery, is missing. He has not been in contact with us; this morning we received the following email from one of his relatives. We will update this space when we have more details.<br /><br />THE EMAIL: Hi im [photographer’s relative], when he go outside yesterday for he never came back home and also his friend and a lot of our young brave people, government arrested them [. . .] don’t let them suffer in those bloody hands. With thanks.</blockquote>Here's a sample of some of the proven reliable Twitter feeds. Most are in Tehran. The last two are hashtag searches (categories). #Neda sprang up on Saturday night. #IranElection is very high volume (beware of rumours and regime dis-information there).<blockquote><a href="http://twitter.com/StopAhmadi" title="Raymond Jahan (StopAhmadi) on Twitter"><b>Raymond Jahan (StopAhmadi)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/Change_for_Iran" title="Iranian Student (Change_for_Iran) on Twitter"><b>Iranian Student (Change_for_Iran)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/IranElection09" title="Alireza Sedaghat (IranElection09) on Twitter"><b>Alireza Sedaghat (IranElection09)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/TehranBureau" title="TehranBureau.com (TehranBureau) on Twitter"><b>TehranBureau.com (TehranBureau)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/madyar" title="madyar (madyar) on Twitter"><b>madyar (madyar)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/IranRiggedElect" title="Iran (IranRiggedElect) on Twitter"><b>Iran (IranRiggedElect)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/oxfordgirl" title="oxfordgirl (oxfordgirl) on Twitter"><b>oxfordgirl (oxfordgirl)</b></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/persiankiwi" title="persiankiwi (persiankiwi) on Twitter"><b>persiankiwi (persiankiwi)</b></a><br /><a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23neda" title="#neda - Twitter Search"><b>#Neda</b></a><br /><a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23IranElection" title="#IranElection - Twitter Search"><b>#IranElection</b></a></blockquote>If you need to get caught up on the important developments over the weekend, there's no better place at the moment than Hot Air. AllahPundit is keeping on top of things very well, and these were continually updated on <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/20/iranian-police-throwing-teargas-at-protestors-in-tehran/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Chaos in Iran: I’m ready for martyrdom, says Mousavi; Videos: Woman murdered in cold blood; Update: Obama calls on regime to end violence; Update: Obama goes out for ice cream; Rumor: 150 dead? Report: Mousavi’s office sends letter to Obama?"><b>Saturday</b></a> and <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/21/iran-escalation-rafsanjanis-daughter-arrested-bbc-journalist-expelled/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Iran escalation: Rafsanjani’s daughter arrested; Update: Full speed ahead on negotiations, says Lugar; Update: Rafsanjani’s daughter released; Update: Clerics mulling replacing Khamenei with committee? Update: Guardian council admits there were more votes than voters"><b>Sunday</b></a>. Also very good is NYT's <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/" title="Breaking News - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com"><b>The Lede Blog</b></a>. The blog of the <a href="http://niacblog.wordpress.com/" title="niacINsight"><b>National Iranian American Council</b></a> is worth keeping an eye on, for nuggets like this — which stuck in my mind last week (and I had a hard time finding it again). Posted on <a href="http://niacblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/liveblogging-between-elections-and-enrichment/" title="Liveblogging: Between Elections and Enrichment « niacINsight"><b>June 17</b></a>:<blockquote><b>9:47 am:</b> In response to Ahmadinejad calling Mousavi supporters “brushwood and thorns” at the victory rally Monday, Iran’s most famous classical musician has ordered that Iranian government television/radio never play his music again. Mohammad Reza Shajarian told BBC Persian in an interview:<blockquote>“Don’t broadcast my voice on Seda va Sima [IRIB Music channel] ever again: my voice is like brushwood and thorns, and it will forever remain brushwood and thorns!”</blockquote></blockquote>Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-70966063120436164072009-06-15T22:56:00.003+07:002009-06-15T23:05:22.063+07:00AHMADINEJAD GETS HIS ANSWER<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://twitpic.com/7buyf"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivlvs27qVSzNHEMPjqfM8AmwWfws2hl5O0eWJ3tdnA-Uau-D_-NYIOtXM9n1C3Lkkm6wznEXteUYbdok0mlV3OIu3JwPdCn6hMBb2wipOaCXJcpFgpmOYP3aTYejwK_JDmC74l/s320/Tehran_13-06-09.jpg" title="Protester helps police" alt="Protester helps police" border="0" height="320" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">A Moussavi supporter aids a policeman in Tehran, June 13, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: Twitter via #newiran #iranelection</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">Y</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />esterday, Ahmedinejad called his supporters into the street to celebrate his election "win". He gathered a considerably larger mass than the crowds protesting the apparently rigged election over the previous two days. Of course there was no risk for A'jad's supporters, since all his government apparatus would be encouraging his people to come out and celebrate. <br /><br />Those opposition gatherings, spontaneously erupting all over the country, have been facing the truncheons of the Basij thugs and riot police (as well as Venezuelan and Hezb'Allah reinforcements, according to reports). Comparable turnouts should not be expected for both sides.<br /><br />And yet, this is what happened late this afternoon in Tehran. Mir Moussavi shows up to address a massive crowd of people who don't accept the election result. A phenomenal showing for a peaceful protest that, last I heard, was denied legal permission by the authorities.<br /><br />Here is Mr. Ahmedinejad's answer. Look carefully at the size of the crowd shown toward the end of the clip (taken from satellite here in Bangkok about 10 pm, or 1500 GMT Monday). <br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3QRj-SwOcfk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3QRj-SwOcfk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-68510950371772246582009-06-15T01:57:00.003+07:002009-06-15T02:37:35.364+07:00FAMOUS BIGOT STEALS ELECTION<table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">O</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />ne of the most famous racist hate-mongers in the world stole an election yesterday, if even a fraction of the reports from Iran are to be believed. Bigotry seems to be riding quite high lately. Or maybe it's all coincidence.<br /><br />I recorded some video from satellite last night of the protests in Tehran, intending to put it up here, but that scene and many others have already been posted by freedom-seeking Iranians. These and the latest updates from the streets can be found at <a href="http://tehranbureau.com/2009/06/13/alerts-from-tehran/" title="Alerts from Tehran – tehranbureau"><b>Tehran Bureau</b></a> (and a new page for Sunday <a href="http://tehranbureau.com/2009/06/13/alerts-from-tehran/" title="Sunday Iran Alerts – tehranbureau"><b>here</b></a>). Lots more on the situation <a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/landslide-or-fraud-the-debate-online-over-irans-election-results/" title="Landslide or Fraud? The Debate Online Over Iran’s Election Results - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com"><b>here</b></a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/Change_for_Iran" title="(Change_for_Iran) on Twitter"><b>Change For Iran</b></a> is twittering the street protests, and <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23IranElection" title="(74) #IranElection - Twitter Search"><b>this feed</b></a> is updating too fast to even keep up with. <br /><br />As I write this, more scenes from today are coming over AP. Massive crowds are overwhelming what appears to be pro-government thugs trying to disperse them by roaring motorcycles through the mass. It's not working. Thugs and police are getting the worst of it. Motorcycle bonfires at the end of it. Wow. Counter-revolution?<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-86264973890560052962009-06-15T01:56:00.000+07:002009-06-15T01:57:30.951+07:00A BIGOT BY ANY OTHER NAME...<table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">A</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> string of repulsive murders in the United States has lifted the lid from some inconvenient truths, and the hypocritical standards utilized by the pop media to drive the "public debate". The three shootings, which can all be seen as political violence carried out by "lone wolves" consumed by their own separate hatreds, each had very different impacts on the national conversation. Or maybe it should be better called the national screaming match.<br /><br />First came the abortionist-hater, who gunned down one of the only three doctors in the country who regularly performed "late term" and "partial birth" abortions. Pro-life organisations immediately denounced the murder of Dr. Tiller in his Kansas church, realizing that it would be necessary to point out that a murderer can hardly be considered to be "pro-life". Although it should go without saying that anyone who believes in the sanctity of life could hardly endorse the crime, even stating the obvious was futile in the current polarized climate. Pro-life groups and certain public individuals were nakedly blamed for the doctor's murder. The killer was seen by many as just a simple-minded kook who was "incited" to kill by others. Fortunately for the narrative-weavers, there was no complicating racial aspect to the crime. <br /><br />Not many days later, a self-described mujahideen (who was actually under investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force after his return to the US from Yemen) went on a shooting spree at a military recruitment center in Arkansas. Somebody wasn't paying enough attention to their task. The American jihadi, a recent convert to Islam, later told the media that he was angry about US troops 'bombing villages' and 'killing civilians' in Muslim countries — as the two latest Democratic Party candidates for president have both phrased it on separate occasions. As far as I know, no one on the other side of the aisle has accused either of those public figures of inciting this man's action. <br /><br />No doubt this jihad warrior <i>was</i> incited by any number of spokesmen for the global mujahideen (indeed, he took "Mujahid" for his own "Islamic" name — Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad), where there is no shortage of those calling for the murder of infidels, Americans, Jews, etc. The killer saw two young Privates (one white and one black) who had just finished basic training, taking a smoke break outside the recruiting office. He hit them each three times in a hail of automatic rifle fire. Pvt. William Long, 23, died almost immediately. He was buried on the day he was to deploy to South Korea. Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, survived and plans to stay in the Army. "<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/09/arkansas.shooting.survivor/" title="Soldier hurt in shooting: 'I like defending this country' - CNN.com"><b>I like defending this country</b></a>," he says.<br /><br />If the second of these three events received far less attention than the first, the third one is getting more than both. An 88 year old 'Aryan nationalist', James Von Brunn, marched up to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and opened fire, killing security guard Stephen Johns before he was himself shot by another guard. "Ah hah!" went the narrative-weavers. "A conservative extremist! And he killed a black man while attacking the Holocaust memorial!" Pure gold for the culture warriors, and using the crime for political hay, they certainly are. Unfortunately for this narrative, Von Brunn could in no rational way be tied to <i>conservatives</i>, any more than Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad should be tied to <i>Muslims</i>. The Aryan Nation creeps are in no way conservative, which means limited government power, individual liberty, free markets, and all that right-wing jazz.<br /><br />Von Brunn left a long trail of his lunacy over the years, and guess who else he hates besides Jews and African-Americans? <a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35192" title="FrontPage Magazine - Holocaust Museum Shooter: Christian-Hating Socialist"><b>Well, let's see here</b></a>, he hates Christianity and capitalism (he once tried to "citizen's arrest" the Federal Reserve) and advocates "Western Socialism." He's also a "911 Truther", believing the "Bush neo-cons" pulled off the attacks for their own purpose (which around one-third of registered Democrats also believe). The early investigation shows that he had lined up the Weekly Standard and Fox News (both believed to be conservative media) as alternate targets. This could all get a bit tricky for that narrative tapestry the weavers would like to work on.<br /><br />Of course, most citizens will never hear about those aspects of a confused old man's belief system, just like most apparently still haven't heard about the first death by jihad terrorism on US soil since 9/11 (it's an almost daily occurrence lately in southern Thailand). US pop media doesn't like to dwell on certain things these days, and the anti-Semitism of the Left is apparently one of them. Just call the guy a "right-winger" and be done with it, pegging him to conservatives for future reference. All one need do is watch C-SPAN'S Washington Journal call-in program on a day when an Israel-related issue is discussed, and you'll have no doubt from which "wing" most of the unhinged hatred for Jews is coming from these days.<br /><br />Yet, I would never dare to blame the Holocaust Museum shooting on the "far left" no matter how many issues Von Brunn may have in common with them. That would be no less bigoted than those who are now blaming it on the "far right" or Glenn Beck and whoever else is on the approved hate-list today. There is nothing conservative about racism, hating Israel and Christians, or holding to conspiracy theories about President Bush. No one but a sad, probably senile old racist is responsible for killing Stephen Johns, and to suggest otherwise is nothing but pure bigotry itself.<br /><br />A few other things separate the three incidents. The abortionist, Dr. Tiller, was specifically assassinated for who he is and what he'd been doing for many years (which the majority of Americans still believe, in the case of very late term abortions solely for the mother's convenience, to be despicable). The bigotry entered the equation in the tarring of the entire pro-life movement with the actions of his murderer.<br /><br />The other two incidents did grow from a generalized hatred in the killers, who didn't really care who they killed. One hated American soldiers, the other hated Jews (and a long list of others). That's the definition of bigotry — "I don't know you, but I hate you because I hate the group you belong to." <br /><br />Another thing that sets the incidents apart (besides the media frothing over #1 and #3, and low-key treatment of #2) was the response from on high. Within hours of Dr. Tiller's murder, President Obama released an official statement of "outrage" at the crime. Within hours of the Holocaust Museum shooting, President Obama released another official statement of "outrage." Very commendable indeed. But when Private Long was killed, and Private Ezeagwula very seriously wounded, their own commander in chief was strangely silent for quite a while. Following the shooting, on the third day he rose again, issuing a statement of "sadness".<br /><br />A statement of <i>sadness</i> would have been more appropriate if directed toward the President's own long-time spiritual mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. On the very day Von Brunn carried through on his deranged fantasies, the good Reverend was <a href="http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_wright_0610jun10,0,7603283.story" title="Rev. Jeremiah Wright discusses President Obama and Jews -- dailypress.com"><b>complaining to journalists about the Jews</b></a> keeping him away from "my son," the President.<blockquote>"Them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me," Wright said...<br /><br />"They will not let him to talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is."</blockquote>Oh my, shall we also denounce the racism in that "spade" remark? The Reverend, who belonged to the racist Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam before becoming a pastor, preached to the Obamas for more than 20 years and conducted their marriage. He continued the interview on into international affairs:<blockquote>"Ethnic cleansing is going on in Gaza. Ethnic cleansing of the Zionist is a sin and a crime against humanity, and they don't want Barack talking like that because that's anti-Israel," Wright said.</blockquote>He unintentionally got that partly right, with his "ethnic cleansing of the Zionist" in Gaza. It was the <i>Jews</i> who were removed by force from Gaza, which was then handed over to the Palestinians to mess up as they have been doing ever since. Of course that wasn't his intent, and the script has been corrected in the print report, replacing "of the Zionist..." with "(by) the Zionist..." I've put his own word back into the above quote, and if you don't believe me, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfDeRY7IgcQ" title="YouTube - Rev. Jeremiah Wright says 'Them Jews' are keeping him from President Obama"><b>listen for yourself</b></a>.<br /><br />Oh, it's so much fun to fan bigotry on false pretences, isn't it? I would have thought such a display of it could have elicited a bit of "sadness" from the President, if not an equal portion of the "outrage" drawn by the killing of Dr. Tiller, who only ended lives of nearly-born babies.<br /><br /><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">O</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />ne small group for whom it seems it's always open season for bigots (because of all the <i>fun</i> to be had), is the Alaska Chill-billies. Yes, it's none other than the Palin Clan of the Cave Bear, who draw more wilfully ignorant bigotry than almost any other group in the history of misplaced hatred. Mama Bear Sarah is hated by the feminists because she's an extremely successful woman, not oppressed by her husband, and nice looking too. Democrats hate her because she scares them silly, and for dozens of other reasons they think they read on a blog somewhere. Like, um, she was baptized by a witch, believes dinosaurs lived with Jesus, burnt books from the library, punishes rape victims, won't give equal rights to gay people, shoots woofs from helicopters, can barely read (much less write), "sees Russia from her house", etc. All nonsense, but millions actually believe some or all of those things.<br /><br />It isn't just Sarah who is fair game to ridicule, that's for the whole clan on her behalf — from her husband Todd (snow-billy racing machines?) all the way down to baby Trig (yes really, with the retard jokes). But anti-Palin bigotry reached a new landmark last week, on the David Letterman Show.<br /><br />I used to like you, Dave. In a previous life, I watched you every time I had the chance. But that was nearly 20 years ago, and how you have changed (and I, too). I'm sure I recall you being funny, but now you seem just sad and pathetic, fishing for applause that comes across more as your audience's expression of "progressive politics" than of appreciation for genuine humour.<br /><br />The Alaska governor was in New York for a few reasons, including a celebration of Alaska joining the Union in Mr. Seward's home town in upstate, and a benefit for an 'independent living for the handicapped' organization. Her husband, her sister, and her 14 year old daughter Willow came along on the trip. Sarah and Willow attended a professional baseball game. All pretty run-of-the-mill stuff.<br /><br />Letterman did his standard top ten list of the fun things Sarah did in the Big Apple. Insulting, as they almost always are, so nothing new there. Things like, getting to see her first Jewish person, real intellectual stuff. And upgrading her make-up collection so as to really nail that "slutty flight-attendant look". Classy.<br /><br />But the highlight was in the opening monologue, when Dave quipped that while Sarah and her daughter were at the ballgame, the girl got "knocked up" by one of the players during the "seventh inning stretch." The daughter in attendance had been 14 year old Willow. I imagine Dave's writers' table was rocking with snickers when they came up with the "stretch" line.<br /><br />Letterman later feigned ignorance when told that his "joke" actually hit a 14 year old. He only meant to say that <i>Bristol</i> was the slut, honest! Like mother like daughter, haw haw haw! She got pregnant out of wedlock, see... and... Sarah Palin, the Alaska Chill-billy is kinda slutty too! He could have at least put on a Maxwell Smart impersonation when he said, "Would you believe... I meant the <i>other</i> one, Chief?"<br /><br />So now Dave knows the facts, and Bristol was nowhere near that ballgame (most likely in Alaska caring for her child). He had told a knee-slapper ("they're <i>only jokes</i>!") about the rape (that's what it is, with 14 year olds, eh?) of Willow Palin, even if inadvertently due to his (and his writers') lame ignorance of the news which they "joke" upon. So good ol' Dave, he goes on the next night with another Palins-at-the-ballgame gag. Sarah had a great time at that game, except for having to fend off Elliot Spitzer from her daughter. Spitzer is of course most famous for the high-priced call girls who attract him terribly. Haw haw haw! Audience applause, yay for Dave! That'll show those uncouth Palins not to mess with our late night comedy provider!<br /><br />The following night, Patheticman <i>tripled</i> down on it. Acknowledging Sarah and Todd's anger over anyone talking like that about their daughter on national tv, he admitted the "jokes" were in bad taste, and repeated that he had meant the <i>other</i> daughter. Then he told <i>each one</i> of the "jokes" again, and then said that he was "probably sorry" about it. Geddit?<br /><br />Consider this: If the target of the story had been anyone <i>other</i> than a Palin, Dave's audience wouldn't have laughed, much less cheered the way they did. "I went to the ballgame yesterday with my neighbour, who brought along her daughter. During the seventh inning stretch, the daughter was knocked up by A-Rod. And then we had to fend off Elliot Spitzer!" Where's the funny? Nowhere. Or A-Rod is the target, Spitzer is the target, and it's still not worth cheering about. Only because it's a Palin. 'Cause they're all kinda slutty, eh? <br /><br />Will Michelle have to worry about this the next time she takes Malia to a baseball game? The question answers itself.<br /><br />It was bigotry, nothing more or less than that. Whichever group Sarah represents to him, and that he hates so much, is anyone's guess. Good looking successful women? Republicans? Conservatives? Alaskans? Governors? Or just Palins? It doesn't matter. The Palin family is the smallest of the possible sets of people to been targeted by his hatred, because he'll dig at Mama Bear through any or all of them. This morning I saw a story on this from one of the alphabet networks, describing the "Letterman / Palin feud" in such a way as to make <i>him</i> the victim since Sarah goaded him into it all. Just unbelievable.