21. Jun 2010
Tibetans held after mining protest
(RFA) Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports that the Chinese authorities detained some 30 Tibetans around 21 May 2010 in the U Yuk Sog Chen subdistrict of Namling (Chin: Nanmulin) in Shigatse (Chin: Rigaze) prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The Tibetans had reportedly attacked security vehicles brought in to quell protests over a mine run by an unnamed company and which became operative in April 2010. Mining operations have been under way in the area for several years, but this new mine sits on land traditionally used for grazing cattle-and residents say it has affected water supplies. "The Tibetans protested and appealed repeatedly for an end to the mining, but the authorities didn’t listen and brought in armed security forces to silence them", a RFA source said.
24. Jun 2010
Karma Samdrup jailed for 15 years
(AFP) The prominent Tibetan businessman, environmentalist and collector of antiquities Karma Samdrup who had been in detention for nearly five months, where he claimed he was "brutally tortured", has been jailed for 15 years on tomb-robbing charges that were dropped years ago. "He says he is innocent and that Xinjiang police used false evidence and torture, and didn't provide an interpreter", his lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang told AFP by phone. When Karma Samdrup appeared in court in Yanqi county his wife said he was physically unrecognisable, according to Pu. "I last saw him in mid-January and he weighed around 90 kilogrammes (200 pounds) then. Now he's around 70 kilos, which is too thin for his height", Pu said. Karma Samdrup also told the court that while in custody he had been forced to promise to repay his jailors for food, he added.
24. Jun 2010
New Chinese regulation bans torture confessions
(Xinhua) China's highest court has published details of a regulation banning the admission of confessions obtained through torture in criminal trials, according to state media. It is one of the two regulations issued by the Supreme People's Court to prevent further miscarriages of justice and tighten the conviction criteria in capital cases. The regulations focus on corroboration of physical evidence and human testimony in death penalty cases. The regulation on principles and detailed rules for scrutinising evidence in death penalty cases states that all physical evidence for the prosecution and defence should be revealed, identified and open to question in court. The other regulation sets out detailed procedures for examining evidence and stipulates that confessions obtained through torture and other violent measures from a defendant are inadmissible.
27. Jun 2010
China builds oxygen-rich barracks for soldiers in Tibet
(TNN) The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has come up with the first batch of oxygen-enriched barracks for use by troops posted in the TAR. Oxygen enriched barracks built at a height of 4,500 meters at the Nagchu (Chin: Naqu) Military Sub-Command in the TAR involved using plants to generate additional oxygen in a special activity room. Soldiers using these facilities during exercise were found to have 10% higher oxygen level in the blood as compared to outdoors and helped relieve the problem of plateau anoxia.
29. Jun 2010
Annual international journalists tour on
(NY Times; Reuters) The yearly, carefully scripted tour for international journalists to the TAR began. This time, Hao Peng, deputy Communist Party secretary and deputy governor of the TAR appears to have played the role of host for the journalists. Hao claimed unidentified "anti-Chinese" forces and the Dalai Lama are the main threat to the region, but stated "We have the ability and confidence to maintain stability in Tibet forever, and we will ultimately achieve long-term order and stability". "What you see in the streets, including the police and other legal forces, are necessary measures to maintain stability", Hao said. He also reasserted the right of the Chinese government to select the next Dalai Lama after the present incumbent’s death. During a visit of Lhasa’s central temple, the Jokhang, the journalists could also interact at their request with the monk Norgye who became known for his emotional outburst against the Chinese government on a similar occasion in late March 2008. The journalists, this time, met an apparently repentant Norgye who declared: "Through education about the law, I realised what we had done in the past was wrong and was against the law" and claimed that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom.
01. Jul 2010
Ngari airport opens
(Xinhua) A new airport became operational in the TAR, making it the fourth commercial airport in the region. The first flight, an Airbus 319 which took off from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, landed at Gunsa Airport in Ngari (Chin: Ali) prefecture, Xinhua reported.
