29. Mar 2009
Unrest in Kardze continues
(TCHRD) A farming boycott movement is still going on in Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) TAP, in Sichuan province, an area traditionally known as Kham; the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) reports that a monk, Phuntsok Rabten from Draggo monastery, was beaten to death on 25 March by Public Security Bureau (PSB) personnel in Draggo (Chin: Luhuo) county. On 27 March a group of farmers from Draggo refused to follow orders to work, and were severely beaten and arrested. Fourteen Tibetans were injured in the incident, some of them seriously. Security forces elsewhere in Kardze county have also severely beaten and arrested two nuns from Dragkar nunnery for shouting slogans on 24 March 2009. In the township of Rongpatsa, also in Kardze county, eight youths were arrested on 25 March for protesting. Among those arrested was the son of the village head, who warned the authorities that the village's 80 families would revolt if their children were not released. All eight were later released. Four nuns belonging to the Hardo Rinpoche nunnery (in the same township), along with two local youths, were arrested after raising Tibetan freedom slogans and demanding the release of Tibetan political prisoners.
31. Mar 2009
Dalai Lama's envoy calls on Tibetans "to record their suffering"
(ICT) Lodi Gyari, the envoy of the Dalai Lama to the USA, has called on Tibetans, in Tibet and around the world, to record their experiences of suffering over the past 50 years. "It is vitally important, especially as a testament to those Tibetans no longer here, that we record our personal experiences of suffering. We should do this, not to fuel resentments but to help the Chinese people understand our true history and to know that we are justified in our hopes for a future Tibet". Speaking at the opening of an exhibition on prison labour camps in Tibet, Lodi Gyari praised the work of Harry Wu, Chinese political dissident and the founder and director of the Laogai Research Foundation, in documenting the vast network of labour camps in China and Tibet. "Harry Wu's work at the Laogai Museum is done for the same reasons that the Holocaust museum was founded: to remember and to expose these ugly truths so that such things will never happen again", Gyari said.
31. Mar 2009
Journalists call for information
(CPJ) The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in Gansu province to disclose the whereabouts and legal status of Kunga Tsayang, a monk from the Amdo Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery who has written online political commentary. Tsayang was arrested by the Public Security Bureau during a late-night raid on 17 March 2009 and has not been heard from since. He is the third writer to be detained without explanation in Gansu in recent weeks, according to CPJ research. "We are concerned for the welfare of Kunga Tsayang and call on the Public Security Bureau in Gansu to reveal where and why he is being held", said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator.
02. Apr 2009
South Africa did deny a visa to the Dalai Lama
(SAPA) The Cape High Court dismissed an urgent application by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi for the Dalai Lama to be granted a visa to visit South Africa. The court ruled the matter was not urgent since the 2010 World Cup-related peace conference for which the Dalai Lama had been invited in March 2009, had been cancelled. Buthelezi's lawyers submitted copies of the Dalai Lama's passport and his application for a South African visa to the high court after the Home Affairs department claimed that the Dalai Lama had never applied for a South African visa. Buthelezi's responding affidavit contained details from Tempa Tsering, the Dalai Lama's representative in New Delhi, who said that his staff contacted Sehlolo Moloi, the South African High Commissioner to India, on 11 February 2009 to request a visa. He said they met Moloi on 03 March.
02. Apr 2009
Exile journalists demand access to Tibet
(ATJ) An exile group of Tibetan journalists has called on the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to allow its members into Tibet for independent reporting. "We hope that China will also allow Tibetan journalists from overseas and the foreign journalists to do independent reporting in Tibet including the areas that have witnessed sporadic protests since March 2008", The Association of Tibetan Journalists (ATJ) said in a press release. Tashi Wangchuk, president of the ATJ, said that China has allowed only a handful of journalists to Tibet under strictly monitored tours since March 2008.
02. Apr 2009
Monks stage sit-in outside Chinese court
(TCHRD) TCHRD reports that approximately six Tibetan monks staged a peaceful sit-in protest on 02 April 2009 in front of the Xining People's High Court, in Qinghai. The monks displayed a large banner appealing to the court to conduct fair proceedings in accordance with the law. The monks were reportedly led away by the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) and TCHRD said their current whereabouts are unknown.
03. Apr 2009
Dalai Lama's New Zealand visa safe-guarded by PM
(New Zealand Visa Bureau) New Zealand Prime Minister John Keys has pre-emptively approved a New Zealand visa for the Dalai Lama after a local Chinese organisation called for it to be refused. The visa for the Tibetan leader was under question after the United Chinese Association wrote to Parliament asking to have it cancelled. The Dalai Lama is due to visit New Zealand to speak at the Vector Arena in Auckland on 06 December.
04. Apr 2009
Tibet to provide annual aid to Nepal
(TibetanReview.net; Xinhua) The TAR is to provide annual aid worth three million Yuan (US UK£297,000; US$441,000; EUR€330,000) to northern Nepal for five years beginning from 2009, reported Xinhua. "The economic development of the northern Nepal is relatively backward due to inconvenient transportation. We will offer grain and basic commodities to Nepal after further negotiations with Nepali government", said Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the TAR government, after meeting Nepali Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav in Lhasa. Mr Yadav, in turn, vowed that his country would stick to its one-China policy and would be against any "anti-China activities".
04. Apr 2009
Prince Charles discusses Tibet with Chinese leader
(Press Association) The Prince of Wales has discussed the issue of Tibet during talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Prince Charles broached the subject during his first ever private discussion with a Chinese leader in the UK. Clarence House, the Prince's office, did not release details of the discussion but Charles is a long-time supporter of the Dalai Lama. A spokesman described the discussion between the prince and the president as a good meeting. He said: "The Prince and the president discussed a full range of issues of mutual concern, including climate change, the reconstruction of areas damaged by last year's earthquake and the situation in Tibet".
08. Apr 2009
Four sentenced to death trials for Lhasa protests
(TibetanReview.net; Xinhua) Xinhua reported five Tibetans had been sentenced to terms ranging from a life sentence to death without reprieve for arson leading to deaths during the March 2008 protests in Lhasa. Four Tibetans were sentenced to death, two of them with a two-year reprieve, and a fifth Tibetan to life imprisonment. It said more Tibetans were being tried in a fourth fatal arson case. The report claimed that the five Tibetans were given open trials, but this could not be confirmed from any independent source. "The court also provided Tibetan interpreters for the defendants" a spokesman for the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court said. It was also unclear how long the trials lasted, nor were the trial dates announced in advance. The report only said the five were tried in three separate arson cases and that "the sentences were made at the first instance trial Wednesday (08 April) afternoon". The court spokesman said: "Their lawyers fully voiced their defence. The litigious rights of the defendants were fully safeguarded and their customs and dignity were respected".