<br /><br />The real joke in all this, since Dave claims the punchline was <i>really</i> about an 18 year old unwed mother instead of a schoolgirl barely in her teens, is that Letterman himself is the father of a boy who was born out of wedlock, and he only recently married the boy's mother.<br /><br />Which of course is only creepy when a Palin does it, the inbred hicks. <br /><br />By any other name — call him a comedy provider, a jokemeister, or a funnyman (just don't call him Johnny Carson) — Patheticman is a bigot. And some bigotries are more socially acceptable among the populace than others. Perhaps the Imus standard needs to be looked at again.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-53436821398333130192009-06-05T20:51:00.002+07:002009-06-05T23:03:50.908+07:00THE NEWEST PHARAOH REACHES OUT<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 198px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/President-Barack-Obama/photo//090601/photos_pl_afp/e3505054943588c032c2a6a6a26bab79/;_ylt=Au0xRDB9uUp3ZmSdinSOrNoKO7gF"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihM9pvXMfesxq0bjuVMW_yCotz0uUqgUayfmsZBzzP6wtrmO__KaqJWE8W0nOPdC6v45UOcPiv1bljhxasUObs16Q5EHcnYdDps7SlmjDvk-DRrinL9kSPu7dHQlkEu-c2F7fH/s200/o-tut.jpg" title="Barack H. Tutankhamen" alt="Barack H. Tutankhamen" border="0" height="200" width="198" /></a><div class="caption">An Egyptian vendor displays a copper plaque in Cairo's Khan el-Khalili market a few days before the newest pharaoh's arrival yesterday. The inscription reads, "OBAMA, New Tutankhamen of the World".<br /><i>Photo: AFP / Khaled Desouki</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">N</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />o, I'm not making an incendiary wingnuttist joke, as can be seen by the photo here. Cairo souvenir vendors have been selling a range of 'New Tut' paraphernalia (the t-shirts are big sellers) in anticipation of the American Messiah's arrival in the Land of the Pharaohs yesterday. If his hosts are receiving him with this attitude, who am I to judge? Just go with the meme, I say. The President evidently felt the same way during a visit to Giza after his big speech at al-Azhar, pointing out a depiction of his own likeness on one of the pyramids.<br /><br />His earlier arrival in Riyadh went without a gaffe — unlike his previous meeting with King Abdullah at Buckingham. It was interesting watching the raw video feed here, with several cameras offering close-ups as he appeared at the door of AF-1, and as he descended the stairway. But at the moment he approached the king, and as I watched intently to see how much of a bow would be performed <i>this time</i>, the view switched to a long distance shot from behind the monarch. Not a hint of a bow could be detected though, not even a slight dip. Just the customary Arab/French double kiss. <br /><br />I could practically hear Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (who makes even Bush's Scott McClellan seem like a competent straight-talker by comparison) heave a sigh of relief. He won't have to come up with <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/04/top-twenty-two-excuses-for-obamas-royal.html" title="Agam's Gecko: TOP TWENTY-TWO EXCUSES FOR OBAMA'S ROYAL BOW"><b>any more creative excuses</b></a>. After the deep royal bow at Buckingham, Gibbs said it was absolutely necessary in order to shake hands, because the King is <i>so very much shorter</i> than The One. Yet this time, the handshake and the kisses could be accomplished without it. <blockquote>"Greetings, Your Majesty. My, how much you have <i>grown</i> since our last meeting!"</blockquote><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 173px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/President-Barack-Obama-Egyptian-President-Hosni-Mubarak/ss/events/pl/020807obama/im:/090604/photos_pl_afp/ebece68baa09db631d8cc589c062154b/;_ylt=Ao_BBt.wzndTRLDJ_UkWlzsKO7gF"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtPkvnLIJOaW_BaqZjhb7PuA6H-Rx8M1-DTuoZWtcxw3GNe7ULYj3csATDFbezxZQEQOtOHhA9D_A4VP4w_J2c71DIjiVOKOPFY6OmnEUohrHM7dOu00Oh4FYT25P5N7biecA/s200/hosni_barack.jpg" title="Hosni-mu Barack" alt="Hosni-mu Barack" border="0" height="200" width="173" /></a><div class="caption">A better message could have been delivered if this had been Indonesia's S.B. Yudhoyono instead of Egypt's President-for-Life Mubarak.<br /><i>Photo: AFP / Khaled Desouki</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>After a few hours of meetings and sight-seeing (and receiving some <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/President-Barack-Obama-receives-gift-Saudi-King-Abdullah-start-their/photo//090603/481/b17ac1b23c6e429c800a1af89f2fce8a//s:/ap/20090603/ap_on_re_mi_ea/obama" title="President Barack Obama receives a gift from Saudi King Abdullah ... - Yahoo! News Photos"><b>heavy-duty gold bling</b></a> from the king), it was a short hop to Cairo and the long awaited and over-hyped "outreach to the Muslim world" speech.<br /><br />Excuse me for saying so, but this was the wrong venue for him to be proclaiming the hope and change message to the world's Muslims who hunger for democracy and freedom. Not <i>all</i> of them do, of course, but for those who are hungry for those things, a much better example of the possibilities could have been selected. And some Egyptians with those very aspirations <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8082567.stm" title="BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Obama's Mid-East balancing act"><b>agree with me on this</b></a>.<blockquote>"It is a disaster," said Wael Abbas a renowned journalist and blogger. "He shouldn't be coming to Egypt. It's not a free Muslim country.<br /><br />"He should speak in a Muslim country where they respect the rule of law." </blockquote>The most populous Muslim majority country on earth, Indonesia, would have been a much smarter choice. It would have sent a far more powerful message to "the Muslim world" had Obama been seen embracing the democratically elected President S. B. Yudhoyono rather than the Egyptian 28-year-long autocracy of Mubarak who jails, and yes, tortures his critics. Prior to his arrival Obama hailed his Egyptian counterpart as a "stalwart ally" — not exactly the <i>change</i> many are <i>hoping</i> for.<br /><br />All that said, the major focus of the world's interest was the speech itself. As I watched it yesterday (conveniently timed at 5 pm here), I marvelled at his ability to appeal to <i>everyone</i>. Human rights defenders had parts to cheer, and the anti-Israel folks had other parts to cheer. People who believe America is a force for good could cheer at some points, and those who blame America for everything that's wrong in the world could cheer at others. It was striking to see this back-and-forth, "on the one hand... but on the other hand..." construction play out with the audience — cheering the "one hand" but sitting absolutely silent on the "other hand" in most cases. If you're wondering how to write your <i>own</i> Obama speech, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-04/write-your-own-obama-speech/full/" title="Write-Your-Own Obama Speech - The Daily Beast"><b>see here</b></a>. There's a definite pattern.<br /><br />He seemed to be showing off his knowledge of Islam quite a bit, recalling the <i>azan</i> (call to prayer) he heard blaring from mosques during his youth in Indonesia, "at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk" (leaving off the mid-day one, the afternoon one, the night-time one, and the extra ones during Ramadan). He spoke of the <i>zakat</i>, and the <i>hijab</i> (but not the burqa). That last was troubling for me, and only one of the numerous instances of false moral equivalence that are easily spotted in <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/06/04/transcript-remarks-president-obama-cairo/" title="TRANSCRIPT: Remarks of President Obama in Cairo - Political News - FOXNews.com"><b>the speech</b></a>. There was implicit criticism of those who would <i>deny</i> women the <i>right</i> to wear hijab in his country, yet nothing to criticize those who would <i>force</i> women to wear it (or the burqa) in others. As the courageous author of "Infidel", Ayaan Hirsi Ali <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2007/02/06/video-ayaan-hirsi-ali-argues-with-alan-colmes-about-islam/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues with Alan Colmes about Islam"><b>once said</b></a>, "The veil is to show that women are responsible for the sexual self-control of men."<br /><br />And, by the way, he actually said "hajib" in the speech rather than "hijab". I'll bet you won't find that in any transcript, but that's what he said.<br /><br />There were many clever lines, well delivered (I especially liked, "Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons..."), but I was left with an uneasy feeling I couldn't put my finger on. It felt too much like pandering, to everybody at once. And if he could get away from those darn teleprompters and just speak with his heart from bullet-point notes, he could avoid the dizzying ping-pong head effect. And somebody needs to tell him to avoid that constant looking down his nose, jutting out the chin pose after applause lines. Way too much like Mussolini.<br /><br />The moral relativism was just too thickly planted in those 55 minutes, and new policy or initiatives were absent. I had expected at least one solid new announcement among the platitudes, but I can't find any. There were far more apologies than there were policies. The esteemed Dr. Charles Krauthammer puts this very well, far better than I will ever do (<i>wai</i> <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/04/krauthammer-on-obamas-speech-abstract-vapid-and-self-absorbed/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Krauthammer on Obama’s speech: “Abstract, vapid, and self-absorbed”"><b>AllahPundit</b></a> for the clip).<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bM1QigkSH8E&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bM1QigkSH8E&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br />It would be great if at least a few of the establishment media personalities could manage to climb out of the Messiah's tank, or even poke their noses out, long enough to exercise their journalism degrees. What follows, if you have twelve minutes to spare, is a delightful instance of a very smart, well-spoken woman (Liz Cheney) figuratively pulling one of these personalities (Andrea Mitchell) up for a moment of air. Andrea was down pretty deep, and after a breath or two fights to get back down into the depths of that tank. Toward the end she pleads for time to "do my homework", so determined not to accept the truth is she. One doesn't skate around Liz Cheney that easily, as you will see.<br /><br />The hardest truth here is that Liz knows her stuff, and Andrea unfortunately doesn't. They discuss yesterday's speech, then a couple of other very important subjects which most Americans still don't seem to have a clue about.<br /><br />Truth Teaser: Liz' father never linked Saddam Hussein with the attacks of September 11, 2001. Strangely, most Americans apparently recollect exactly the opposite. Saddam's contacts with al Qaeda went back at least 10 years, and strangely, most Americans apparently recollect exactly the opposite. The intel services have never recanted this established fact (Liz misspeaks "recounted" rather than "recanted" I believe here). Saddam paid for terrorist attacks against Israel. I'm sure most Americans still don't get that either. Saddam could have easily given his known WMD technology to other terrorist-supporting regimes or terrorist groups.<br /><br />But Barack says the overthrow of Saddam was an unnecessary "war of choice" after September 11, 2001. He really did. (Oh, but also that the Iraqis are far better off now without Saddam, so at least there's that.)<br /><br /><div align="center"><iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/31107741#31107741" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com">Breaking News</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">World News</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">News about the Economy</a></p></div><br /><br />Again, <i>wai</i> AP at <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/04/more-liz-cheney-whats-with-the-moral-relativism-obama/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » More Liz Cheney: What’s with the moral relativism, Obama?"><b>Hot Air</b></a> for the clip.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-39807173918913777242009-05-29T20:29:00.001+07:002009-05-29T20:33:57.177+07:00TIBET'S NATURAL WEALTH COVETED BY NEIGHBOUR; RIVERS OF MONEY CAN'T BUY LOVE<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 237px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Tibet-Tsewang-Dhondup-Tibetan-exile-shows-wounded-arm-during-news-conference/ss/events/wl/031009tibet/im:/090528/ids_photos_wl/r1482871976.jpg/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSpUqr6tbR663FgRHLiiVPbBGPk1TgCqI-WEGA35jPdzKnr23qFoxvrYNkuXnjBtvxa6FG3KcDQ-_7VQ8lDzWYuR6FKMfYmDAtycf1KZcAXvhiNIhj4JnYee2AQYxyqFFc14a/s320/Tsewang_Dhondup.jpg" title="Tsewang Dhondup" alt="Tsewang Dhondup" border="0" height="320" width="237" /></a><div class="caption">Tsewang Dhondup yesterday showed his wounds to reporters in India. The injuries are the result of Chinese troops opening fire on demonstrators in Kardze County on March 18, 2008.<br /><i>Photo: Abhishek Madhukar / Reuters</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">T</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />ibet's natural resources, and China's desire to have them, are becoming the latest flash-point of contention between the Tibetans and the colonial authorities. In early 2008 the government began coercing residents in Tawu County, Kardze Tibetan "Autonomous" Prefecture (Ch: Sichuan province) to sign documents approving of a <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=938&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews" title="CTA: 6 Tibetans Seriously Wounded in Protests Against China's Hydroelectric Dam Project"><b>major new hydro-electric project</b></a> located between Tawu and Nyagchu counties. The dam will displace tens of thousands from their traditional ancestral lands, and is being strongly opposed by the local people. <br /><br />At the town of Wara Mato, the Chinese government recently convened a meeting with residents to persuade them to relocate, and erected a stone pillar to drive the point home. An old woman named Lhamo, believed to be over 70 years of age, led the angry residents in refusing to move and declaring that they are the owners of the land. The residents destroyed the pillar. On May 5 a large number of armed police were dispatched into the affected area, where they destroyed a number of family homes.<br /><br />Last Sunday morning, May 24, local Chinese authorities ordered residents to assemble at Tawu County headquarters for a public announcement. There the Tibetans were again informed of their forced resettlement. The meeting immediately broke up and turned into a <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090525.html" title="TCHRD: China displaces tens and thousands of Tibetans in Tawu County"><b>major protest against the plan</b></a>. The residents shouted at the local authorities, declaring that, "This place has been our ancestral dwelling place for countless generations and therefore we don’t want to leave our homes. We are not going to move away to any other places come what may."<br /><br />Moments later, officers of the Public "Security" Bureau (PSB) and the "People's" Armed Police (PAP) fired tear gas and violently suppressed the protesters, reportedly opening fire upon the unarmed residents and leaving six women seriously wounded, identified as Tsering Lhamo, Rigzin Lhamo, Dolma, Kelsang, Dolkar and Khaying. These wounded, which included a 70 year old woman, were immediately taken away after the shooting and their conditions are not known.<br /><br />Meanwhile in Markham County, Chamdo T-"A"-P (in the Tibetan "Autonomous" Region) local residents have been struggling to save their sacred mountain, <i>Ser Ngul Lo</i>, from becoming an open-pit gold mine at the hands (and equipment) of a Chinese mining company. The mountain has historically been a site where Tibetans worship and conduct religious rituals, and their resistance to the mine <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/mine-05242009130753.html" title="Standoff at Tibet Gold Mine"><b>has continued for months</b></a>. Hundreds of local residents have been blocking the road to the mine site, and hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to the area.<blockquote>"The Tibetan protesters are worried," said one local man, who said he was one of eight organizers of the protest.<br /><br />"The police, the soldiers, and the miners are threatening to move ahead with the mine...They have said they will force their way through and go to the site."</blockquote>Another local resident told Radio Free Asia that more than 300 soldiers are involved, while another said that telephone lines and cell-phone networks in the area are blocked.<blockquote>"We can’t reach any of the protesters. Today another four vehicles with roughly 30 to 40 soldiers in them went to the protest site. But the Tibetans all put religious books on their heads and are vowing to resist even if it means sacrificing their lives," he said.</blockquote>Neither the mining company, Zhongkai Co., nor the Markham Public "Security" Bureau would comment on the situation. The vice chairman of the T-"A"-R Communist Party, Pema Thinley was sent early last month to negotiate with the local population, but they continued the blockade and he was escorted back to Lhasa. On May 16 around 500 Tibetans blocked a contingent of security forces on the road leading to the mine site, a resident told RFA.<blockquote>"The Tibetans slept on the road day and night and the Chinese group stayed in a school nearby. They were trying to convince us to stop protesting," he said, adding: "The Tibetans declared that they are ready to die to protect the sacred hill."</blockquote>A local official from the Markham County Business Bureau later claimed <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/standoffresolved-05272009175822.html" title="Mine Standoff Said Resolved"><b>the stand-off was close to a resolution</b></a>, involving promises of no environmental damage and a "certain amount of compensation." However on May 26, several hundred Tibetan businessmen gathered in Lhasa to complain of the harassment and intimidation of the Markham demonstrators. <br /><br />A local source in Markham County told RFA that the authorities have told the Tibetans that they have no hope of stopping the mine.<blockquote>"On May 26, the governor of Markham county and Dorjee Nak Nak, head of the land protection division of Markham county, came to the area and appealed to the Tibetans. They tried to convince the Tibetans that the mining plan could not be stopped," the Markham county resident said.<br /><br />"The Tibetans booed them and they were forced to leave the area immediately," he said.</blockquote>Following that meeting, which sounds about as successful as the average <i>patriotism re-education / denounce the Dalai Lama for the Motherland</i> meeting, the PAP began to threaten those maintaining the roadblock, around 65 km from the Markham County seat.<blockquote>"Police repeatedly threatened to run over those Tibetans lying down and blocking the road to the mining site in Takra village, Tsangshul subdistrict…When the Tibetans would not clear the road and begged them not to exploit their sacred hill, the security forces dared not run them over," he said.</blockquote>The <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/05/labrang-truth-tellers-escape-to-freedom.html" title="Agam's Gecko: LABRANG TRUTH-TELLERS ESCAPE TO FREEDOM"><b>five recent escapees from Tibet</b></a>, who recently arrived in India after dodging security forces around Labrang since April last year, <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24793" title="Face off between Tibetans and Chinese security forces over gold mine - www.phayul.com"><b>had something to add about the mining issue</b></a>. During their year as fugitives in the Amdo hills, they witnessed the explorations of Chinese search groups looking for prospective mining sites. These groups consist of around 15 people, and are sent into various townships every month to explore for new sites. Further testimony of the five monks, on the crackdown at Labrang and their dangerous year on the run, has been published <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=928&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews" title="CTA: Five Tibetan escapees speak on repression in Tibet"><b>here</b></a>.<br /><br />Two more Tibetan men involved in last year's protests, this time from Kardze, <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/tibetansflee-05182009164515.html" title="Two More Tibetans Flee"><b>arrived recently to India</b></a> en route to Dharamsala. Monk Tsering Jigme, 24, and layman Maday Gonpo, 41, escaped separately after participating in protests last March 18 and avoiding capture for over a year. Maday Gonpo was an organizer of the demonstration in Kardze town.<blockquote>"We began our protest at Tachu Do in the center of Kardze town. After we had crossed two bridges, five police vehicles and two army vehicles arrived and attacked us. There were about 1,000 protesters, including about 15 who were leaders."<br /><br />"Of these, five were detained, while I and others managed to escape. Two of my friends were wounded by gunfire," Gonpo said.<br /><br />"There was no way I could go home, so I wandered from place to place, mainly in the hills of Nyagrong and other areas where nomads live. At times, I had nothing to eat for two to three days. I also fell ill with a fever," he said.</blockquote>The nomads looked after him, giving him food and letting him use their horses to keep away from those hunting him. They even surveyed the situation in the town to determine when it was safe for him to return, but the crackdown there was ongoing and he never returned. Tsering Jigme resided at the Tsi Sung Monastery and also took part in the same protest, but he declined to speak to a reporter.<br /><br />On May 7, 2008, local police issued a public notice calling for the arrest of the two men, as well as 34 others from Kardze, Drango and Serthar counties.<blockquote>"A reward of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan was offered for anyone who could catch us," Gonpo said.<br /><br />"We heard that this was announced on television and that authorities also promised the award would be increased this year," he added.</blockquote>Four more Tibetans who also participated in the March 18 Kardze County protest <a href="http://www.dailyindia.com/show/314891.php" title="Tibetans give an account of Chinese oppression"><b>have just arrived in India</b></a>. Tsering Gyurmey, Gonpo, Tsewang Dhundup and Lobsang Thubten held a news conference in New Delhi yesterday. Tsewang Dhondup had gone to the aid of a monk, 20 year old Kunga, who was hit by a bullet on the fateful day (Kunga did not survive) when he himself was shot twice. Lacking medical care his wounds worsened (see top photo), causing him to endure extreme suffering in the year since. Tsewang said he believes around 20 people died that day.