13. May 2009
Wanted monks reach India
(RFA) Five monks who had disrupted a government-controlled tour by foreign journalists of Labrang monastery in April 2008 have escaped to India after eluding Chinese security forces for more than a year. They spent the past year living in forests, fearing arrest by the Chinese authorities and finally managed to flee Tibet. The monks are identified as Gendun Gyatso, Kelsang Jinpa, Lobsang Gyatso, Jamyang Jinpa, and Jigme Gyatso. The five escapees spoke to the media after their arrival in Dharamshala.
13. May 2009
Three Tibetans jailed, charges unknown
(TibetanReview.net; VOT) Three Tibetan youths have been sentenced to jail terms of three and four years in Dzoege (Chin: Ruo'ergai) county in Ngaba (Chin: Aba) TAP in Sichuan province on 07 May 2009, according to a report by the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet (VOT) radio station on 10 May. The exact charges they were detained under are unknown but they are thought to be politically related. Two brothers Jampel and Lama, from the Chashang Taringtsang family, were jailed for four years each, and Namkho, from the Chashang Kyajigtsang family, received three years.
14. May 2009
Dalai Lama is free to visit South Africa any time
(Sapa) The Dalai Lama is welcome to visit South Africa, the International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane said, adding that nobody may abuse the country's pro-human rights stance for their own agenda. "The Dalai Lama is more than free, like any other citizen of the world who would want to, to visit South Africa. South Africa does not discriminate against anyone", the newly appointed minister told reporters in Pretoria. The Dalai Lama was refused a visa to attend a peace conference in March. Pretoria initially said it did not want his presence to overshadow the aim of the conference, but later conceded it had acted to protect its economic ties with Beijing.
16. May 2009
TCHRD concerned about death sentence Tibetans
(TCHRD) The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has expressed concern for the fate of two Tibetans, Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak, who were sentenced to death by the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People's Court on 08 April 2009. According to TCHRD, there is no information on whether the two have appealed to the higher people's court for review. As the deadline for any review draws near, TCHRD expressed concern about the prospect of their imminent execution as it was earlier reported that the two "had committed extremely serious crimes and have to be executed to assuage the people's anger" according to the court spokesman at the time of sentencing.
20. May 2009
China warns EU against interfering in internal matters
(AFP) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned the European Union at a summit in Prague against interfering in internal affairs, in a reference to past tensions over the Dalai Lama. "In conducting strategic cooperation between China and the EU the most important thing is to stick the principles of mutual respect and not interfere in each other's internal affairs", he told journalists. He also stressed the need to "accommodate each other's major concerns, properly handle sensitive issues and work to ensure that our balanced relationship will not be affected by individual incidents". Wen was speaking after a summit hosted by Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
21. May 2009
Labrang monk sentenced to life, 2 brothers arrested
(TCHRD) A Chinese court has sentenced a monk to life imprisonment in connection with protests in 2008, according to TCHRD. The Kanlho (Chin: Gannan) Intermediate People's Court announced the verdict on Tsultrim Gyatso, a monk from Labrang monastery for "endangering the state security". Tsultrim, participated in a protest in Sangchu (Chin: Xiahe) county on 15 March 2008, according to reports. Tsultrim fled the county immediately after the protest but was arrested in May 2008 by Drugchu (Zhouqu) county Public Security Bureau (PSB). In a separate incident, two brothers from Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) were arrested in early May 2009 for their role in a protest in Kardze county on 18 March 2008. They were on the run since the protest until their arrest in Jyekundo (Chin: Yushu) in Qinghai province. Tenpa, and Jamdo, are from Rapa Village in Kardze county, Kardze TAP, Sichuan province.
21. May 2009
Dalai Lama envoy reaching out to Chinese people
(Reuters) Envoys of the Dalai Lama are seeking to reach out directly to the Chinese people after talks on Tibet between Beijing and the Dharamsala reached deadlock, Kelsang Gyaltsen, one of the Dalai Lama's envoy, told a news conference in Tokyo. "Unfortunately, so far, there has been no signal from Beijing that they are ready to resume the dialogue", he said. "While we remain ready to engage in serious discussions with the Chinese government (...) we will intensify our approach in reaching out to the Chinese people". They are trying to form Sino-Tibetan friendship associations as well as publishing more in the Chinese language on Tibetan culture and religion, Gyaltsen said, adding they have no direct way of sending such material to China.
22. May 2009
Report blames cadres for Tibetan protests
(SMH; Telegraph) The unrest in Tibet that began in March 2008 was caused by two decades of failed development policies that marginalised Tibetans and created a "new aristocracy" of corrupt and abusive government officials, according to a Chinese report based on fieldwork in Lhasa and Gansu in July 2008 The report, released by the Open Constitution Initiative (Chin: Gongmeng), a NGO run by prominent lawyers and intellectuals in Beijing, describes how Beijing's efforts to pour money into Tibet since 1989 to ensure 'stability' have been counter-productive. It says private-sector jobs have gone to Chinese individuals from other provinces, and public money flowed into the pockets of a new elite that has portrayed community discontent as 'separatism'. "They use every opportunity to play the separatism card", says Phuntshog Wangyal, one of Tibet's earliest and most famous Communist, quoted in the report. "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". Xu Zhiyong, a human rights lawyer who helped prepare the report, said he hoped it would be picked up by the domestic media, but doubted it would influence government officials.
