25. Apr 2009
Concerns about the Panchen Lama
(Tibet.net) In an open letter to China's President Hu Jintao, the Speaker of Parliament for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala, Penpa Tsering, has expressed concern over the whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. Penpa Tsering wrote: "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". "All the Tibetans are deeply concerned and worried about the statement if it is true. Therefore we call on you to make it clear to the whole world whether H.E. Panchen Rinpoche is still alive or not and if H.E. Panchen Rinpoche is alive, details of his well being and whereabouts should be made public. We also urge you to reinstate H.E. Panchen Rinpoche Gedhun Choekyi Nyima to his rightful position", Speaker Penpa Tsering said. Tibetans in exile across the world marked the 20th birthday of the 11th Panchen Lama. They offered long life prayers and called on the Chinese government to release him. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents disappeared in May 1995.
25. Apr 2009
Monk commits suicide
(Tibet.net) According to the Central Tibetan Administration's (CTA) website Tibet.net, a Tibetan monk identified as Shedup killed himself on or around 02 April 2009 in his room at a monastery in Rebgong (Chin: Tongren) county, Malho (Chin: Huangnan) TAP, Qinghai province. The monastery is believed to be Tarjang monastery. Shedup had been arrested in March 2008 for participating in a protest in Rebgong, and was allegedly tortured during his detention. He was then released but his name appeared on the wanted list before the anniversary of the Lhasa uprising on 10 March. In order to avoid arrest and, he believed, further torture, Shedup killed himself.
28. Apr 2009
Three religious dignitaries detained in Nagchu
(TCHRD) According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), the authorities in Nagchu (Chin: Naqu) county, Nagchu prefecture, in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has "secretly detained" three monks. On 11 April 2009, Nagchu Public Security Bureau (PSB) detained Khensur Thupten Thapkhey, a former abbot of Shapten Monastery and scripture master Geshe Tsultrim Gyaltsen, for reasons that are unclear. The PSB allegedly told the monks of the monastery that the two monks had gone to Lhasa to receive Geshe (Doctorate of philosophy) Degree Certificates from the religious bureau. However, they had been taken to a detention centre, where they are currently being held. Similarly, another monk Tsundue, the head of the Shapten monastery's Democratic Management Committee (DMC) was said to have left the area to attend a meeting but was taken to Nagchu PSB detention centre.
28. Apr 2009
Lutsang monks sentenced, two others held
(VOT) Six monks from Lutsang monastery in Mangra (Chinese: Guinan) county, Tsolho (Chin: Hainan) TAP, Qinghai province were arrested on 10 April 2009 on unknown charges. Four of them have been given two-year jail terms each while the other two were released, reported the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet (VOT) radio service. Those sentenced were among the 109 monks arrested for marching on the county government headquarters on 25 February 2008. They were sentenced by the Mangra county court, and their names were given as Kalsang Gyatso; Soepa Gyatso; Lungtok Gyatso; and Soepa Gyatso. The date of sentencing is unknown. Meanwhile, two other monks of Lutsang monastery - Thabkhay Gyatso and Kunchok Gyatso - were reported to have been arrested by police a few days earlier.
01. May 2009
Dalai Lama part of Tibet solution: senior US Asia advisor
(AFP) China should see the Dalai Lama as "part of the solution" on Tibet instead of trying to isolate him, US President Barack Obama's top Asia adviser has said. Jeff Bader, senior director for Asia on the White House's National Security Council, told the 'Committee of 100', a Chinese-American group, that it should use its influence in Beijing to encourage a different view of the Dalai Lama. Before his appointment, Bader served at the Brookings Institution think-tank where he led a project encouraging Chinese academics to make contact with the Dalai Lama. He said he was impressed with the response. "It suggested to me that there is an openness to discussion among non-official Chinese on this subject and I hope that one of these days officials will catch up", Bader said.
01. May 2009
US commission condemns religious repression in Tibet
(ICT; USCIRF; Xinhua) The United States Commission on International Freedom (USCIRF), founded in 1998, released its annual report and, amid numerous other concerns about religious freedom in the People's Republic of China (PRC), noted: "In Tibetan Buddhist areas, religious freedom conditions may be worse now than at any time since the Commission's inception". The report said: "Chinese government actions and policies to suppress peaceful religious activity in Tibetan areas played a primary role in stoking last year's demonstrations there". The report also recommends that China be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its sustained and egregious violations of religious freedoms. Beijing responded by saying the report was "biased" and "groundless". "It is a fact that the Chinese government protects its citizens' freedom of religious belief according to law, and every ethnic group in any part of China enjoys full religious freedom", Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement.
06. May 2009
Spanish judge wants to question Chinese leaders
(AFP) As part of the Spanish legal system's principle of 'universal jurisdiction' a Spanish judge investigating charges of genocide has announced that he wants to question eight important Chinese official about repression following the unrest in Tibet in 2008. National Court judge Santiago Pedraz sent a letter formally requesting permission to travel to China to question the eight, among them Defence Minister Liang Guanglie and Minister for State Security Geng Huichang, following a suit filed against the men for genocide in July 2008 by the Dharamsala based Tibet Support Committee. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said: "We urge the appropriate countries to respect international laws and the rules of diplomatic relations, and not to encourage separatist forces", after being questioned at a press conference whether Beijing will permit the questioning of the eight officials.
08. May 2009
Farmers' boycott continues
(TP) The Tibet Post (TP) reports that farmers in Dege county, Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) TAP, Sichuan province, are continuing their farming boycott in protest at the ongoing repression following the events of spring 2008. TP quote Geshe Monlam Tharchin, a member of the CTA as saying that the authorities are now threatening to seize land that Tibetans refuse to cultivate in the Radho area of Dege county "to use as a military base" and are proposing to increase the military presence in eastern Tibet. "If you will not to plant the farms (sic!), our military will use those farms for our purpose", he said the local authorities have announced.
08. May 2009
Beijing objects to Paris honouring Dalai Lama
(AFP; Le Monde; UPI; Xinhua) Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu has said that the decision made in 2008 by the city council of Paris to confer honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama, due to visit Paris in June 2009, is interference in "China's internal affairs", and that "the Paris side" should "make no further errors on the Tibet-related issue". He said he hoped France and China could work together on the issue "to remove obstacles and promote ties between the two countries in a sound and stable way".