<br /><br />Two other men who participated in the same protest, and who also survived in the hills for more than a year avoiding arrest by the Chinese police, <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090521.html" title="TCHRD: China arrests brothers who were on the run"><b>were not as fortunate as these escapees</b></a>. Tenpa, 30, and his brother Jamdo, 25, were farmers in Zakhog Township, Kardze County before the March 18 protest was crushed with deadly violence. The brothers were arrested early this month in Jyekundo T-"A"-P (Ch: Qinghai province). Their condition and place of detention is not known.<br /><br />But the <i>type</i> of treatment dished out to those caught by the Chinese authorities for protesting, like Tenpa and Jamdo, can be assumed from past practices. Beatings and other forms of real torture are virtually guaranteed, and if the prisoner happens to get too close to death for the authorities' comfort, he or she is sometimes allowed to die outside of detention. Too many such cases have been documented over the past year, and over the years of occupation. A <a href="http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/deaths-two-tibetans-after-torture" title="Deaths of two Tibetans after torture | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>study of two particular murder cases</b></a> provides extensive details of two completely innocent people who were detained last year, suffered <i>extreme</i> physical abuse, and died as a result — one in custody and the other outside of custody.<br /><br />The case of Tendar, a 28 year old Lhasa office worker, came to light in a smuggled video a few months ago (and I note that YouTube is pulling down its versions of the footage released by the exile government). On his way to work on March 14, 2008, Tendar saw a monk being beaten by police. He tried to intervene, asking the police for mercy. He was shot (the wound was said to be not life-threatening) and arrested. The physical mutilation he then suffered in Chinese custody <i>was</i> life-threatening (the video is still available <a href="http://blip.tv/file/1903244" title="China's Brutality in Tibet Exposed"><b>here</b></a>). Please read the above linked report for the full story. After three weeks in hospital, nothing more could be done for him and he finally died at home.<br /><br />Paltsal Kyab was a 45 year old man who lived in Ngaba Prefecture, and was arrested following a protest on March 17, 2008. Around 100 people peacefully demonstrated in the main street of Charo town that day, but there was some talk among the youths about burning a building. Paltsal Kyab told them not to take such actions, saying (according to his brother), "We Tibetans must follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama's non-violent path. Our only weapon is our truth. The building belongs to the government, but several Tibetan and Chinese families are living in there." Other witnesses also confirmed that Paltsal Kyab had persuaded the protesters <i>not to become violent</i>.<br /><br />Despite his actual stand on truth and non-violence, Paltsal Kyab's name was put on the government's wanted list. He talked to friends about going to the police to clear his name, but the stories of ongoing detainee beatings worried him. So he left town to stay with a relative. A few weeks later, his home was raided by police and his 14 year old son was detained and beaten up in the police station. The father heard about the incident and, understandably worried for his wife and five children, returned home and voluntarily surrendered himself (Chinese authorities had promised leniency for those who surrendered) in mid-April.<br /><br />His family had no idea of his whereabouts or condition until officials told them on May 26 that he was dead. Dead of "natural causes" — which included black and blue from head to toe, covered in blisters and burns. Police attempted to bribe his family to keep quiet, prohibited photographs of the body, and barred them from taking his remains to Kirti Monastery for religious services. He was given a sky burial as police officers watched, the preparation of which revealed further serious damage to his internal organs. Please read the above linked report for the full story.<br /><br />That is what can lay behind those innocuous words, "The detainee's whereabouts and condition are not known."<br /><br />Tsultrim Gyatso, a 37 year old monk at Labrang Monastery was <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090521a.html" title="TCHRD: China sentences a monk to life imprisonment term"><b>sentenced to life in prison</b></a> on May 21 by the Intermediate People's Court in Kanlho Prefecture (Ch: Gansu province), having been found guilty of "endangering state security." He had participated in a peaceful protest on March 15, 2008 in Sangchu County and left the area to avoid arrest. Public "Security" Bureau officials tracked him down and arrested him on May 22, 2008.<br /><br />In the same trial, 34 year old Labrang monk Thabkhay Gyatso was <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090527a.html" title="TCHRD: China denies family access to two Labrang monks serving lengthy prison sentences"><b>sentenced to 15 years</b></a> for "endangering state security" in the same peaceful protest. Both monks have been denied visits from family members for more than a year (since their arrests), and their families were not informed of the trial. <br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 193px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090527.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUWxAt_h2HLws6_CY_iR3wwqsratGMD29ZPtkqzZ_nu6cYE8nXGjmfMrMSFJ04ZBbgaDIKYhLFoQnrTYNaP228I3bx_OVYo_j9i0bNKZzrfVFFjdeBZCwbtrulbo2VfMvlAL5/s320/Tenzin_Gyaltsen.jpg" title="Tenzin Gyaltsen" alt="Tenzin Gyaltsen" border="0" height="320" width="193" /></a><div class="caption">The abbot of Dhen Choekor Monastery in Chamdo, Tenzin Gyaltsen, sentenced to 15 years in prison.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Six Buddhist monks from the Dhen Choekor Monastery have been <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090527.html" title="TCHRD: Chinese court sentences six monks in Chamdo"><b>sentenced to various prison terms</b></a> in Chamdo Prefecture, in connection with an explosion which occurred in Jomda County, Chamdo on January 5, 2009. They were convicted of various offenses including taking part in protests, committing political crimes, and refusing to denounce the Dalai Lama. In the one day trial on May 22, abbot Tenzin Gyaltsen, 37, Nyi-chig, 50, ex-treasurer Ngawang Tashi, 51, Tashi Dorjee, 30, received 15 years of "rigorous imprisonment". Chant Master Jamyang Sherab, 42, got 13 years and Tsering Palden, 36, received 12 years. Nothing is known of the evidence presented in court, nor whether they had proper legal representation.<br /><br />A number of Tibetans have recently been sentenced to death in Chinese courts, and even <i>their</i> whereabouts <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=935&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews" title="CTA: Conditions of Tibetans on death penalty row turn critical"><b>remain unknown to their families</b></a>. By Chinese law, capital punishment sentences must be referred to the Supreme Court within six weeks of pronouncement. That period expired on May 21 for four Tibetans facing execution (one is granted a two year reprieve), yet their families still have no idea where they are. Chinese state media contended that these were "open trials" yet the families were not informed of the proceedings and the defendants had no rights to proper legal representation. Two more death sentences were handed down on April 21. By the way, the previous Dalai Lama <a href="http://www.jamyangnorbu.com/blog/2009/05/17/from-darkness-to-dawn/" title="Shadow Tibet : Jamyang Norbu » Blog Archive » FROM DARKNESS TO DAWN"><b>banned capital punishment in Tibet in 1913</b></a>, as well as all forms of "cruel and unusual punishments."<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=935&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUH5TgMiC4qJO-kNl756Pb_WgXpIHnxqUNdVIwQRUaDU60nyzlozJZo_AETksxLs1GiML1tmox-14o4uY1dpf4vWdRZMWgOtmzkZKguxO8rwxX0xHNgUw9z2PFDr51e1c31Oy/s320/Loyak.jpg" title="Loyak" alt="Loyak" border="0" height="233" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Loyak, 25, from Lhasa area, sentenced to death.<br /><i>Photo: Capture from Chinese tv</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>All this is so very discouraging, but I can finish with a glimmer of hope. A Chinese think tank founded in 2003 by prominent lawyers and professors, <i>Gongmeng</i> (Open Constitution Initiative), conducted some social research in Tibet in the wake of protests last year. The resulting report, written by academic scholars in Beijing, concludes that the uprising was <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5368440/Chinese-report-on-Tibet-reveals-the-roots-of-unrest.html" title="Chinese report on Tibet reveals the roots of unrest - Telegraph"><b>directly caused by failed government policies</b></a>, and the emergence of a "new aristocracy" of corrupt officials in Tibet with no local support. This new elite, loyal only to and funded by Beijing and the Communist Party, concoct propaganda to reinforce their power and hide their mistakes, relying as much as possible on the "separatism card."<blockquote>Senior Communist Party figures, such as Feng Lanrui, a former State Council strategist, are part of the think tank's circle of advisors.<br /><br />It also highlighted the tensions caused by a drive to industrialise the region and move Tibetans from farms into the cities.</blockquote>Beijing's efforts to buy Tibetans' loyalty with "rivers of money" since 1989 have been <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/world/chinese-tell-of-tibet-failures-20090521-bh1x.html?page=-1" title="Chinese tell of Tibet failures | theage.com.au"><b>spectacularly counter-productive</b></a>, the report says. Private sector jobs go to Han Chinese who migrate from other provinces hoping to <i>get rich and glorious</i>, as Deng Xiao Ping used to say. A founder of the Communist Party in Tibet, Phun Tshogs Dbang Rjyal, is quoted elaborating on the reasons corrupt officials consistently seize upon outside scapegoats for their failures.<blockquote>"And they will try hard to apportion responsibility on 'overseas hostile forces' because this is the way to consolidate their interests and status and eventually bring them more power and resources."</blockquote>This is a rare occasion, to have a credible study by scholars within China looking into the hidden side of ideologically self-serving propaganda, and the destructive effects when corrupt elites rely on it to everyone else's detriment. The Party will ignore it, like the Zhao Zhiyang tapes, but at least the truth is out there.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-8570894987886369262009-05-27T22:56:00.001+07:002009-05-27T23:00:39.199+07:00THE LADY TESTIFIES<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Myanmar-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-Nobel-Peace-laureate/ss/events/wl/052606suukyi/im:/090526/ids_photos_ts/r3749477991.jpg/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixpLc9CYj6tiWGqqjVgMvRgvZ22KsCQkY8Vuv73hjqtSdDzPHuYq088GmF7kBNR5enhXcoUjDekFZPBXlahut416PCftTU_sx1ka_LMHCudPtc7byALn83zulcNX9LmA8HF1IP/s320/suu_court.jpg" title="Suu enters court" alt="Suu enters court" border="0" height="243" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Daw Aung San Suu Kyi enters the court-within-a-prison on May 20, 2009 in this screenshot from Burmese state television.<br /><i>Photo: MRTV</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">Y</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />esterday Aung San Suu Kyi was permitted to testify in her own defence for the first time since her trial opened ten days ago. On May 15 she was taken from her home where she had been confined for the past six years (following the Burmese junta's last attempt on her life in May 2003 in a mob attack on her convoy). She was delivered to Insein Prison, charged with meeting an illegal intruder on her property, and has since been held at a special quarters within the prison. The trial began the following Monday, May 18 in a specially-built courtroom also within the prison.<br /><br />Today her term of home detention expires. In truth it expired on May 27 <i>last year</i>, but at that time the junta illegally extended it for a year longer than is permitted by their own laws. The military rulers must have now run out of excuses (they always like some sort of quasi-legal cover for their lawlessness), and couldn't reuse whichever fig-leaf they hid behind last time. The Lady's <a href="http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/2201-aung-san-suu-kyis-house-arrest-lifted-.html" title="Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest lifted"><b>house arrest is really over</b></a>.<blockquote>One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, told Mizzima that Police Brigadier General Myo Thein, along with Burma’s Police Chief Khin Yi, on Tuesday morning read out an order removing restrictions imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi under her former sentence of house arrest.</blockquote>It would be nice to believe the junta is beginning to grow up at last, but I don't think so. Even the claim that they were considering her release earlier this month, but were so rudely interrupted by the loon who swam into her compound, is disingenuous. This announcement points to only one thing, which many Burma-watchers have already taken for granted: the verdict is guilty (and has probably already been delivered to the judge).<br /><br />Than Shwe has more than likely been making extra offerings to whichever spirits he was appeasing in early May. The American intruder, John Yettaw, was a godsend for the ageing and increasingly demented dictator, who is most well known for his extreme superstitions. There is no plausible scenario which could have led to a brand new term of detention or imprisonment for Suu Kyi, given that she was absolutely isolated from outside contact, except this one. There was no possibility for her to break the conditions of her detention. An intruder was required. <br /><br />There is no evidence that Yettaw was encouraged to pull his stupid stunt by any of the plentiful undercover state intelligence agents working in Rangoon, many of whom can probably be extremely personable and earnest fellows wishing to practice their English. The fact that he pulled the same stunt in November last year (on that occasion she had no contact with him, thanks to her living companions); the fact that he then successfully swam the lake for his escape; and the fact that his intrusion was reported by Suu Kyi to the authorities who then took no action to beef up <i>their security</i> around her home — none of these facts should make anyone suspicious. Of course not. <br /><br />As she testified yesterday and today, the intrusion was caused by <a href="http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2563" title="DVB: Suu Kyi blames lack of security"><b>poor government security</b></a>, for which she had no responsibility. <blockquote>"Even though the main cause of the situation that has happened is a lack of, or a breach of security [at my house], no action was taken on those responsible for the security," Suu Kyi told the court.<br /><br />"But only I am under prosecution and such an act is unjust."</blockquote>Burma's soldier-government is not known for its understanding of logic. She was a prisoner, her home was her prison. Prisoners have guards to keep them from getting away. If some kook breaks <i>into</i> the prison, whom shall we blame? The prisoner sitting in her cell? How about the sleeping guards outside?<br /><br />She may have played into the junta's hand by not immediately reporting the intruder, but I wonder how she might have done that. When she wished to tell something to the authorities, the only way was to pass the message through her personal doctor, who came on regular visits. She is allowed no phone, and can't even send mail. But the doctor had <i>already</i> been (conveniently?) arrested by the police. I'm not making accusations, just rolling my eyes a bit over here.<br /><br />A nice anecdote from yesterday's "court" session, at which some diplomats and journalists were permitted, is offered by the account in <a href="http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/2196-news-updates-on-7th-day-of-aung-san-suu-kyis-trial.html" title="News updates on 7th day of Aung San Suu Kyi's trial"><b>Mizzima News</b></a>. Usually one should stand as a sign of respect for the judge...<blockquote>Diplomats and other invited guests stood up as a sign of respect as she entered the courtroom, prompting security personnel to remind them to sit down.</blockquote>The Irrawaddy has a fuller account of yesterday's testimony by Suu Kyi <a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15738" title="Suu Kyi Tells Rangoon Court She’s Innocent"><b>here</b></a>, and today's testimony <a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15746" title="Suu Kyi Accuses Prosecution of Bias"><b>here</b></a>.<br /><br />If there can be said to be one thing that is exemplified by The Lady (Burmese for years have referred to her this way, or simply as "Aunty" due to the risks in actually saying her name out loud in public), that one thing is <i>Freedom From Fear</i>. From her book of the same name:<br /><blockquote><div align="center">"It is not power that corrupts, but fear.<br /><br />Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."</div></blockquote>Via <a href="http://interdependent.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/freedom-from-fear-forthcoming-documentary-on-aung-san-suu-kyi-by-eric-torres/" title="Freedom From Fear: Forthcoming Documentary on Aung San Suu Kyi by Eric Torres « The Interdependent"><b>The Interdependent</b></a> I learn of <a href="http://www.heartofarevolution.com/" title="FREEDOM FROM FEAR - A New Feature Documentary by Eric Torres"><b>a new documentary film</b></a> about The Lady and her country. Here's a sample of how it looks:<br /><br />[note: I use this version as the picture is much sharper than the YouTube one. It's also a little wider, so if your browser window is too narrow and there's nothing below this, <i>please</i> scroll down past the sidebar and you'll see it.]<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="368"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4849858&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=c70404&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4849858&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=c70404&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="480" height="368"></embed></object></div><br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-34335772158151195752009-05-27T17:04:00.002+07:002009-05-27T23:21:08.844+07:00DEADLY MOLECULES<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/pelosi-ignores-beijing-human-rights.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qzsPxAWhkIa9zQ9_oIiBcJLgRmLv1cG-F6JBQBYUT41n6NXVOGsTOatrDORy8tBi69I9zikRVLVLXXjTHZMuuRRb_SuZMmPE8ncZP_qgNdD3vsOBG8zawpjBTZZ__2A2MUEB/s320/bj_protest.jpg" title="Beijing protest" alt="Beijing protest" border="0" height="212" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Following three days of large scale demonstrations outside the Supreme Court, civil rights protesters gathered near the railway station in Beijing on Monday, May 25, 2009, to greet Speaker Pelosi with their high expectations. The banner reads, "Welcome Pelosi. Pay close attention to China's human rights. SOS."<br /><i>Photo: <a href="http://www.boxun.us/news/publish/chinanews/index.shtml" title="Boxun News"><b>Boxun News</b></a></i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">I</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />t seems like I may have to reassess the scientific evidence that those dastardly, yet deceptively tiny carbon dioxide molecules can kill. Just the other day, a gorebal warmening activist tried to convince me with the <i>ultra</i>-scientific approach, saying, "If you don't believe that CO<sub>2</sub> is deadly, just put a plastic bag over your head. You're breathing it!"<br /><br />But after writing off that experimental proof as something a fourth-grader could rebut (it's not the presence of CO<sub>2</sub> but the absence of oxygen, eh?), today I'm having second thoughts through a completely different observable phenomenon. Carbon dioxide molecules are the enemies of human rights — or perhaps more accurately, the irrational fear of carbon dioxide molecules is <i>killing human rights defenders</i>.<br /><br />The great one-time critic of China's massive human rights violations, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is in China at the moment. I praised her highly when she led a congressional delegation to Dharamsala during the peak of the Tibet uprising last year, and I put the raw video of it on YouTube. She has supported good pro-Tibet legislation in the US, and eighteen years ago she unfurled a pro-human rights banner in Tienanmen Square. But when gorebal warmening is on the table, human rights are off it, apparently. Which will directly lead to <a href="http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/deaths-two-tibetans-after-torture" title="Deaths of two Tibetans after torture | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>more of these deaths</b></a>.<br /><br />Prior to her almost-top-secret departure, Nancy was asked point-blank about the issue. The reporter asks, "Will you make a case for human rights while you're there? Coming up to the 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Tienanmen Square..." She first shows her annoyance that the Chinese government disclosed the trip, and that the US embassy had confirmed it. The Speaker's travel plans are supposed to be top-secret and highly classified, you see. <i>No one</i> is supposed to mention it — why, it's almost as dangerous as when former President Bush needed to travel unannounced into Baghdad!<br /><br />Then she dances all around the question without even saying the words "human" or "rights" in a rambling non-answer:<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width='365' height='340'><param name='movie' value='http://www.c-spanarchives.org/flash/cspanPlayer.swf?pid=286540-1&clipStart=1673.04&clipStop=1818.20&autoplay=0'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><embed src='http://www.c-spanarchives.org/flash/cspanPlayer.swf?pid=286540-1&clipStart=1673.04&clipStop=1818.20&autoplay=0' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowfullscreen='true' width='365' height='340'></embed></object></div><br /><br />(Sorry for the video player here, C-SPAN now uses streaming flash format. Finicky, but I couldn't find this bit on YouTube, what with everyone focusing on a completely <i>different</i> non-answer about her accusation that the intelligence services regularly lie to her.)<br /><br />But for those "leaks" from the Chinese and US governments, she could have made it all the way to China in complete secrecy without nagging questions. As President and First Lady Bush did when travelling to China, she made a <a href="http://www.adn.com/news/politics/alaska_ear/story/806364.html" title="Alaska Ear: Alaska Ear | adn.com"><b>stopover in Anchorage</b></a>. The Bushes also gave no interviews, but said "take all the photos you want." Photos of the Speaker were however strictly prohibited, as were any acknowledgements of her presence. <br /><blockquote>By contrast, everyone denied any knowledge of a Pelosi visit, even when security flanked the center and asked each other if "the speaker" had arrived yet, according to one earwig who was there.