21 September 2008
Kalon Tripa and ICJ call for account of the missing Tibetans
(VOA) The prime minister, or Kalon Tripa, of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, Samdhong Rinpoche has called on Beijing to give an account of all Tibetans missing since the crackdown following the unrest that began in March. In an interview with Voice of America (VOA) he said it was unclear how many Tibetans have been killed, injured or detained by Chinese authorities since March. "A large number of Tibetans are still missing", he said. "A large number of monks and nuns who were taken away from Lhasa are still imprisoned in various untold places. We are hearing the unconfirmed news now they are beginning to release[them] but not allowing [them] to go back to the Lhasa monasteries". The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has also asked China to inform the UNHCR about the March uprising in Tibet and surrounding areas. The ICJ says China's violent crackdown, included arbitrary executions, the use of excessive non-lethal force by the security forces and arbitrary detentions.