</blockquote>Why all the secrecy? Chinese civil rights proponents knew she was coming, and gathered in Beijing on Monday to welcome her at the railway station from Shanghai. <br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ax-0XbpV8mI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ax-0XbpV8mI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br />The peaceful protesters were roughed up by police and non-uniformed thugs, and <a href="http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/17284/" title="Epoch Times - On Pelosi’s Arrival Thousands Protest Chinese Regime"><b>around a dozen were arrested</b></a>, including a foreign reporter. Slogans such as "Bring down corrupt officials," "Restore human rights," and "Long live democracy," were shouted.<blockquote>Also joining in the protest was Ms. Zhao Chunhong, a long-term protester from Hebei Province, who says she has desperately appealed for her rights for over two-years. With the help of another protester, Ms. Li Suzhen, Zhao unfurled a banner that says: "Welcome Pelosi: SOS – please pay attention to China’s human rights" and shouted slogans.<br /><br />The Chinese police tried to take the banner from Zhao. Zhao, who is eight months pregnant, was dragged to the ground, and her legs were injured and her arms twisted. Several elderly women were knocked to the ground also.<br /><br />The Chinese police manhandled the protesters and injured many people. Elderly people in their 70’s were pushed to the ground by hired thugs.<br /><br />According to Mr. Zhou Guangfu from Chongqing, there were more than 2,000 protesters. </blockquote>Large scale civil rights demonstrations had been going on outside the Supreme Court in Beijing <a href="http://www.boxun.us/news/publish/chinanews/Video_Large-Scale_Protests_Outside_Beijing_Supreme_Court_Enter_Third_Day_Placards_Hail_Arrival_of_U_S_House_Speaker_Nancy_Pelosi.shtml" title="Boxun News (Video) Large-Scale Protests Outside Beijing Supreme Court Enter Third Day, Placards Hail Arrival of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi"><b>over the previous three days</b></a> (<i>wai</i> <a href="http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/pelosi-ignores-beijing-human-rights.html" title="Gateway Pundit: Pelosi Ignores Beijing Human Rights Protesters Hailing Her Arrival (Video)"><b>Gateway Pundit</b></a>, who has more video).<br /><br />And in a remarkable development, Scott Ott (editor-in-chief of the world-renowned satirical news agency <a href="http://www.scrappleface.com/" title="ScrappleFace — News Fairly Unbalanced. We Report. You Decipher."><b>ScrappleFace News Network</b></a> [News Fairly Unbalanced. We Report. You Decipher.] acquired a <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/scottott/LEAK-Pelosi-China-speech-text--46077452.html" title="LEAK! Pelosi China speech to dodge human rights Opinion Articles - Scott Ott | Editorials on Top News Stories | Washington Examiner"><b>top-secret draft</b></a> of Speaker Pelosi's ultra-secret planned speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. Some notable passages, "leaked" via the Washington Examiner:<blockquote>"History will judge how the Peoples' Republic of China, and the United States of America confronted the greatest threat the earth has ever seen. I speak of global climate change, of course, and nothing more."<br /><br />"There is still time to reverse this deadly trend. China, <b>free to bet</b> on a better future, can cut its filthy byproducts by dismantling the obsolete machine, and unleashing the clean energy of her as-yet-untapped resources -- the power of sunlight and the wild sweeping wind of change. I speak of alternative energy, of course, and nothing more."</blockquote>Didja see that? I bolded it so y'all couldn't miss it. The Speaker can <i>almost</i> bring herself to say it! Now we just need to work on changing that vowel in the middle...<br /><br />(I repeat: that was satire.)<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-92138832633692971712009-05-13T20:29:00.005+07:002009-05-13T20:46:26.007+07:00LABRANG TRUTH-TELLERS ESCAPE TO FREEDOM<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 400px;"><a href="http://www.thetibetpost.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141%3Atibet-hero-implores-international-community-be-strong-and-unitedlike-those-inside-of-tibet-&catid=1%3Atibet&Itemid=83&lang=en"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWbxJz15pA34tctORtyrjaXQhqsrLEVKxK8gXqAJ9_DSQUcL9vnqYE_Nrx09-GirpYjGdxlKkxSdTzYo8SmqlyLgBy_ZHpcIrk3_pjzuvYwowG_7ICb22WomGlPhFdLxnegJh/s400/Labrang_five.jpg" title="Labrang refugees" alt="Labrang refugees" border="0" height="252" width="400" /></a><div class="caption">(Left to Right) Gedhun Gyatso, Lobsang Gyatso, Kelsang Jinpa, Jamyang Jinpa, Jigme Gyatso<br /><i>Photo: Tibet Post International</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">F</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />ive Buddhist monks from the Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery in Tibet's eastern Amdo province (Ch: Gansu) have reached safety in India, after more than a year spent dodging Chinese security forces in their occupied country. The men were on the run from Chinese authorities due to having engaged in free speech activities — a peaceful protest demonstration in Labrang town on March 14, 2008, and an unapproved press briefing at their monastery on April 9, 2008.<br /><br />Gedhun Gyatso and Kelsang Jinpa, both aged 39, reportedly helped to organise a procession through downtown Labrang (Ch: Xiahe), four days after the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959. In their national capital city Lhasa, many similar processions had been violently suppressed beginning on March 10, with non-violent chanting monks beaten up and detained by Chinese security forces. After five days of this violent response to non-violent demonstrators, a riot broke out in Lhasa late on March 14 in which both Chinese and Tibetans were killed.<br /><br />Lobsang Gyatso, 24, Jamyang Jinpa, 24, and Jigme Gyatso, 23, participated in an appeal for the world's help during a Chinese stage-managed "international media tour" which visited their monastery on April 9, 2008. Several dozen of Labrang's monks suddenly appeared before the startled journalists and camera crews, bearing their banned Tibetan national flag and banners reading such things as, "We do not have freedom of speech". The unapproved press briefing was extremely embarrassing to the Chinese colonial authorities, who had hoped to prove that all was perfectly well in Tibet by having a compliant foreign press listen to scripted recitations of the PRC talking points. These three men were among the courageous ones who foiled that plan.<br /><br />Let's have a little reminder of what that looked like. Remember, these men knew they were risking everything when they did this — potentially including their lives. <i>That</i> is the emotion one can hear in the voices. Chinese officials and security are watching it all take place, unable to intervene because the cameras are rolling. From the testimony of Lama Jigme (see previous article) we know that severe retribution was dealt to some of these men after the cameras were gone.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sNRuQ2-kPoI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sNRuQ2-kPoI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br />This escape was first reported by <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/escape-05092009123135.html" title="Protest Monks Escape Tibet"><b>Radio Free Asia</b></a>, which interviewed them on arrival in New Delhi. Those who had participated in these two events learned that they were targets for arrest, and an unknown number took to the mountains around Labrang and tried to avoid capture in small groups.<blockquote>"We lived like animals, moving from place to place. But this was better than prison," [Gedhun] Gyatso, one of the protest organizers, said in an interview.</blockquote>Gedhun, Kelsang and another companion were surrounded by Chinese police in the mountains after two months of hiding. The two of them escaped but the other companion was captured and remains in prison.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 222px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VgSQVA98So8KSMdQqn_e23l8veAimOha7uIZxtUGb2C9ZjdNkVwiMKF5p4eNfT0V960nsNEVQLYuK_lBUnjttkza7NtA8UA7FSxtmrD7AOVb_gwVCiU3U8EzLlh-_PEGd5B6/s320/labrang_14-03g.jpg" title="Monks prepare" alt="Monks prepare" border="0" height="320" width="222" /><div class="caption">Buddhist monks prepare banners and national flags as they ready for a procession through Labrang town, March 14, 2008.<br /><i>Photo: Mark Ralston / AFP</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Jamyang Jinpa told RFA that they had learned of the foreign reporters' visit to Labrang via the RFA's Amdo language broadcast. They didn't know the date of the planned visit, but they prepared themselves for the "good opportunity" to reach out to the world. <blockquote>"We called for freedom for Tibet and for the release of Tibetan political prisoners, including the Panchen Lama," [Jamyang] Jinpa said.</blockquote>Jamyang added that a lama had advised them to escape after Chinese troops surrounded the monastery when the journalists were gone. They dressed themselves in laymen's clothing and headed for the hills.<br /><br />The monks reached Dharamsala on Sunday, <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24695" title="Tibet protest monks receive hero’s welcome in Dharamsala - www.phayul.com"><b>to a heroes' welcome</b></a> as they stepped off the early morning bus from Delhi. A press conference was held on Monday — a <i>real</i> press conference this time, without fear of Communist Party reprisal. Phayul reports:<blockquote>"We couldn’t remain silent when peaceful Tibetan protests in Lhasa and other places were being brutally crushed down, and our fellow Tibetans were being killed for holding peaceful demonstrations," [Gedhun] Gyatso added.</blockquote>Jamyang Jinpa directly addressed the Chinese government's claim that Tibetans are happy and content under their rule, and that the protests which swept Tibetan regions last year (and continue in smaller scale) were the work of foreign-based "splittist instigators".<blockquote>"What has been happening in Tibet from last year is a spontaneous outcome of deep rooted resentment Tibetan people have had against the Chinese government. No one was there to tell us to protest. Situation alone compelled us to come out on the street," Jinpa said.</blockquote>The men say their newfound freedom has not given them a sense of relief. They did what they did on behalf of their people, and their people remain under the Communist Party's boot.<blockquote>"Thinking of Tibet makes us feel worried. Our greatest concern is for those who are still suffering in Tibet. Many Tibetans are undergoing torture in Chinese custody," Gyatso said.</blockquote>The <a href="http://www.thetibetpost.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141%3Atibet-hero-implores-international-community-be-strong-and-unitedlike-those-inside-of-tibet-&catid=1%3Atibet&Itemid=83&lang=en" title="Tibet hero implores international community “be strong, and united—like those inside of Tibet”"><b>Tibet Post</b></a> also covered the <i>no fear</i> press conference (although it seems to get both incident dates incorrect), and offers additional statements by the new arrivals. Jamyang Jinpa described the Chinese policy in his country this way:<blockquote>"Population transfer has made us a minority in our own country, we have been colonized by the Chinese, and Tibetans are forced to acknowledge a fake Panchen Lama. [T]here is no religious freedom in Tibet, we are forced to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is at the core of our heart, from who we seek refuge and salvation."</blockquote><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqVQi3Rvs5Wb_00WfUyGZoh3hyjVS7oCawAr6S3b0dcjdqe9BBCBGGDyOm234UHogS2RmjuQUq9UZWkUyE75x1U3ZcTKg5VReCUFwvflhh-EUikgSMzPrnWGi3I04aW1Kkfkj/s320/labrang_14-03c.jpg" title="Labrang procession" alt="Labrang procession" border="0" height="187" width="320" /><div class="caption">The monks' procession through Labrang town, March 14, 2008.<br /><i>Photo: Mark Ralston / AFP</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The press conference was also reported on the <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=915&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews" title="CTA: Tibetan Escapees Bear Witness to China’s Atrocities in Tibet"><b>Tibetan exile government's website</b></a>, which curiously refers to the men as "youths" rather than monks. The two older men participated in the monks' procession through Labrang town (39 is a bit old for a "youth") while the three younger men were appealing to journalists at the monastery (the monks you see in the video above — Jigme Gyatso can be recognised at the end of the clip).<br /><br />The coverage of this great escape has so far been seen on ... the Tibetan exile media only. Up to posting time, this has not been reported on any mainstream international news service, many of whom were present when these monks and others risked everything simply to talk to them last year. This is also very curious, since there are plenty of extra international journalists in India now for the election, and most of those are surely in New Delhi (where these notable escapees first arrived five days ago).<br /><br />The farming boycott in eastern Tibet is continuing through the last part of the planting season, <a href="http://www.thetibetpost.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135%3Atibetans-in-eastern-tibet-continuing-to-not-farm-situation-tens-&catid=1%3Atibet&Itemid=83&lang=en" title="Tibetans in eastern Tibet continuing to not farm: situation tense"><b>according to Geshe Monlam Tharchin</b></a>, a member of the Tibetan parliament in exile. In a report gathered from local sources in the Derge region of Kardze Prefecture, Chinese are reportedly taking land from Tibetans who refuse to cultivate in some areas, and buying up Tibetan farms in other areas for use as a military base, in an increased military presence in the region. <br /><br />It's now too late in the season for planting wheat, but authorities continue to pressure Tibetans to plant potatoes, peas, and similar crops. Local authorities reportedly issued announcements that, "If you will not to plant the farms, our military will use those farms for our purpose." Many people, mainly men, are escaping their towns and villages on the pretext of gathering medicinal plants. Pressures applied to the population through officially-organized public meetings are meeting resistance, and when asked why they won't plant their farms, the responses are along the lines of, "We Tibetans in the areas are united in our efforts to show our strong solidarity to our brothers and sisters those who lost their lives and those who have faced and are facing brutality, suffering and genocide under the Chinese rule." <br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 166px;"><a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/orchard-05082009102415.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKVrLup-xtXAvSbOAvX9Z2Yo5byPanlXe877fsJaQV8EbiHbyxMkZevZh86MYrSrZ0OKlF-1umTqaJkT-U1461ZW_TGcUaTaCPLrFAA8cpG2mINR7M1IAnHyvu0QncWii36Fk/s200/Turfan_orchard.jpg" title="Turfan orchard" alt="Turfan orchard" border="0" height="200" width="166" /></a><div class="caption">A woman works in her family's vineyard in Turfan, May 9, 1997.<br /><i>Photo: AFP</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>In the former East Turkestan (Ch: Xinjiang) similar policies apply to those who <i>do</i> cultivate their land, but in those cases the beneficiaries will be <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/orchard-05082009102415.html" title="Uyghurs Protest Orchard Sales"><b>Chinese businessmen</b></a>. This is a fine glimpse into China's policies in her colonial holdings, where contracts and leases mean little when a governmental authority happens to run short of cash.<br /><br />In 1983 the government leased wasteland in northern Xinjiang Uyghur "Autonomous" Region to local peasants, on the condition that they grow fruit orchards. By now the orchards are well established and productive, and the government intends to break the 50 year lease, expropriate the land paying a fraction of its value, and sell it to Chinese businessmen.<blockquote>Township government chief Abdusamet said the orchards would be better managed if they were bought back.<br /><br />"The farmers are unable to manage their orchards well," he said. "That is why the township government will take it back — we will manage it better."<br /><br />"We will auction the orchards to Chinese businessmen from the rest of China," Abdusamet said.<br /><br />"The Uyghur farmers are unable to benefit from these orchards, and our township government needs income," he said.</blockquote>So the 25 years of work which created the orchards and made them profitable, is translated as, "unable to manage their orchards well," and the government will "manage it better." (This sounds familiar.) It will do that by tearing up the contracts, buying the land at 20% of its value, and selling it to Chinese businesses. The real reason is almost an afterthought — local government needs the money.<br /><br />A court in Dzoge County, Ngaba T-"A"-P (Ch: Sichuan province) sentenced three Tibetans to prison on unknown charges, according to a report received by <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24688" title="Court sentences 3 youths to jail terms - www.phayul.com"><b>Voice of Tibet radio</b></a>. Jampel, 29, and Lama, 23, both of the Chashang Taringtsang family were sentenced to four years, while Namkho, 27, of Chashang Kyajigtsang family got three years. The source said that arbitrary charges, arbitrary sentences and no choice in legal representation are the common standards of justice in Ngaba.<br /><br />Former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel has called for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/opinion/11havel.html?ref=opinion" title="Op-Ed Contributor - A Table for Tyrants - NYTimes.com"><b>basic standards to be upheld</b></a> in the election for members of the UN Human Rights Council. Terming the election process a "farce" — and he should know farce as well as he knows totalitarianism, as the playwright himself composed a number of farces — he called for adherence to the Council's founding resolution to "uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" during member selection. <br /><br />Yesterday, China received 167 votes from the 191 member states present in the General Assembly. It wasn't much of a contest, with 20 candidates for 18 open seats. China hailed its own electoral success, citing its "<a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/12/China-hails-HRCre-election-US-also-in/UPI-77611242185045/" title="China hails HRCre-election; U.S. also in - UPI.com"><b>remarkable achievements in the field of human rights</b></a>." If that's the "highest standard" the UN can come up with, we're all in trouble.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-4658111521070620792009-05-08T19:16:00.006+07:002009-05-08T20:03:10.558+07:00LAMA JIGME RELEASED; NEW STUDENT PROTEST PHOTOS ESCAPE<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtDi0F4FO9vJiVJCiL-g9JTPjNqPEeJgkgKOX62Om4znkNiSPWSLnFv6loc2k3zS-3W_ZvzYu9PkBFkmoiv3djC2M1ZWSXtddGksHqltytdFjdVRtydnl1qS7QgIx2os3ouJZ/s320/ls06.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="244" width="320" /><div class="caption">New photos surface of a protest in Labrang led by middle school students, April 24, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: Kunleng (VOA Tibetan service)</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">A</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Tibetan lama who had recorded a video testimony last year after being detained and physically abused by Chinese security forces has been released from his second stint of incarceration in the past year. Meanwhile a monk in Ngaba Prefecture, who <i>may</i> have admitted to sending information to the outside world about <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-year-brings-more-tibetan-protests.html" title="Agam's Gecko: NEW YEAR BRINGS MORE TIBETAN PROTESTS AS MARCH 10 LOOMS"><b>Tabey's attempted self-immolation</b></a> in February, remains missing and is feared dead. Some information has escaped the plateau through China's steel curtain, in the form of accounts and photos of the students' march in Labrang last month.<br /><br />Lama Jigme Guri was seized off the street on March 22, 2008 as he <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2008/09/fearlessness-in-tribalized-time.html" title="Agam's Gecko: FEARLESSNESS IN A TRIBALIZED TIME"><b>returned to Labrang Monastery from the town market</b></a>. He was held for several months during which time he was severely tortured, and nearly died of his injuries. At that point he was released to his family, as some other Tibetans have been after suffering abuse which nearly killed them. The expectation seems to be that they will die in their family's custody, and the Chinese will thus not be blamed for killing them. Jigme survived after spending three weeks in hospital, and later returned to his monastery.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 266px;"><a href="http://woeser.middle-way.net/2009/05/blog-post_5476.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkESf0HgpCk9uNxI1HzPic-Je_ycqetEQyrYn4vZ37RYwgL8el9G_y7EWyOs7Iru6NSu4l3DAjw-9ciu24BtLe3bjjUOGQuPxmAFfhdi18Dhs4JAVYefjFM8avi_H123SzAeY0/s320/Jigme_Guri.jpg" title="Lama Jigme Guri" alt="Lama Jigme Guri" border="0" height="320" width="266" /></a><div class="caption">Lama Jigme Guri of Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery, Sangchu County, Kanlho T-"A"-P, was released this week by the Chinese authorities after six months detention without trial.<br /><i>Photo: Woeser</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Sometime in August Lama Jigme recorded a video testimony of his ordeal (faithful readers will recall that the Tibetan name "Jigme" translates as "Fearless"). The video was acquired by VOA's Tibetan language program <i>Kunleng</i>, and broadcast last September 3. Jigme went into hiding, living in the mountains and visiting safe houses until the approaching winter made that impossible. He returned again to Labrang around the beginning of November (after police had assured his family that he was safe from arrest), and on November 4 around 70 officers of the People's Armed Police and Public Security Bureau <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2008/11/crucial-moment.html" title="Agam's Gecko: A CRUCIAL MOMENT"><b>seized him from his monk's quarters</b></a> and took him to an unknown location. <br /><br />The 42 year old monk, who had been <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090506.html" title="TCHRD: A Monk who exposed Chinese brutality released"><b>ordained at Labrang</b></a> at the age of 13, mastered religious thangka painting and butter sculpture arts, and later headed the monastery's vocational training centre, was also the vice-chairman of its Democratic Management Committee (the Communist Party's oversight and disciplinary body within every Tibetan religious institution) at the time of his first arrest. Upon his latest release on May 3, after six months in his second abusive stretch of Chinese prison treatment, local accounts say that he is looking very frail and weak.<br /><br />Once again, the heroes in this case are the same two Chinese civil rights lawyers who took on Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche's case, leading to its indefinite postponement last month. One of the two, Li Fangping, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6231430.ece" title="Chinese human rights lawyers step forward to free detained Tibetan monk"><b>told the London Times</b></a> that Jigme had been released "on bail", and that the mere prospect of legal assistance seemed to be enough to do the trick.<blockquote>"When the police told him that lawyers had come forward to help him, he said he wanted legal representation. Before we even had time to see him, he had been released."</blockquote>Mr. Li and his partner, Mr. Jiang Tianyong said that Jigme had been warned by police not to give interviews and to see "as few people as possible." <br /><br />The International Campaign for Tibet <a href="http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/labrang-jigme-monk-who-gave-torture-testimony-returns-home" title="Labrang Jigme, monk who gave torture testimony, returns home | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>clarifies the bail issue</b></a> from accounts by Tibetan sources. The release falls under something called "<i>qubao houshen</i>" which are restrictions on one's movements, associations, communications and other conditions. Violations of any of the conditions may result in further detention without trial.<br /><br />Jigme's August 2008 testimonial has now been captioned with English subtitles:<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ac-V82xAaUg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ac-V82xAaUg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><br /><br />The Tibetan author / poet / citizen journalist Woeser was the first to announce Jigme's release at her blog on May 5. High Peaks Pure Earth <a href="http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2009/05/lama-jigme-has-returned-home-by-woeser.html" title="High Peaks Pure Earth: Lama Jigme Has Returned Home!!! by Woeser"><b>has a translation</b></a>. A number of good photos of Lama Jigme in his home surroundings (as well as his hospitalization) can be viewed at <a href="http://woeser.middle-way.net/2009/05/blog-post_5476.html" title="看不见的西藏~唯色: 喇嘛久美回家了!!!"><b>Woeser's original article</b></a>. <br /><br />Coincidentally, I received an alert this morning to a new translation of a piece Woeser wrote for Radio Free Asia last month. In this one she does a very insightful <a href="http://www.raggedbanner.com/aMediaStrat.html" title="Woeser: Is power all you need to make your views prevail?"><b>media analysis</b></a> and points out a fundamental misunderstanding by the Chinese state-controlled media organs on using and increasing their "discourse power". In a delightful anecdote, she recounts an occasion when a Xinhua official approached a senior foreign journalist for advice on achieving "discourse power" in the west. The journalist told her that in his response to the official, he emphasized "positioning":<blockquote>"You people are positioned as mouthpieces, so you can’t think about whether the news you report is true or not; and so you are incapable of establishing any power of discourse. We, on the other hand, are positioned to make money. In order to make money we’ve got to provide truthful reporting, and that’s a necessary condition for establishing authority in discourse." When he heard this, the Xinhua official was very uncomfortable.</blockquote>I just bet he was! I really hope <i>that</i> conversation gets passed around at the Xinhua water cooler.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfthq/3338042896/sizes/o/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6nXUZ9tg1VBQPFim6_5cTWKxuPSxvUYndaBNNfIB-S7pbXp6dw_p9FAqC5a-ddgaFJOVGb5EPzEvwSF7B1mmnMPKuTPBi3cvL_9esln9GSHPy7yQiPy4G1xml6aYHX6Ptqkh/s320/Tabey01.jpg" title="Monk Tabey" alt="Monk Tabey" border="0" height="243" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Monk Tabey, of Ngaba Kirti Monastery, lays in the street after he set himself on fire and was reportedly felled by gunshots from the security forces on February 27, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: anonymous</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Tibetans in Ngaba Prefecture (Ch: Sichuan province) remain very <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24588" title="Residents concerned about monk who smuggled information - www.phayul.com"><b>concerned for the well-being of Jamyang Phuntsok</b></a>, a 35 year old monk believed to be suspected by Chinese authorities of sending information about fellow monk Tabey's protest on February 27, 2009. A few days after Tabey's action, in which he attempted to immolate himself and, according to witnesses, was felled at the precise time three gunshots were heard fired by security forces, Jamyang Phuntsok was arrested from his quarters at Kirti Monastery. His whereabouts remain unknown and officials have not provided any information, leading many local people to suspect he may already be dead. Chinese state-run party mouthpiece Xinhua reported on March 5 than the monk had accepted the allegations of sending information to the outside world, but this has not been confirmed by any reliable sources. <br /><br />Tabey remains in detention at an undisclosed hospital in Sichuan, and is not allowed visitors. A press release by the Kirti Monastery in exile said that his condition has improved sufficiently for him to leave the hospital, but authorities will not permit him to leave. The monk's mother had been allowed to see him in March, and she said that the Chinese authorities were pressuring him to have both his legs amputated. Tabey refused the surgery, which is almost surely for the purpose of destroying the evidence that he had been shot by security forces before being extinguished.<br /><br />Images and accounts of the protest led by students of the Sangchu Tibetan Middle School on April 24 at Labrang, Amdo have escaped into freedom. Several of the photos were shown on Wednesday's broadcast of <i>Kunleng</i>, the Voice of America Tibetan language program. The students had gathered early on that Friday morning and began marching toward Labrang town, but were immediately surrounded by soldiers and police. A Tibetan eyewitness told the <a href="http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/images-protest-tibetan-children-and-students-obtained-tibet" title="Images of protest by Tibetan children and students obtained from Tibet | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>International Campaign for Tibet</b></a>:<blockquote>"Around 300 soldiers and police arrived immediately at the scene. Older Tibetans were begging the soldiers not to harm the students and to let them go back into the schoolyard. The school was then surrounded by armed soldiers."</blockquote>The students had called for freedom and democracy, return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, and a solution to the problem of Chinese students taking college placements under the Tibetan quota. They were also objecting to a Chinese provocation in the form of an article published in the Kanlho News on April 15, which was then posted on the school bulletin board. The article was a denunciation of the Dalai Lama — a commonplace phenomenon in the Tibetan "Autonomous" Region but relatively new in Amdo. The Chinese "patriotism re-education campaign" is being implemented in the area, according to a Tibetan source in contact with local people.<blockquote>"The main reason for the students' protest is that the local authorities are implementing a campaign of patriotic education and 'anti-separatism' in schools, which is strongly focused on denouncing the Dalai Lama. At the same time, many articles vilifying the Dalai Lama have been published in newspapers in the Tibetan language."</blockquote>An interesting term is introduced in this report, cited from an unidentified Chinese language blog. The Tibetan students are referring to the Chinese quota-jumpers as "University Entrance Exam Refugees" (a literal translation of the Chinese term used). These students wish to sit for the Tibetan exams which are designed to be slightly easier due to Tibetans' perceived lesser abilities in Chinese language. Some Chinese students will produce faked ID which shows them as Tibetan, thereby making them a sort of reverse refugee.<br /><br />Another ironic aspect to this story is given by a Tibetan source. Apparently some local officials missed out on their political "awards" that day:<blockquote>"What was interesting was that at the time, relevant officials from Kanlho prefecture were on their to Lanzhou to pick up an award they'd won for outstanding [political] 'stability' work, but this incident happened while they were on the road there and so cursing their luck, they had to head back!"</blockquote>The <i>Kunleng</i> broadcast (Tibetan language) can be viewed on <a href="http://www.voanews.com/tibetan/video.cfm" title="VOA News - Kunleng video"><b>this page</b></a> by selecting the May 6 news program.<br /><br />The images have been reduced to ensure no one's face could be recognized, although the video captures are blurry to begin with. I've left out two shots of younger children which were a bit too close for comfort. It's a shame we have to have such concerns — of retaliation on these kids from the Chinese Communist Party colonial administration of their country — but there you go.<br /><br />[caution: wide format below - narrow windows may push the images below the menu-bar]<br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_iKokHhX6rnSffFiEbrLQXGPH_UTfQQybtK1hEgLfMpI2sZEatKXsn1cgvmZ1FDcgxa057l3p_brefm1uQQLvRp-7KTSTrlJou7Yf0XhJ4p714FjseuKSt3cc2ymculDspLn/s320/ls03.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="243" width="320" /></div></td><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jAo_Ieu2eVzLkCHlrXgvf7gf1gtIESly5lpp9f02KL9OmvFQQOe9MUby07PKvWRol41Az0lvoFu802-WDau8tbOZV3id1hK-rpbZyIJ1K5588o_dl2eGsKRvcUXfklRhf7Ia/s320/ls02.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="245" width="320" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5fkN5Oy7c0SxWrD2X75Gducs61KUMA9U-Xp_6E44mWbJ7K2nvFJG9NDhn2u6LzVbJ5PmUEbhwew9r0WxcqnVarWZxZ5fy3IB1v-gSdSeTLe4_urtZO_vEPXHz4Xto1hxuy1x/s320/ls01.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="244" width="320" /></div></td><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwpH0esow8nCKN_RgyyajW41hzm3SbOEU580dDvURDlkYLr7xvSibH-naAHmTNiHWA8pfRHJ58jkfJPBIAbSSXem6nbPpHAowK43S98-N4CrhjxqKYntiTpCosqTQl3EiG-BS/s320/ls07.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="243" width="320" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5x9WeCXpcnB8UHEeGyTlF70Af28T8ktk8rlpJW11o4VH9Hrzkh8L0hRIX-KkOT_nwseZKXfFtW-v_hrRaSw23wd1KSGqh84tdPuGdOujyXIHCE4obbVYIzmLoSUGFOdESE2kx/s320/ls08.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="244" width="320" /></div></td><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjednSOiAeA40W-1HehJA1_9Hi04Ixua31R5BnQzP7_Vao95U2O43OZ9zVdT2idc11_lREgjn3AEF8gqfCYpP9LmEDhAb5X6w25G6VUuAhGosrqz9jr3mx7w80ENpLEkYLTLOi0/s320/ls09.jpg" title="Labrang student protest" alt="Labrang student protest" border="0" height="241" width="320" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-87458164235921573662009-05-01T03:14:00.005+07:002009-05-01T03:22:39.460+07:00TIBETAN STUDENTS STAND UP; CHINESE POLICE GET DIRTY; UNLIKELY HEROES FOUND<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Tibet-Labrang-Monastery/ss/events/wl/031009tibet/im:/090425/photos_wl_pc_afp/22323df8bcd6617ca3b10b6578947b95/;_ylt=Ao_BBt.wzndTRLDJ_UkWlzsZO7gF"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkIRVf0AzafvliajM-SU7SojbxDxHRQzCIffXOVHzRGsfTC2g6ebZ-puAxbk9VCUVGtfMnaz8Y-_ssVlTqoYltG6tuCC6EgkZC4FiOxrVf8Jc0osyfdKQfEsTyEEv2TYxWus4/s200/labrang_pilgrims.jpg" title="Labrang pilgrims" alt="Labrang pilgrims" border="0" height="136" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Buddhist pilgrims at the Labrang Monastery, 2008.<br /><i>Photo: Mark Ralston / AFP</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">H</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />undreds of Tibetan students protested Chinese school policies in Amdo Labrang last Friday morning, according to many sources. The students of the Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe) Tibetan Middle School gathered early on April 24 at their school, located near the Labrang Monastery in Sangchu County, Kanlho Tibetan "Autonomous" Prefecture (Ch: Gansu province). The young demonstrators then marched from the school and <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090424a.html" title="TCHRD: School students demonstration in Labrang County"><b>headed toward the main market of Labrang town</b></a>, until they were stopped and forced back to the school by Public Security Bureau forces and People's Armed Police. Local sources say that the security forces immediately surrounded the school, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.<br /><br />The students' grievances are said to have been against the authorities' reported practice of diverting higher education placements which are supposedly reserved for Tibetan students, to Chinese students. The Voice of Tibet radio service <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24527" title="Tibetan students protest in Labrang: Update - www.phayul.com"><b>reports the students' disappointment</b></a> over the rising number of Chinese students taking placements at college level institutes which are supposed to benefit Tibetans. No arrests of students were reported and it remains difficult to contact the area, which has been under tight security for many months. A separate source told <i>Phayul News</i> that over one thousand students study at the school.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=862&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Chinese Forces Lay Siege to School after Students Protest"><b>Additional accounts</b></a> received by the exile Tibetan government say that the students carried banners reading "Peace and Freedom", and began the protest during their morning exercise period around 7 a.m. An additional complaint was also cited, saying the students were expressing resistance to the required study of articles by one "Yidor", which were denunciations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Heavier restrictions were placed on the surrounding areas following the protest. AFP <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090425/wl_asia_afp/chinatibetstudentprotests" title="Tibetan students protest in China"><b>confirmed the incident</b></a> with a local hotel proprietor, who said there had been no violence. Phone calls placed to the local public security bureau, and to the school itself, went unanswered.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/world/asia/10tibet.html?_r=1&oref=slogin"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_akH2X5x9EJU/R_3xRx1iNPI/AAAAAAAAAlE/sMktDf3Aivc/s320/labrang_09-04e.jpg" title="Labrang monks" alt="Labrang monks" border="0" height="216" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Monks of Labrang Monastery give an unapproved media briefing to foreign reporters on April 9, 2008. The banner reads, "We do not have freedom of speech".<br /><i>Photo: Reinhard Krause / Reuters</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Also in Labrang, another Buddhist monk at the Labrang Tashikyil Monastery was <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090424a.html" title="TCHRD: School students demonstration in Labrang County"><b>arrested by police</b></a> on April 13. Kelsang Gyatso, 36, was part of the group of monks who <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2008/04/video-labrang-monks-crash-ccp-media.html" title="Agam's Gecko: VIDEO: LABRANG MONKS CRASH CCP MEDIA TOUR, TESTIFY"><b>bravely held</b></a> an unapproved <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2008/04/mass-arrests-torture-in-tibet-while.html" title="Agam's Gecko: MASS ARRESTS, TORTURE IN TIBET WHILE THE WORLD PROTESTS"><b>press conference</b></a> during a PRC stage-managed international journalists' tour on April 9, 2008. Kelsang had been travelling from Labrang to Martsoed City when a group of police waiting in a vehicle nabbed him and took him to an unknown location. Two other monks from among the impromptu media-briefers a year ago, Thabkhey and Tsundue, disappeared soon after that widely reported incident. They remain unaccounted for to this day, and many local people believe them to be dead.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 130px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090428.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kqdB2_-bq09onM8p0yfoaU41FiMzwVJS1vwGhYSE84RFiggDvj5i2DqIqg-ukmkCMETs_Y636l2G982nizCtvdkGol_rm8HETb8dqKuRF5nhlRlsvf7-9jIvx2NYIE7IRPn-/s200/Khensur_Thupten_Thapkhey.jpg" title="Khensur Thupten Thapkhey" alt="Khensur Thupten Thapkhey" border="0" height="200" width="130" /></a><div class="caption">Khensur Thupten Thapkhey, former abbot of Shapten Monastery.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Chinese authorities in Nagchu County (Nagchu T-"A"-P in the Tibetan "Autonomous" Region, north of Lhasa) have <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090428.html" title="TCHRD: China detains three Tibetan monks in Nagchu County"><b>secretly arrested three Buddhist monks</b></a> from the Shapten Monastery. Using their well-documented skills of deception, officers of the local Public Security Bureau took away Khensur Thupten Thapkhey, a 47 year old former abbot of the monastery, and Geshe Tsultrim Gyaltsen, a 34 year old scripture master, on April 11. The "security" officials explained to the monastic community that the two would be travelling to Lhasa to receive their <i>Geshe</i> certificates (Doctorate of Philosophy) from the religious bureau.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 135px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090428.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVsRHArvn2dhWrupC2GeiKy70e2TZNZiCfA0na8zt0BNOnr73N9OT2ar9teVjxOaWpQPCKvAIs7Whr2ZT41LMw5-aXNImtVTQnLYFYzJi2qkltssS2zNxgcoifb_0oAwR7QCiW/s200/Tsultrim_Gyaltsen.jpg" title="Tsultrim Gyaltsen" alt="Tsultrim Gyaltsen" border="0" height="200" width="135" /></a><div class="caption">Tsultrim Gyaltsen, scripture master at Shapten Monastery.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The whole thing was a ruse. The two senior monks were actually taken straight to the Nagchu PSB detention centre, where they remain incarcerated. The 30 year old head of the monastery's "Democratic Management Committee" (the Communist Party's oversight body within every Tibetan religious institution), Tsundue, was informed by authorities that his attendance was required at a "meeting" — which also turned out to be in a cell at the Nagchu PSB detention centre. The reasons for the arrests are not known. Parents and relatives of the detained monks are attempting to make contact with them through the Nagchu PSB.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 152px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090428.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4a1QDaGxbSDH2wOLkZDoSASJ3Xbey1WfxURW-IDOvHgVotEaPE_ESOs42X075ZeG112amZaA-U8mb2qXjWEeAry8rndmc5p_snou2sNoJvcNDC3omIPRNqi4lyM9o0IHOrPk/s200/Tsundue.jpg" title="Tsundue" alt="Tsundue" border="0" height="200" width="152" /></a><div class="caption">Tsundue, head of the Democratic Management Commitee at Shapten Monastery.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The duplicitous manner of these arrests is telling. The Chinese know from recent experience that barging into a monastery with massive force, ransacking the place while beating up monks, and then dragging away as many as they choose for detention, can often lead to problems. The authorities risk a mass uprising of monks or nuns, especially if those dragged away are highly respected people to begin with. <br /><br />Which brings us around again to the case of Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche.<br /><br />Phurbu Rinpoche (also called Bu Rong Na Rinpoche — <i>Rinpoche</i> meaning an "incarnate lama" but translated by the Chinese as "Living Buddha") was arrested at his home in Drango County, Kardze on May 18 last year. As the spiritual preceptor for two convents in the Drango area, as well as the founder of a home for the aged and medical services clinics in his community, Phurbu Rinpoche is deeply loved and respected by Tibetans. The charges against him were only recently revealed at his trial in Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding) — illegal possession of weapons and government land.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 253px;"><a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24548"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUKazOE8TcOClhlO4MYnEKuCStDANV4lttuaHbF5ueVHVcFpsKpElbeJG7FHGpQ0KKNpmlhaMDmya9fyYmUFGL9jiapjSBLOSGXRYsnt0W3pCRl-Jg8Ml0P3s9wOasHZHiDSN/s320/Phurbu_Rinpoche3.jpg" title="Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche" alt="Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche" border="0" height="320" width="253" /></a><div class="caption">Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche in an undated photo.<br /><i>Photo: <a href="http://219.153.20.221:8080/buruna/english/e_home.htm" title="Bu Rong Na Temple"><b>Bu Rong Na Temple</b></a></i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>The 52 year old lama is the highest ranking Tibetan teacher among the hundreds of people put through the Chinese trial system since the latest wave of Tibetan protests began last year. He is also the first of these to have been allowed to choose his own lawyers. His trial was reported widely in the international media (at least in comparison with other continuing incidents in Tibet), and a development this week shows just how important such attention can be. Judgement and sentencing has been <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6180748.ece" title="Chinese court postpones judgment on Tibetan living Buddha - Times Online"><b>postponed indefinitely</b></a>.<blockquote>Legal experts said that such a move was rare for a Chinese court and could indicate that the unusually spirited defence presented in court and the international publicity the case has attracted could have prompted unexpected debate among judicial officials over the sentence. </blockquote>Rinpoche had selected his defence lawyers well, and his ability to speak Chinese undoubtedly also helped him. One of his legal defenders, Jian Tianyong, was already on his way to the airport when his partner, Li Fangping, received the postponement call from a deputy judge in Dartsedo. Both men are prominent civil rights attorneys, and Mr. Jian was one of a group of lawyers who had volunteered to defend the Tibetans charged after the protests began last year. Chinese authorities then warned the lawyers' group to stay out of it, threatening them with loss of their rights to practice law (some of those threats were carried out). Lawyers are frequently derided in western countries, but these two Beijing-based defenders can well be considered heroes.<br /><br />The Tibetan author, poet, and citizen journalist Woeser had a translated account of <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24548" title="Justice Denied for Tibetans - www.phayul.com"><b>Phurbu Tsering's arrest and trial</b></a> published in the Asian Wall Street Journal this week. I link to Phayul for this one mainly for the wonderful photograph, which I've cropped here. Take a good look at the full size version over there.<br /><br />Imagine the scene in a small Tibetan mountain town in the center of the Kham region last May 18. All forms of communication with the town are cut off before dawn, and all roads are blocked. As more than 4,000 PLA troops, PAP forces and special units divide up to surround and control two nearby convents, over 1,000 security forces take up positions and prepare their assault on one small house. Their target is that dangerous looking fellow grinning under the big sky.<br /><br />It's very clear that Phurbu Tsering was being framed, and they may still pull it off. He was forced to sign a confession after four days of real torture and threats against his family, and he recanted that confession in court. The firearms and bullets "found" in his living room (a virtual public place, with visitors coming and going constantly due to his high status in the community) were <i>never investigated</i> as to their origin, and were not even checked for fingerprints. On the illegal land use charge (involving his home for the elderly), documents reviewed in court actually proved that the land use permits were all above-board. Read Woeser's piece for an excellent account of all this (and by the way, she had a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/world/asia/25woeser.html?_r=1&hpw" title="The Saturday Profile - A Tibetan Blogger, Always Under Close Watch, Struggles for Visibility - Biography - NYTimes.com"><b>very fine profile published</b></a> in the NY Times last weekend). For a more in-depth look into the trial proceedings, including translated court documents, <a href="http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/verdict-tibetan-lama-deferred-chinese-lawyers-statement-charges-against-phurbu-rinpoche" title="Verdict on Tibetan lama deferred: Chinese lawyers’ statement on charges against Phurbu Rinpoche | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>ICT is the place to go</b></a>.<br /><br />Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche's Chinese devotees have maintained a <a href="http://219.153.20.221:8080/buruna/english/e_home.htm" title="Bu Rong Na Temple"><b>website to support his work</b></a>, with information on the charities he established, the Rest House for Elders, the new travellers' hostel for visitors to Bu Rong Na Temple, his adoption of orphans (including ethnic Chinese children) and more. Background and history of the Bu Rong Na Temple <a href="http://219.153.20.221:8080/buruna/english/e_origin.htm" title="Bu Rong Na Temple Origins"><b>is here</b></a>.<br /><br />International attention to specific cases can have a positive effect on the treatment of political prisoners, as in the case of the recently released monk / filmmaker Golog Jigme Gyatso, who <a href="http://www.tibetanjournalists.org/pressreleases/20090422-pressrelease.html" title="The Association of Tibetan Journalists: International support led Golok Jigme free"><b>first became aware of the international pressure</b></a> on his Chinese interrogators by the relatively better treatment he received as compared with other prisoners. Perhaps Phurbu Rinpoche may have a chance for justice.<br /><br />International pressure has been insufficient to produce any movement at all on the part of the PRC however, in the case of the abducted 11th Panchen Lama. Chinese authorities <i>disappeared</i> the young incarnate lama at the age of six (along with his family), and there has been no evidence of his existence during the past fourteen years despite enquiries from many governments and international organisations. Chinese authorities insist that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima merely wants his privacy, and refuse to provide so much as a photograph. The <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090424.html" title="TCHRD: Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the XI th Panchen Lama turns 20"><b>Panchen Lama turned 20 years old</b></a> on April 25. The former abbot of Panchen Lama's Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Chadrel Rinpoche, was also the chairman of the government-approved search committee in 1995. He was tried and sentenced for "splittism" and "leaking state secrets", and his sentence ended in 2001. There has also been no credible evidence of his existence or wellbeing since that time.<br /><br />In an open letter to President Hu Jintao dated April 27, the Speaker of the democratically-elected Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Penpa Tsering, expressed <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=874&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Speaker of Tibetan Parliament's Open Letter to China's President Hu Jintao"><b>deep concern</b></a> for the well-being of the Panchen Lama — revealing something which I have not seen reported elsewhere.<blockquote>"According to media reports, a Japanese journalist Yoichi Shimatsu had at a conference at Qinghua University in Beijing stated that His Eminence Panchen Rinpoche Gedhun Choekyi Nyima had died of cancer some years ago, which is in total contradiction to your government’s stated position that all is well with H.E. Panchen Rinpoche."</blockquote>It's time for China to come clean once and for all on the fate of a young man who, for most of his life, has been the world's youngest political prisoner.<br /><br />If one has a cause that one wishes to express in the most peaceful, non-threatening manner possible, what do you do? One method used in countless countries around the world is the old, tried and true, candle-light vigil. For example, there have been innumerable such vigils on behalf of the aforementioned Panchen Lama over the years (in cities and towns on every continent but Antarctica). But if there's one thing China's communist authority simply will not tolerate, apparently, it's the candle-light vigil. Monks of Lutsang Monastery in Mangra County, Amdo (Ch: Qinghai) held a <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/02/defiance-and-sacrifice-during-new-year.html" title="Agam's Gecko: DEFIANCE AND SACRIFICE DURING A NEW YEAR LIKE NO OTHER"><b>peaceful candle procession and vigil</b></a> on February 25 this year, the first day of <i>Losar</i>, the Tibetan new year. The candle-bearing monks were later arrested (109 of them) and subjected to "severe patriotism re-education" for nearly a month, when all but six were released. The remaining six were said to be released from custody around April 10. <br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 400px;"><a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24544"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKl_i_7oPQtdp6uJXB7O3SbkCq4xiR0MLDq9okfhewXxDFTn-lZknNsLxfsWWj5Ip_9fTk_xnN16gdmLdXlXRu2H0biaMMU0y2ZKS5KLPZN6K1v6itGXqVLl2B4hY4YJH_h8kS/s400/Lutsang_Four.jpg" title="Lutsang Four" alt="Lutsang Four" border="0" height="170" width="400" /></a><div class="caption">Four monks from Lutsang Monastery have been sentenced.<br /><i>Photo: Phayul News</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Now comes news via the <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24544" title="Court sentences 4 Tibetans to 2 years in jail - www.phayul.com"><b>Voice of Tibet radio service</b></a> that six Lutsang monks were arrested on April 10, and four of them have already been tried and sentenced to two year prison terms (the other two were released). The specific charges against the monks are unknown. Those convicted are Kalsang Gyatso, 21, Soepa Gyatso, 24, Lungtok Gyatso, 22, and Soepa Gyatso, 19. The strange thing is that Lungtok (the far left photo) is one of the six reportedly released around April 10. The other names and photos do not match the previously released names and photos, but the VOT report says that two more Lutsang monks, Thabkhay Gyatso and Kunchok Gyatso, were also arrested late last week. Thabkhay Gyatso is also the name of one of the six originally said to have been released on April 10.<br /><br />The Chinese colonial authorities are experts in preventing information from escaping Tibet, through selective cell network closure, internet gateway controls, restrictions on travel, and of course prosecutions of those who attempt to communicate with Tibetans outside the country. But they're also quite keen on preventing information from entering Tibet, as evidenced this month in a <a href="http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/15977/" title="Epoch Times - Communists in Tibet Replace Satellite Receivers"><b>crackdown on satellite receivers</b></a>. <br /><br />Radio Free Asia's Mandarin language service reports that since March of this year, some Tibetans in Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces, and in the T-"A"-R have been installing their own satellite receivers. Chinese authorities claim that this is a plot by "secret agents from the Tibet independence movement" and have been seizing the offending equipment and installing "official" receivers in their place. In Machu County alone, 170 sets of equipment were replaced between April 10 - 23, depriving the people of viewing news from India and other neighbouring countries, overseas broadcasts including Tibetan language programming from VOA and RFA, as well as internet access. The new receivers are only able to tune in China Central Television signals.<br /><br />On the day he was to receive the honour of one of the world's <a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6183079.ece" title="Arrested Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to receive prestigious award - Times Online"><b>most prestigious literary awards</b></a>, Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo had one of his essays published in the London Times in which he declares the internet as <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6181699.ece" title="The internet is God's present to China | Liu Xiaobo - Times Online"><b>God's gift to China</b></a>. "It is the best tool for the Chinese people in their project to cast off slavery and strive for freedom," he wrote. Mr. Liu received the 2009 PEN / Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award on Tuesday — in absentia. He presently resides in a windowless cell at an undisclosed location in China. He has been in detention since December 8, the day his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08" title="Charter 08 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"><b>Charter 08</b></a> appeal for democratic reforms, signed by over 300 Chinese intellectuals, was published.<br /><br />Didn't the Olympics hold some sort of promise of progress toward human rights in China? Oh yes, right — never <i>ever</i> trust the CCP's promises. Another signatory to Charter 08, law professor He Weifang, has been sent into internal exile in Xinjiang. Professor He tells the Daily Telegraph that freedom of speech in China is now <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5230707/Leading-Chinese-dissident-claims-freedom-of-speech-worse-than-before-Olympics.html" title="Leading Chinese dissident claims freedom of speech worse than before Olympics - Telegraph"><b>worse than it was before the Olympics</b></a>.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-77412525789568709582009-04-28T23:17:00.008+07:002009-04-29T11:15:29.457+07:00MANHATTAN TERRORIZED AGAIN<table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">D</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />o you remember?<br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKhMFTAXN58ZrqJdbrSPibtTverq3wmEgq2_LPl7I3XkebuXh07YvlLyy7obP0gDqoLc7SrHNZA_1DOCacTio5IiH4oQvEWA6M_mSV0iGPlDtxUZKfIXq7Nf2z23bonxlHP2o/s200/110901a.jpg" border="0" height="200" width="200" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div align="center">In case anyone forgot, <br />a re-enactment was conducted yesterday.<br />Monday April 27, 2009<br />It's been just over 7 ½ years.</div><br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyaZ-O8FD1AAZn9S9dXvxMbxUPa44suztRWeyyNOC4PFi5TTA_3PKIhbNe3NIFP0pr18p3sLV1Juvwzw8ioCeTH2_tOO5sgo9XVUSX1uMsRRCftyusIkINb0-I1VnTaIIHRQzW/s200/air_stunt3.jpg" border="0" height="164" width="200" /><div class="caption">A jumbo in Manhattan, pursued hotly by an Air Force fighter F-16, made several rounds of the NYC landmarks.<br /><i>Photo: AP</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div align="center">Why would New Yorkers panic when they saw this White House "photo opportunity" starring Air Force One, with <i>no warning</i>? <br />(Something like: "Attention students: We will be having a fire drill this morning.")<br />It wasn't a drill that morning.<br /></div><br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 400px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TEqciolnVDngBanr22aMgsD1EpZhsK9nksAgZs1J0tiwRFz_NW5NY6ApZKyRUYEODrvVg2KB56RqJ0F1V2xTMuo8zfie3gr8hf6HlmyOvbAP2IKyygAgrkMrLAB9oFPmbMDW/s400/110901b.jpg" border="0" height="256" width="400" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div align="center">No forgetting.<br />A lot of city people saw what happened then.</div><br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 301px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_WVHp8RQOzyrS4825s0IiETqQK8JFjseIM_PbFRsSaftsBx9vycsk5ecTDM8jQ24wXuLj9cdK4R_JITfwJ5aga65ZglMh8ag_v1xXAsnnR6sabiMxp2fr1Ph-iJOMsjS1j3Z/s400/110901c.jpg" border="0" height="400" width="301" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div align="center">But somebody forgot.<br />A whole chain of someones forgot.</div><br /><br /><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 400px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21iQE85KEUBRDZ6V-O4aWCJSeBjqHryvl4xgWyJa0YSrIWunYTyWrJWoO8xufdZ5UFvkQz4Cff8sqA8W0KaU78dMib_pzU1TqlJRHWRZzVe2jziOHww1L9ovNZO7LyLGoGuGB/s400/110901d.jpg" border="0" height="389" width="400" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN" title="The Falling Man - Tom Junod - 9/11 Suicide Photograph - Esquire"><b>The Falling Man</b></a> <br />(center left, above)<br />[long essay, good reading]</div><br /><br /><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">I</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />nfliction of panic, by cluelessness. It was a case of mass cluelessness-boarding, using ineptitude rather than water on the face to trigger the panic reflex. (Would it also be: 10 seconds of panic application can count as "one instance", as it is with the water?)<br /><br />Was it torture? Inadvertent torture? They're off the hook because they didn't <i>mean to</i>? The irony is thick on this one.<br /><br />It's as though there are fraternity boys doing things on their own — for <i>nobody</i> to have said, "Wait a minute, this isn't such a good idea." ? — but it's hard to imagine someone this clueless. Too young to remember? It reminds me of the frat-boy Obama speech-writer performing suggestive acts on a lifesize Hillary Clinton cutout. Whose words yet grace the screen of <a href="http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/"><b>TOTUS</b></a>. <br /><br />Barack is mad about this, and he'd better be. Most people <i>don't</i> forget. <br /><br />But someone will fall on a sword, the buck will stop well away from Truman's "here", and the networks will now double down on their swine flue fever. Wasn't induced fright on this scale <i>very newsworthy</i> when Orson Welles did it for "War of the Worlds"? <br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jn0tMMYEkQU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jn0tMMYEkQU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br /><a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/27/smart-power-pentagon-freaks-out-new-york-with-low-altitude-fly-by/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Smart power: White House freaks out New York with low altitude fly-by; Video: Panicked NYers run in the streets; Update: Obama “furious”"><b>AllahPundit</b></a>:<blockquote>Not a day has passed in seven-plus years, I think, that an airplane has flown low enough overhead that I could hear it, even just barely, and I didn’t look up.</blockquote>Some of the die-hard followers, who really do view Obama as a conquering messiah rather than a politician, are panicking. It's only one bozo, I know, but here's the opening of <a href="http://perfunction.typepad.com/perfunction/2009/04/obama-tortures-911-victims.html" title="Perfunction: Obama Tortures 9/11 Victims"><b>one commenter's missive</b></a> upon a Wall Street Journal report.<blockquote>All you banksters are hilarious.<br /><br />Here’s what actually happened.<br /><br />Some of your bosses have been trying to play hardball with Obama.<br /><br />They — and you — just got a wakeup call: a friendly reminder who wears the pants around here, and who HOPES they can find a CHANGE of pants right about now.</blockquote>He seems to follow a vengeful mafia messiah of the imagination, and has even more to say about the "last banksters still standing". For people like this, it's two opposing teams, "banksters" and "hopechange" in this case. The people who got shocked into panic are the former, and he's on the latter team. It's competing teams, like in sports, and "We Won! Eat It!" <br /><br />Which is an attitude often found in frat-boy-ism, too, I think. Guys like that forget too easy. Gibbsy, and Janet the wingnut-huntress, were <a href="http://perfunction.typepad.com/perfunction/2009/04/video-gibbs-napalitano-twist-over-nyc-photoop.html" title="Perfunction: Video: Gibbs & Napolitano Twist Over NYC Photo-Op"><b>struck practically speechless</b></a> — "I... I... I don't <i>know</i>..." (Gibbs starting 1:45 at the link).<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-88863985772404463392009-04-23T23:52:00.002+07:002009-04-23T23:57:52.833+07:00MORE TIBETANS SHOT, TORTURED, PARADED, GIVEN SHOW TRIALS AND DEATH SENTENCES; CHINESE TANTRUM TO CONTINUE<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 320px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090420b.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9O5a7GvkrZXFH5GjIZdso9wdJplgadvCDmvZN9UEyaXnyARvViJr9omv1v3bfWSI2cxBjDi5FLPEo1TjtY8Zy9SEPXMcpfVh7Of950ObCtXcRw5HWJD7AAxeffmHkAZpxVqyc/s320/Dokru_Tsultrim.jpg" title="Dokru Tsultrim" alt="Dokru Tsultrim" border="0" height="235" width="320" /></a><div class="caption">Dokru Tsultrim, a Buddhist scholar and monk at Ngaba Gomang Monastery, was arrested this month for his writings.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">A</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />nother incident of Chinese troops shooting protesters has been reported from the Kardze Tibetan "Autonomous" Prefecture this month. Residents of Thangkya and Thangkya Depa towns in Nyagrong County held a peaceful demonstration on April 15 related to a harsh court ruling against three Tibetans who had protested in March this year, as well as the violent crackdown against the farming boycott campaign. Chinese security forces with 13 armoured personnel carriers <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=849&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Chinese Police Open Fire in Eastern Tibet, 9 Arrested and Several Injured"><b>began firing indiscriminately</b></a> at the protesters. <br /><br />At least nine Tibetans including one woman were arrested in the incident which also injured an unknown number. <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24493" title="Chinese forces fire in Nyagrong, arrest 9 Tibetans - www.phayul.com"><b>No deaths were reported</b></a>, according to a report by Voice of Tibet radio. The arrested woman is identified as Aga, while the men arrested are Gonpo Tsewang, Yiga, Alo, Drakbe, Dawa Drakpa, Gyashe, Kyaka and Gonbe (who sustained gunshot wounds to his leg).<br /><br />Following the (earlier <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/major-protests-and-boycott-movements.html" title="Agam's Gecko: MAJOR PROTESTS AND BOYCOTT MOVEMENTS DOG CHINA IN THEIR TIBETAN COLONY"><b>reported here</b></a>) explosion last month at an unoccupied police station in Bathang County, Kardze T-"A"-P, Chinese armed forces and Public Security Bureau personnel <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=840&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Update on Tibet Demonstration"><b>carried out house-to-house raids</b></a> in Gangru village, Pogurshi township on April 14. Around 70 security forces conducted the operation, vowing not to leave until at least 10 Tibetans had been arrested. At the time of the explosion, when banners such as "Chinese go out of Tibet" and "Tibet belongs to Tibet" were displayed in the area, PSB officials had tried to take in four Tibetan suspects but they evaded arrest. <br /><br />The farmlands of this village also remain unploughed, though whether this can be attributed to the farming boycott or to the fact that many of the local youth have fled the area due to being targets of the Chinese manhunt, is not clear. Residents had also strongly resisted the forced patriotism re-education campaign which officials subjected them to in May last year.<br /><br />A Buddhist monk named Shedup, aged around 40, had been arrested last year for allegedly protesting in Rebkong County, Amdo in March 2008. Shedup was reportedly seriously beaten and tortured in custody, and was later released. His name then appeared on a wanted list just prior to this year's March 10th uprising anniversary. His treatment while in custody last year must have been particularly horrible — around April 2 <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=846&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Fear of arrest and torture causes Tibetan monk to Commit suicide in Tibet"><b>he committed suicide</b></a> at his monastery, believed to be the Tarjang Monastery. Shedup had previously pursued his studies in India at Lubum Khangtsen, Gaden Jangtse Monastery, and returned to Tibet via Nepal in 2006.<br /><br />In January this year a protest was held by the monks of Denma Choekhor Monastery in Jomda County, Chamdo Prefecture (Tibetan "Autonomous" Region). The abbot and a number of monks left the monastery fearing their arrest. On April 1 the Chamdo PSB dispatched 15 officers to <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=840&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Update on Tibet Demonstration"><b>arrest the abbot</b></a> in Jyekundo (western Amdo, Ch: Qinghai). An unknown number of monks, including the former prefect Ven. Sonam Gelek and Tseten Sonam were also taken into custody.<br /><br />On the same day Chinese paramilitaries raided the Tsetsang Monastery in Kardze, arresting 40 year old monk Sonam Nyima. Sonam was responsible for purchasing daily needs of the monastery. His nephew Tsering Gyurmey had left the same monastery after his name appeared on a wanted list due to involvement in protests last March, and Tsering's younger brother Tenzin Ngodup is now serving a three year sentence for protesting on May 20, 2008. A <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24456" title="Tibetan prisoners paraded to intimidate residents, monks arrested in Kardze - www.phayul.com"><b>separate report on the incident</b></a> said that the security forces ransacked the monastery and took away five monks on arbitrary charges.<br /><br />Following their arrest, Tibetans like these often become part of a travelling <i>Uncle Hu's Fabulous Cultural Revolution Revival</i> show. Farming boycott supporters in Kardze, for example, were paraded around on trucks through several villages on April 5 — heads shaved, arms and legs shackled, with Chinese soldiers pushing their heads down while officials bellowed the accusations through loudspeakers. Onlookers were warned of similar treatment should they dare to engage in "separatist activities." Only three of the fifteen parade props have been identified; Jhampa Dhondup, 27, from Tsitsang Monastery, Kardze, arrested March 19 for supporting the boycott; Taphel, around 56, arrested for an unknown crime on March 19; Tsering Wangrab, 42, arrested in Lhopa village over the farm boycott.<br /><br />A Tibetan scholar of Buddhism at the Gomang Monastery in Ngaba Prefecture was arrested around April 2 <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=849&articletype=flash" title="CTA: Chinese Police Open Fire in Eastern Tibet, 9 Arrested and Several Injured"><b>for his writings</b></a>. Dokru Tsultrim, 27 (see photo at top), was apprehended in his room at the monastery and his whereabouts remain unknown. The monk hails from Mangra County, Tsolho T-"A"-P in Amdo (Ch: Qinghai) and had studied at the Lutsang and Ditsa Monasteries in Mangra County before joining Gomang in 2005. <br /><br />Dokru Tsultrim had recently written two articles critical of the Chinese government which appeared in a journal called <i>Khawe Tse Sog</i>, which resulted in accusations of "sedition" and supporting the "motivations of Dalai supporters". The journal has since <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090420b.html" title="TCHRD: China arrests Tibetan writer in Ngaba"><b>ceased publication</b></a>. A number of Tibetans have been arrested recently for their writings. Kunchok Tsephel, who ran a Tibetan language and culture website <i>Chomei</i> ("Lamp"), was <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-year-brings-more-tibetan-protests.html" title="Agam's Gecko: NEW YEAR BRINGS MORE TIBETAN PROTESTS AS MARCH 10 LOOMS"><b>arrested on February 26</b></a>, and Kunga Tsayang, a writer-photographer was <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-serfdom.html" title="Agam's Gecko: THE NEW SERFDOM **updated**"><b>arrested for his essays</b></a> on the website <i>Zin-dris</i> ("Jottings") on March 17.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 173px;"><a href="http://www.leavingfearbehind.com/film-makers.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSz3jTF2HDC8Ajjc9n0pbkwomSgYrQTZEc1LS5eau-ssc561Js6CztYJSlI4ho1-pM5wAb7DJCDtDKo4rmALrd5T-Os6x41raM6eU7zxtqSzW9-gYW5TTFJLH5tznkuZfhx6Wy/s200/Golog_Jigme.jpg" title="Golog Jigme Gyatso" alt="Golog Jigme Gyatso" border="0" height="200" width="173" /></a><div class="caption">Golog Jigme Gyatso has again been released from prison.<br /><i>Photo: <a href="http://www.leavingfearbehind.com/film-makers.html"><b>Jigdrel</b></a></i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>In more positive news on the <i>thought-crime</i> front, documentary filmmaker Golog Jigme Gyatso has once again been <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24511" title="China frees monk filmmaker - www.phayul.com"><b>released from Chinese custody</b></a> on April 20, reports the Association of Tibetan Journalists. The monk-documentarian had worked with Dhondup Wangchen between October 2007 and March 2008 to film <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2008/08/video-jigdrel-leaving-fear-behind.html" title="Agam's Gecko: VIDEO: JIGDREL - LEAVING FEAR BEHIND"><b><i>Jigdrel</i> (Leaving Fear Behind)</b></a>. <br /><br />Both filmmakers were arrested in March 2008, but Jigme was released in October and re-arrested last month. Dhondup Wangchen remains in prison. In their film, ordinary Tibetans were given the opportunity to express their views about their country. According to the ATJ, a heavy fine of several thousand yuan was imposed on Jigme at the time of his release. The journalists' association also reports that Jigme had sensed the international pressure on Chinese officials who interrogated him, and he felt he was being treated unusually better than other prisoners. A small but important indication that international pressure can have positive effects on face-conscious Chinese authorities.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 168px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090420.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzL9vzW5fYK2BAf2Pgp7FIkufRUesFe2l52FmEKEiM_FHoxB1LyozeNLv7tcuLkuGagZ_SyGVBYyVzZHOErPPrF6DF79v_srzlVJTsuOXvundo95UZ0NDoamhC5e0SoaFcV3SW/s200/Jigme_Gyatso2.jpg" title="Jigme Gyatso" alt="Jigme Gyatso" border="0" height="200" width="168" /></a><div class="caption">Jigme Gyatso is in seriously ill health after a long period in Chinese prisons.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Another Jigme Gyatso could use some of that sort of attention at the moment. This 48 year old political prisoner has served 12 years of his 17 year sentence, and is now reported to be <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090420.html" title="TCHRD calls for the release of Jigme Gyatso on medical ground"><b>seriously ill following those years of torture and ill-treatment</b></a>. He is now held in the Chushul Prison outside of Lhasa.<br /><br />Around the time of a major Tibetan uprising in 1988-89, Jigme was the leader of a youth organisation called the "Association of Tibetan Freedom Movement". In the following years he engaged in pro-independence activism, including the distribution and posting of freedom leaflets around Ganden Monastery and in Lhasa city itself, and organising a Lhasa demonstration in 1992. He was under surveillance and was finally arrested at the Jokhang Temple on March 30, 1996, and sentenced to 15 years for "endangering national security" and "incitement". He was held at the Gutsa PSB detention centre and Lhasa's Drapchi Prison before his transfer to Chushul in 2005.<br /><br />In May 1998 a group of European Union ambassadors were about to visit Drapchi Prison when the prisoners launched a protest which Jigme joined. The protest was brutally suppressed, resulting in the deaths of eight prisoners and sentence extensions for at least 27 inmates. In 2000 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that Jigme was imprisoned for merely "exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly." During another protest in Drapchi in March 2004, Jigme shouted "Long Live Dalai Lama!" He was kicked, beaten, shocked with electric batons and his sentence extended for two extra years. <br /><br />In late 2005 the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr. Manfred Nowak, met with Jigme in Chushul Prison. After his visit, Dr. Nowak called for the release of Jigme and seven other political prisoners.<blockquote>"Since he has been convicted of a political crime, possibly on the basis of information extracted by torture, the Special Rapporteur appeals to the government that he be released," Nowak writes in each of the eight cases.</blockquote>The Chinese government accepted none of the recommendations. <br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 210px;"><a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=850&articletype=flash"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBoSORkzYJZNKLZIvWAF18LNLRi4mTNfNMjDc9kxh_m__tJqGqwIQiVm1N6MN3KGFlyXB5F3NL3WtI9KIQcRJfm2N9enBIxQdDgdzgCTSPCuxGQvElrGAEaNQ3Vgqw0Gqvcye/s320/Phurbu_Tsering.jpg" title="Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche" alt="Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche" border="0" height="320" width="210" /></a><div class="caption">Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche stands trial on trumped up weapons charges.<br /><i>Photo: Central Tibetan Administration</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>A highly respected and well-loved Tibetan lama in Kardze T-"A"-P is facing 15 years imprisonment on weapons charges, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet" title="Tibetan lama on trial for weapons charge in China"><b>his lawyer told Associated Press</b></a> on Tuesday. Pangrina Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche had been <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2008/05/tibetan-autonomy-then-and-now.html" title="Agam's Gecko: TIBETAN AUTONOMY THEN AND NOW"><b>seized by security forces in the dark early morning hours</b></a> of May 18, 2008. Phurbu Rinpoche is from the Tehor Monastery in Kardze, and was the spiritual preceptor for the Pangri-Na and Ya-tseg Convents in Kardze County. He had also established a home for the aged and two medical supply stores for the welfare of the local people. His arrest came just days after a large number of Pangri-Na nuns had protested their "patriotism re-education" which required them to denounce the Dalai Lama and Phurbu Rinpoche.<br /><br />Phurbu Rinpoche's Beijing lawyer, Li Fangping told the AP that his client was forced into making a confession after an interrogation lasting four days, during which time physical torture was reportedly inflicted and threats were made against his wife and son if he did not comply.<blockquote>Prosecutors allege a pistol and more than 100 bullets and cartridges were found under a bed in Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche's living room during a police raid, but the monk has denied the allegation, saying he was framed, Li said.<br /><br />"The charge is untenable," Li said. "Police didn't ask him about the source of the weapons or check for fingerprints."</blockquote>For once, it seems that a Tibetan has a competent lawyer. Let's see if he's allowed to continue with the case. Not asking him about the weapons and not checking them for fingerprints is a strange way to conduct a police investigation. Phurbu Rinpoche is the first senior lama to be charged in relation to the groundswell of protest in Tibet over the past 14 months. Previously, other very prominent religious figures have been prosecuted under fabricated charges, including Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok of the famous Serthar Buddhist Insitute in Kardze, Geshe Sonam Phuntsok of Dargay Monastery in Kardze, Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche the founder of Kham Nalanda Monastery in Kardze, and Bangri Rinpoche the founder of Gyatso Orphanage in Lhasa. More background on the case from the <a href="http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/chinese-lawyer-represents-tibetan-lama-trial-weapons-possession" title="Chinese lawyer represents Tibetan lama on trial for weapons possession | International Campaign for Tibet"><b>International Campaign for Tibet</b></a> and <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090422.html" title="TCHRD: A popular Tibetan religious head put on trial in Kardze"><b>Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy</b></a><br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090421.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQ17Yk88pgXm2b1pIOQOGycIXNWu73l6801F8OftJfEkd39_oE-dmPATpkpy3DDtmcOGpTsWYANP6ll9QWVP_jvscdDE3-Y8GJR2wkXP1IgJwE9wzYNY7CXa37NKLEJHaNctG/s200/Penkyi01.jpg" title="Penkyi" alt="Penkyi" border="0" height="165" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Penkyi, 21, sentenced to death.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>And finally to the Tibet news which gained the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090421/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet_2" title="3 sentenced over arson in 2008 Tibet riots"><b>most international attention</b></a> this week, although they missed the <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24500" title="Chinese court issues suspended death sentence to another Tibetan - www.phayul.com"><b>most curious thing about it</b></a> — another death sentence and two more long prison terms, to add to the four death sentences announced earlier this month. <blockquote>The Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court issued a suspended death sentence to a Tibetan man, identified as Penkyi of Sakya County, for "starting fires in two downtown clothing shops on March 14," Xinhua news agency reported, citing a state-run Tibet Daily newspaper. However, the exile Tibetan government, NGOs and monitoring agencies say that Penkyi is a 21-year-old woman from Norbu village, Dogra township in Sakya County. A picture of Penkyi was also posted on the official website of the Tibetan government in exile.</blockquote>In fact all three of these latest sentences were given to women. The charges were in connection with several fires which were set on the one night of riots in Lhasa last year, March 14. One of the fires claimed the life of the store owner, while the other killed five store staff.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090421.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8v1Ho8qWmjDyITmM_lDCW9BhgYwf9pKyhgONhyDAbxUmJlIR733wnb5vvGM8od0npdi4zdJx7WYwOIp63xy-jfhMb9dqkW_x5kLDPC6x9r3vzD6igFtbIiI0YKg0yLqQbyLza/s200/Penkyi02.jpg" title="Penkyi" alt="Penkyi" border="0" height="165" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Penkyi, 23, sentenced to life in prison.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Penkyi of Sakya County <a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=843&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews" title="CTA: Chinese court sentences one more Tibetan to death"><b>received the death penalty</b></a> with a two year reprieve (two of the four earlier death sentences also came with a two year reprieve, which is often commuted to life in prison). The second Penkyi, age 23 from Nyemo County, was sentenced to life in prison. Chime Lhamo, age 20 from Shigatse Namling County, was given a ten year sentence. The secretive nature of these trials raise <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090421.html" title="TCHRD condemns China sentencing of three Tibetans"><b>serious questions about their fairness</b></a>, as they failed to meet even minimal international legal standards. There is a documented <a href="http://www.freetibet.org/newsmedia/210409" title="FTC: Fifth Tibetan sentenced to death by Chinese court"><b>history of denial of access</b></a> to legal counsel in these Chinese courts, which owe allegiance not to law but to the Chinese Communist Party.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=843&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguMRX7ES-KeV_htIgmrM9TXY-YQrwuPHX4pG7mCKbg6IMliC4eeVntNUrOxXQBaeSqcRMpQpSeoZp-jb9Pj3w2MWz7iLPFJZfss4sckv53tLtUFdEIpMYEFy83c1KMfUdOeMkq/s200/Chime_Lhamo.jpg" title="Chime Lhamo" alt="Chime Lhamo" border="0" height="165" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Chime Lhamo, 20, sentenced to ten years in prison.<br /><i>Photo: TCHRD</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>This might be a good place to remind that the currently running fiasco of the "Durban Review Conference" on racism (which is rampant in Chinese - Tibetan relations) <a href="http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090420a.html" title="TCHRD: Tibetan voice gagged at the Durban Review Conference"><b>banished the primary Tibetan human rights organisation</b></a> from its session by acquiescing to manipulation by the People's Republic of China. The PRC objected to TCHRD's accreditation and requested 14 days to study the matter. This manoeuvre effectively expelled the NGO, as the "Preparatory Committee" took the decision of "no action."<br /><br />If all this sounds like a childish way for a country to behave, that's because it is. There are so very many brilliant Chinese people in this world, but the Communist Party makes China's <i>state actions</i> seem more appropriate for a seven year-old. From the whining over which country the Dalai Lama should be allowed to visit to the stomping of little feet over inclusion of his wisdom in a UNESCO-sponsored book, and from the tantrums thrown when some of its subjects utter unflattering opinions to the paranoid demonization of its perceived enemies who simply want to talk to them with mutual respect, the behaviour of this state has long appeared to this writer as that of a spoiled child.<br /><br />Apparently His Holiness has <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090422/wl_asia_afp/chinarightstibetjapan" title="China 'acting like a child' on rights: Dalai Lama"><b>noticed the same phenomenon</b></a>.<blockquote>The Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters in Japan that while China could boast military, economic and population muscle, it feared even small signs of dissent.<br /><br />Addressing a Tokyo news conference on a stopover before a speaking tour of Europe and the United States, he said he saw China, "such a big nation, acting like a child."<br /><br />He said the government routinely arrested individuals with different views, but stressed that "such a big nation of over one billion people (should have) no need for such sort of fear."<br /><br />"One or two persons have different views, and immediately they are in trouble with the government. No. You're a big nation. You should have more self-confidence."</blockquote>On the heavy punishments meted out this week, the Tibetan leader pointed out something which the pop media fails to recognise except on very rare occasions. Chinese courts <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_dalai_lama" title="Dalai Lama: China riot ruling political"><b>answer to the Communist Party</b></a>, and this fact must <i>especially</i> not be ignored in politically motivated cases. <blockquote>The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said the court decision reflected the Chinese Communist Party's control of people "without the rule of law."<br /><br />"Actually, everything is controlled by the party. So, all these sentences were politically reasoned," he said during a brief stop at Tokyo's Narita airport on his way to Los Angeles. "We have great reservation about these sentences."</blockquote>The Tibetan leader accused Beijing of concealing evidence in these trials, and asked for further investigation and full disclosure of details. <br /><br />I don't think he really expects such state maturity any more than I do.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-90431177276011335342009-04-22T17:30:00.002+07:002009-04-22T19:06:20.591+07:00RACISM CELEBRATED AT ANTI-RACISM CONFERENCE<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBm5C3Jupt3IKQFWTdGR9FnWHeRYQiY1ytk3mXxOnCIHr80SW3k61UoHePvkq1EKQvkpp9z0WmORmuZB5NV3Tnne2Nz_98_T47zbqGT3arUT4Gd5t-ieS7cXS_d3noDMRMtjp/s200/A-jad.jpg" title="'Ah'm inna jihad'" alt="'Ah'm inna jihad'" border="0" height="200" width="200" /><div class="caption">Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">S</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />o there's this international conference, see. It's a follow-up of the original Durban "anti-racism" conference eight years ago, which descended into fiasco and brought a singular shame upon the "United" Nations. <br /><br />This time the keynote speaker is the man who convenes his own international "Zionism = Nazism" conferences, and repeatedly pledges that the country of which he is head of state will at some time in the future, "wipe Israel off the map." And will soon have the weapons to back up that threat.<br /><br />What could go wrong?<br /><br />At least someone was forward-thinking enough to <a href="http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/73521/-eyewitness-send-in-the-clowns.html" title="Eyewitness: Send In The Clowns"><b>send in the clowns</b></a>. The soft red objects tossed on the stage by the rainbow-haired jokesters turned out to be rubber clown noses, but had your humble correspondent been present, ripe tomatoes would have been the soft red object of choice.<br /><br />That Mr. Ah'minnajihad is a despicable person is a view not universally shared, but is hardly controversial. His continual threats against the oldest democracy in the Middle East are proof enough, but his government's treatment of dissenters, religious minorities, women and others should be additionally sufficient for any decent human being. <br /><br />If any Iranian is found to be a homosexual, they can expect to be hung by the neck from a cherry-picker. If an Iranian woman is suspected of "adultery" (as it's <i>very broadly</i> defined there), she can expect to be stoned. Yet Ahmedinejad is loved by <i>some</i> leftists simply because he hates Jews as much as they do. Oh, and he's also loved by some residents of the Middle East who just wish they could go back and live in the 7th century again (read the first link above, written by an Australian student who was present for the fireworks in Geneva).<br /><br />Whatever one thinks of the decisions of countries which chose <i>not</i> to boycott the racism conference (and I'm thankful that my country did), at least showing some spine at the last second is better than not at all. Seeing that mass walkout (I watched it live via AP sat feed) was the best thing I've seen on television for ages. And watching Mad-mood continue to speak while pretending it wasn't happening, was the second best.<br /><br />I haven't seen a definitive list of the walk-out countries, but it was quite a big crowd of delegates who crammed the exit-ways. They weren't only European or western nations, but also among them are known to have been Morocco and Jordan. But may I ask why Mr. Ban Ki-moon didn't at least take a bathroom break? He looked extremely uncomfortable up there, directly behind the Iranian kook, continuously conferring with the officials seated on either side of him. Immediately following the speech, Mr. Ban deplored it. Wouldn't the time to do that have been <i>while</i> the racism was being spewed to an anti-racism conference?<br /><br />The most sickening episode in this farce didn't come to my attention until last night. Remember: the Jew-hater spoke mere hours before Jews were to begin Holocaust Remembrance Day. It also occurred on Adolph Hitler's 120th birthday. <br /><br />The world's most well-known Holocaust survivor was also present in Geneva, and as luck would have it, the survivor and the hater <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3704653,00.html" title="'Wiesel, you Zionazi!!' - Israel News, Ynetnews"><b>passed within a few feet of each other</b></a> outside the conference room. Elie Wiesel, who I've loved ever since my high school teacher assigned <i>Night</i> many years ago, had to endure Dinner Jacket's henchmen screaming at him with epithets evoking the very people who had murdered his own family.<blockquote>Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who was also part of the Wiesenthal Center's delegation to Geneva, said Wiesel did not respond to the verbal assault, but was deeply affected by it, as was obvious by the speech he delivered later on.<br /> <br />"I watched many of his speeches and I never heard him speak like this…he may be a Nobel Prize laureate, but he's still a Holocaust survivor, and coming to the UN on Holocaust Remembrance Day and going through this kind of experience was almost too much for him." </blockquote>I'm extremely sad that this great man had to endure such abuse, not least for the venue in which it happened. <br /><br />This is how it looked. Watch for Ahmedinejad himself appearing around the 26 second mark, with the <i>keffiyeh</i> around his neck.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zV3rw_QOD7U&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zV3rw_QOD7U&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><br />The Iranian screamers, especially the main one in glasses and moustache, are well-remembered from the auditorium scenes during the kook's speech — they were the only 4 or 5 who picked up on his every applause line, clapping wildly and bouncing around in their chairs like excited four year-olds, while all around them were still and silent. <br /><br />A big <i>wai</i> to <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/21/obscene-ahmadinejad-entourage-screams-zionazi-at-elie-wiesel/" title="Hot Air » Blog Archive » Obscene: Ahmadinejad entourage screams “Zionazi” at … Elie Wiesel"><b>AllahPundit</b></a> for the video.<br /><br />I ask every reader to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LnA3yDsMs" title="YouTube - Elie Wiesel Address for Dalai Lama"><b>please go and watch</b></a> the short speech Elie Wiesel gave on the occasion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama receiving the United States Congressional Gold Medal from President Bush on October 17, 2007. You'll be glad you did.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-64370087053203380542009-04-17T19:08:00.003+07:002009-04-19T16:13:31.863+07:00ANTI-THAKSIN LEADER SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 161px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Thailand-Sondhi-Limthongkul-pauses-during-interview-Government-House-Bangkok-September-3/ss/events/wl/041209thailand/im:/090417/ids_photos_wl/r1866356370.jpg/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_135nWW9qhiN-08bGZWvxnD-7JV_TdY2jyQuarEoIgQm55gWz_eEgRakPKQxwr9GBq2JNQ1nmiR_mfdyODOo_qD__YgcjRinCj9XtZ1Gh8TvSaxwo3qFxxrN2SqcFn2oBU0eE/s200/Sondhi01.jpg" title="Sondhi Limthongkul" alt="Sondhi Limthongkul" border="0" height="200" width="161" /></a><div class="caption">Sondhi Limthongkul during an interview at the Government House protest on September 3, 2008.<br /><i>Photo: Reuters / Sukree Sukplang</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">T</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />he founder of the People's Alliance for Democracy, formed in 2005 to oppose the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ambushed by gunmen just after 5 am this morning as he was being driven to work at his Manager newspaper office.<br /><br />Sondhi Limthongkul, his secretary and his driver were all hit by assault weapons fire after at least two attackers in a pick-up truck blocked Sondhi's vehicle, shot out the tires, then opened up on the occupants. <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/17/national/national_30100706.php" title="PM orders probing over Sondhi's ambush - Nationmultimedia.com"><b>Police found</b></a> 84 bullet casings from AK-47, HK-33 and M-16 automatic weapons, as well as a dud M-79 shell which ended up in a nearby public bus.<br /><br />After a two hour operation to remove a bullet fragment from his head, <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/140812/sondhi-shot-wounded" title="Bangkok Post : Shot PAD founder out of danger"><b>Sondhi is in good condition</b></a> and able to speak. His driver, Adul Daengpradab, aged 28, remains in critical condition and a coma after five hours of surgery, having been shot in the head, chest and arm. Sondhi's secretary, Vayupak Mungklasin is in stable condition after suffering minor wounds. (update April 19: Adul remains in critical condition after another operation this morning.)<br /><br />His supporters say that Sondhi has <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/17/politics/politics_30100677.php" title="Sondhi in safe condition now: doctor - Nationmultimedia.com"><b>too many enemies</b></a> to pinpoint likely culprits, and they would wait for results of the investigation without pointing fingers. The first thing on most minds will be possible revenge from Thaksin's red-shirted "Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship", but the media figure has also been critical of the police and military for their pathetic security performance which resulted in the emergency cancellation of the ASEAN summit last Saturday. <br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Thailand-handout-photo-made-available-Asia-Satellite-Television-Sondhi-Limthongkul-one/ss/events/wl/041209thailand/im:/090417/481/0cab14f6ee7b4e2daa516a4ce08081e6/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkYmqjUm_g2hpWypXLsIvEoakU0fRjCO0TcmLVZyC9n5uzh9zz7NPa2EBnJo24AaqCnWMT-YQAmXRl_iKcyTIAZUjrcareQRE7oF1w7Sin-q9lBImR4Ti9LW7lEzi4yywa1ie/s200/Sondhi_shot.jpg" title="Sondhi Limthongkul" alt="Sondhi Limthongkul" border="0" height="138" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Sondhi walked by himself into the emergency room at a Bangkok hospital after suffering head and shoulder wounds on April 17, 2009.<br /><i>Photo: Asia Satellite Television</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>News video seen yesterday showed the red-shirts calmly walking between inert soldiers on their way to breaking into the ASEAN venue. The police and military commanders were nowhere to be found, and no one was giving orders.<br /><br />The shooting is likely to cause a delay in lifting the emergency decree which remains over Bangkok and nearby districts. A cabinet meeting this morning decided to keep the decree in place until they are certain that peace has fully returned to Bangkok.<br /><br />Meanwhile the man at the centre of the deep political divisions in Thailand, fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin, may again be on the run. His passport was revoked by the government after the assault on the summit, but according to his spokesman as interviewed by a Dubai newspaper, he does not accept the revocation and plans to leave the Arab Emirate for an <a href="http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/30100636/Thaksin-travelled--to-Africa-with-his-passport---D" title="Thaksin travelled to Africa with his passport - Dubai newspaper - Nationmultimedia.com"><b>undisclosed location in Africa</b></a>. <br /><br />Another wrinkle in the Thaksin saga appeared after the political tycoon claimed to possess "other passports." The Nicaraguan government in January reportedly appointed him as a "special ambassador" to draw investment into that country, and presented him with a Nicaraguan passport when he met President Daniel Ortega in February. <br /><br />The truth of this is still in question. The Nation has obtained a copy of a letter from the Nicaraguan embassy in Mexico in response to a request for clarification from the Thai embassy in Mexico. It seems to be a <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/17/headlines/headlines_30100675.php" title="And the translation is.... - Nationmultimedia.com"><b>slightly vague denial</b></a>, depending on who does the translating. The important part reads in translation, "The Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua informs the Royal Thai Embassy in Mexico that the news under scrutiny have no substance (or "are unsupported". Either version is acceptable)."<br /><br />I'm curious why Thaksin would choose to leave Dubai, with all its air-conditioned shopping centres which his family enjoys, and run to <i>Africa</i> of all places. It may well have something to do with the violent attacks by his supporters on the citizens of Bangkok — and specifically the Muslim community around the Darul Amarn mosque. <br /><br />As his roving bands of attackers retreated to their 'protest central' late on Monday night, they attacked several neighbourhoods with gunfire (killing two at Nang Lerng). They also attacked the Darul Amarn mosque and destroyed cars and motorcyles in the Petchaburi Soi 7 neighbourhood. This community and the Muslim Association of Bangkok responded by petitioning the Emir of Dubai to stop providing shelter for the convicted fugitive troublemaker.<br /><br />It is not impossible that Thaksin has worn out his welcome in Dubai as he had in the UK, which revoked his visitor's visa some time ago. His enduring connections in China, where he has also spent part of his exile, may possibly explain his flight to Africa — where a number of countries are almost completely dependent on the PRC's financial investment.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-2989624070238362272009-04-15T21:33:00.002+07:002009-04-16T00:06:18.171+07:00TIBETANS DOWN TOOLS SOME AREAS, PICK UP STONES IN OTHERS<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6074301.ece"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9MHTloxbOdZ86NW5YPTs-I88wcbwvCo9paSzVErFhAkdlQWjSJGuWxqgYjiqzcKdSklSYA_jCzgDrJ9kqMLtM_JPG_Nf6CB_TGE0sVWdaNufSX10Ruj1p8drzTos5DX_Y-7C/s200/plowing.jpg" title="Plowing Tibetan fields" alt="Plowing Tibetan fields" border="0" height="131" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Tibetan yaks pull a plow in this undated photo. Many Tibetan farmers in Kardze are refusing to do it this year.<br /><i>Photo: Times Online</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">T</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />ibetans living in the parts of their country which have been annexed into China's Sichuan province are continuing to <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6074301.ece" title="Tibetans refuse to sow spring crops in protest against Beijing - Times Online"><b>refuse to carry out the spring planting</b></a>. While the world's media seems mostly uninterested (as well as barred from entry by the Chinese government), the London Times offers a report from inside China.<blockquote>"The farmers know that they will be the ones to suffer if they do this," one source told The Times. "But this is a way for them to show their unhappiness." </blockquote>PLA troops have been sent into the region to <i>persuade</i> the Tibetan farmers to work (beatings have frequently followed refusal), to contribute their own labour, and even to do the farming themselves if necessary. The government has also ordered local officials and Communist Party members to get out in those fields and plant some crops.<br /><br />The Tibetan Prime Minister in exile, Samdhong Rinpoche, has appealed to the Tibetans in Kardze "not to make this sacrifice and to stop their 'refusal to till the fields'." <br /><br />A Buddhist monk, Phuntsok Rabten, was <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/chinese-security-forces-murder-monk.html" title="Agam's Gecko: CHINESE SECURITY FORCES MURDER MONK, COVER UP CRIME"><b>beaten to death</b></a> on March 25 in connection with the farmers' strike in Drango County, and in several incidents in the same county around twenty other Tibetans have been badly beaten, with many requiring hospitalization.<br /><br />A fuller account of the public parading of those arrested is also offered in this report. On March 27, after the beatings and arrests of 11 supporters of the farm boycott in Da-do village, these detainees were reportedly paraded around the village on trucks the same day. They were later seen in a hospital surrounded by the People's Armed Police.<br /><br />This Times report from April 11 describes a similar incident on April 5*, in which seven trucks paraded farm boycott supporters through the streets of Kardze.<blockquote>Each suspect was held by two police, who forced them to bow their heads. A notice was hung around the neck of each one, although a Tibetan source said that he could not read them because he was unfamiliar with Chinese characters. </blockquote>*Update: The same incident has been reported to <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24456" title="Tibetan prisoners paraded to intimidate residents, monks arrested in Kardze - www.phayul.com"><b>Phayul News</b></a> with a few more details. The prisoners had their heads shaved (yet <i>more</i> shades of an earlier Cultural Revolution) with their arms and legs shackled. Authorities announced through loudspeakers that whoever protested the Chinese government would face similar treatment.<br /><br />Tibetans in Machu County (Kanlho T-"A"-P, Ch: Gansu province) had been preparing for a popular <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24447" title="Tibetans clash with Chinese soldiers, several injured - www.phayul.com"><b>annual monastic ritual dance</b></a> last week, which normally attracts large numbers of devotees from villages and monasteries in the region. The event takes place every year on the fifteenth day of the third Tibetan month, this year on April 9.<br /><br />Local authorities recommended pouring more Chinese troops into the region for the day, even though Tibetan community leaders and senior monks assured them that the religious event would not cause any trouble, and they therefore objected to the military reinforcements according to sources for the Voice of Tibet radio service.<br /><br />The Chinese security forces apparently lacked anything to do, or were perhaps looking for some entertainment that day, as they harassed local people in the market and then ransacked a billiard hall after finding a fox skin. [Wait a minute, it's usually the <i>authorities</i> who pressure Tibetans to <i>wear</i> their "picturesque skin and fur costumes", even if they don't want to.] "The security forces then beat up the owner of the skin and his two companions who argued with them," according to the source.<br /><br />The news of this violent incident spread quickly in the area, and angry Tibetan townspeople gathered and then clashed with around 100 Chinese soldiers.<blockquote>"The Chinese soldiers hit batons at the Tibetans who retaliated by hurling stones," he said, adding that several people on both sides were injured in the brawl. No arrest, however, has been reported.</blockquote>The <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-serfdom.html" title="Agam's Gecko: THE NEW SERFDOM **updated**"><b>remaining six monks</b></a> of Amdo's Lutsang Monastery (Mangra County, Tsolho T-"A"-P, Ch: Qinghai province) who had been detained since their arrest for a <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/02/defiance-and-sacrifice-during-new-year.html" title="Agam's Gecko: DEFIANCE AND SACRIFICE DURING A NEW YEAR LIKE NO OTHER"><b>candlelight procession and vigil</b></a> on February 25, <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24446" title="6 monks of Lutsang, 2 others released - www.phayul.com"><b>have been released</b></a>. Over a hundred of the monks had been released on March 20 after nearly a month of severe patriotism re-education. The last six, Jamyang Sherab, Jamyang Ngodup, Jamyang Khenrab, Lungtok, Thabkhey Gyatso and Kunsang were finally released sometime around the end of last week.<br /><br />Also reportedly released are <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/03/major-protests-and-boycott-movements.html" title="Agam's Gecko: MAJOR PROTESTS AND BOYCOTT MOVEMENTS DOG CHINA IN THEIR TIBETAN COLONY"><b>Tashi Dhondup and his younger brother Jinpa Gyatso</b></a>. The younger man had disappeared from Xining City, where he was studying at a college, right around the uprising anniversary on March 10. Tashi Dhondup was a civil servant for the Chinese government. Public Security Bureau forces barged into his home in Sum-dho township, Mangra County, on March 12 without warrant or reason, seizing him as well as his mobile phone and computer.<br />.Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826699.post-4638969736651464182009-04-14T20:22:00.004+07:002009-04-15T03:50:34.858+07:00RIOT LEADERS SURRENDER, RED-SHIRTS GO HOME<table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Thailand-Thai-soldiers-take-rest-front-fruit-seller-downtown-Bangkok-Thailand/ss/events/wl/041209thailand/im:/090414/481/49d534086fc2430a987e33959bad3b4f/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdaN5HV8_lQg2PR_PMfx6GebiJz7jHd43mlxLkbHWlO-Vehhu6TqlaSYh212u6mZTxXSPqN0sARvjZNJDrh89nMEciolbC4kigVttcjp3SpLuSDZGYrN42GOBpGxby5rUutqh/s200/klupbaan05.jpg" title="Fruit-sellers and soldiers" alt="Fruit-sellers and soldiers" border="0" height="200" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Soldiers rested on Tuesday morning as the red-shirts began dispersing from Central Bangkok.<br /><i>Photo: AP / Vincent Thian</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="left" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td><span class="PostDrop">L</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />eaders of the Thaksin "revolution" this morning urged their followers to return peacefully to their homes, and surrendered themselves to police. Bangkok is already returning to the normal peaceful chaos of the Songkran tradition, and the small trucks loaded with water festival revellers and barrels of the cleansing substance have been making the rounds in my neighbourhood today. With the Thai New Year celebrations nearly ruined by the upheaval of the previous four days, the government has extended the public holiday through the end of the week.<br /><br />During the very early hours of this morning, as the roving red bands of arsonists and mayhem masters gradually retreated to their sit-in site at Royal Plaza, the rioters <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/140473/reds-in-retreat" title="Bangkok Post : Reds in retreat"><b>left a trail of damage behind them</b></a>. More buses were set alight and petrol bombs were thrown into a number of buildings, including the Education Ministry. Earlier on Monday, after threatening to explode an LPG tanker to destroy a compound of flats in Din Daeng, the rioters had also thrown petrol bombs into the apartment complex itself. Residents extinguished the fire by themselves.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Thailand-Bangkok2C-Thailand/ss/events/wl/041209thailand/im:/090414/481/e5d97f5646644b16b56c2125cb49de85/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5oCzvjDlPSK2MlBE_nHlyNABjwHVETV5WP0b3fAOOS-Wka8WNlOb-QUD2w3nrgyhzQTiJtSGTZLDgXzcpjf_wb6mZik-_Xtkb2dxHiVgjBi5n9UIPr4xqWIVqWX02F-6qe0fJ/s200/klupbaan04.jpg" title="Neighbourhood firefighter" alt="Neighbourhood firefighter" border="0" height="155" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">A local resident whose house was in danger of catching fire, shouts for help to extinguish a bus set alight by rioters early Tuesday morning.<br /><i>Photo: AP / David Longstreath</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Around 1000 rioters last night <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/140457/angry-residents-repel-invading-protesters" title="Bangkok Post : Angry residents repel invading protesters"><b>attacked a neighbourhood</b></a> in Petchaburi Soi 5 and 7 as they retreated to Royal Plaza, destroying cars and motorcycles and firing guns at the Darul Amarn mosque. Angry residents armed themselves with sticks and pipes and fought off the invaders, returning home as police forced the red shirts away.<br /><br />Two armed men on motorcycle opened fire on a military checkpoint near Mahboonkrong just before midnight, critically wounding one soldier. Just before 3 am a group of men in a pickup fired at soldiers at Thukchai intersection, but there were no casualties.<br /><br />Back at the Royal Plaza, the uprising's leaders vowed to make a last stand. One of the core leaders, Veera Musikhapong, was particularly defiant in offering his supporters' lives for Thaksin's cause. "I urge all our friends to come and gather with me here. If we are to die, let's die here," he said.<br /><br />But Khun Abhisit's very strong, principled, and I dare say inspiring address to the nation last night was having the desired effect. Many of the protesters encamped on the Plaza gradually drifted away during the night, leaving only around 2,000 remaining by morning.<br /><br /><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 172px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Thailand-Thailand-Bangkok2C-Thailand/ss/events/wl/041209thailand/im:/090414/481/62f63cf3fafa40eaad75ce07a5071e0c/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTmG5_snhyRhxLWaapzhAfAIQmIWVh6-VsUF7Yfkv054Kc5yr6PyfPTz5n9H5y-l9MxeDieMfdpSoPTmt445yEna8yebcOWD69oPkhIClVnPuGODNADjurV2HW9L3SFgs3nOh/s200/klupbaan02.jpg" title="Veera Musikhapong" alt="Veera Musikhapong" border="0" height="200" width="172" /></a><div class="caption">Veera Musikhapong (centre), a core leader of the "Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship" leaves the protest area after surrendering himself to authorities this morning.<br /><i>Photo: AP / Apichart Weerawong</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Veera Musikhapong <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/140512/demonstrators-will-disperse-leader" title="Bangkok Post : Demonstrators will disperse: leader"><b>announced the end of the seige of the capital</b></a> this morning by asking his red-shirted people to board the buses provided by the government for their return home, and assuring them that "the police will take good care of you."<br /><br />Soon afterwards it was revealed by police that three men had been arrested in a pickup parked near the Chong Nonsri skytrain station (again this is in my neighbourhood, the same intersection where citizens chased off red-shirt road-blockers last Friday morning, see video <a href="http://agamsgecko.blogspot.com/2009/04/red-mob-halts-asean-summit.html" title="Agam's Gecko: RED MOB HALTS ASEAN SUMMIT **updated**"><b>here</b></a>). Also seized with these men were 49 petrol bombs, four handguns and 77 bullets. One of them admitted that they were <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/140523/3-accused-of-planning-arson-attack-in-capital" title="Bangkok Post : Three accused of planning arson"><b>paid 5,000 baht to firebomb</b></a> the Bangkok Bank headquarters and the CP Tower on Silom Road. They had received a 2,000 baht advance, about $57.<br /><br /><table align="right"><tbody><tr><td><div class="PhotoBox" style="width: 200px;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Thailand-Thai-prime-minister-Thaksin-Shinawatra/ss/events/wl/041209thailand/im:/090414/ids_photos_wl/r4077516516.jpg/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KVlU9qbHKbunUYbAyyCZRxYyj5x0GTi9HlSoG46P8fYbot_5H1sBb7J2Eb1hpQ3-C8WKL2qWir-g3VCdMUHBhZuLU0W48yQ0WJvsdc2uYACG5G1HlG4W711ss4MB8Aopjwwz/s200/klupbaan01.jpg" title="Going home" alt="Going home" border="0" height="172" width="200" /></a><div class="caption">Some demonstrators took their own transportation home, while most opted for more comfortable buses supplied by the government.<br /><i>Photo: Reuters / Sukree Sukplang</i></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose future looked very doubtful after the fiasco in Pattaya on Saturday, has emerged from this crisis looking very strong indeed. Such episodes are unfortunately common in Thailand's recent history, but none has ever been handled so competently and transparently, and with so little bloodshed. Both confirmed deaths were caused by the "protesters" although there are unconfirmed reports today that one man who was injured in clashes with troops yesterday morning has also died.<br /><br />As the red-shirts travel back to their homes today, I again hope that at least some of them will reflect on their actions and on what they accomplished, and for whose benefit. That obviously didn't take place after they did such damage to their country's reputation in Pattaya, but perhaps enough has transpired since then to finally provoke some introspection.<br /><br />Here's a sample of what they need to ponder. This very short clip was recorded by a citizen from the 24th floor of the CMMU building overlooking Vipavadi Road, near the Din Daeng triangle. The incident happened in the pre-dawn hours of Monday. The person who posted it to YouTube offers it as evidence that the red-shirts in this, the longest and most difficult situation of what would be a very difficult day, were the ones who first resorted to violence, and that the soldiers acted properly to defend themselves. The poster offers encouragement and thanks for every soldier's forbearance as they endeavour to protect the citizens.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G1Ph-Fn_IFs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G1Ph-Fn_IFs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><br /><br />Thaksin's "peaceful protesters" with their "empty hands" score a direct hit with a petrol bomb on the ranks of soldiers in a defensive line, then plow through them with a car.<br /><br />A couple more video links for those interested:<ul><li><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/far_east/7996781.stm" title="BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Thaksin on protests in Thailand"><b>Thaksin is interviewed on BBC</b></a>, as it seems to slowly dawn on the interviewer that this guy is a really bad liar.</li><li><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/04/13/bpr.thai.pm.vejjajiva.cnn" title="Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com"><b>Abhisit is interviewed on CNN</b></a> after the network gave Thaksin a free ride to make ridiculous claims without challenge.</li></ul>Agamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01827910056037026849noreply@blogger.com1