22. Oct 2011
Troops in Lhasa
(RFA) Large numbers of Chinese security forces have moved into Lhasa in an apparent bid to discourage local protests, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA) sources in Tibet. The move follows the recent wave of monks and nuns setting themselves ablaze in protest. It was not immediately clear whether the security forces were troops belonging to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or members of the paramilitary People's Armed Police (PAP), or whether members of both forces are now present in the city. According to witnesses, the troops have been searching for Tibetans coming from Tibet's eastern Kham and Amdo regions, along with monks and nuns and anyone wearing eastern regional dress or hairstyles.
25. Oct 2011
Kardze monk sets himself alight
(RFA) Dawa Tsering, a monk from Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) monastery, Kardze TAP, Sichuan province, set himself alight before a large crowd who had gathered for an annual ritual at the monastery, making him the 10th cleric to set himself on fire in protest during 2011. He reportedly called for the Dalai Lama and reunification of Tibetans in and outside Tibet and was rushed to the Kardze People's Hospital in a monastery vehicle after fellow monks extinguished the flames. It is believed he was returned to the monastery afterwards. According to another Kardze monk, Dawa Tsering had refused any form of medical treatment. "His head, neck, nose, were all badly burned and the skin has peeled off. He refused any medication and told the monks to let him die", the monk said. The situation in and around the monastery was reportedly tense and armed Chinese security guards surrounded the monastery.
25. Oct 2011
Dhitsa monastery Geshe arrested
(AsiaNews.it; TCHRD) A senior cleric has been arrested in Qinghai province. Geshe Tsultrim Gyatso of Dhitsa monastery in Chabcha (Chin: Gonghe) county, Tsolho TAP was arrested by Qinghai National Security police, according to the Tibetan Centre of Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Geshe Tsulrim Gyatso was invited to speak at the Tongchey National School in Trika (Chin: Guide) county, Qinghai province. The police arrested Geshe Gyatso while he was giving a talk on 14 October 2011. None of his family members or anyone else were informed of his arrest. He is the Vice President of his monastery's Democratic Management Committee (DMC). He has also been invited on a number of occasions to speak at various Communist schools and institutions on preserving the Tibetan language and culture. Although he has always called for the preservation of Tibetan traditions and language in his lectures, according to AsiaNews.it, he is seen by some as being "too close to the government".
26. Oct 2011
Main road to TAR collapses, many vehicles trapped
(Reuters; Xinhua) Part of one of the main roads linking the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) with Sichuan province has collapsed following heavy rain, trapping hundreds of vehicles but causing no casualties, Xinhua reports. A 50-metre long section of the road collapsed in Pome (Chin: Bomi) county, Nyingtri (Chin: Lingzhi) prefecture. "Rescuers were rushing to dig another road through the mountains to evacuate the cars and people as it will take too long to repair the collapsed road" Xinhua added. "It is not known when traffic will resume".
27. Oct 2011
Bomb explosion in Government Building
(RFA) A bomb has exploded at a government building in Chamdo prefecture, TAR, and Chinese security forces have sealed off the area, according to RFA. "In the early dawn hours of 26 October, there was an explosion in a local government building", said an RFA source. "No casualties were reported", he said. Walls of the building had also been painted with slogans in red calling for independence for Tibet, and leaflets had been scattered in the area, he added. Among the writings on the walls, one said, "Anyone who settles in the rural area should speak Tibetan. Otherwise, we will not accept them", while another one said "If this policy of settling Chinese in Tibetan rural areas is not stopped, we will protest and may be forced to resort to violence". "Now, police and soldiers have blocked both sides of the bridge near the township, and no one is being allowed to cross the bridge. People going to Chamdo and leaving Chamdo are being stopped", a source said. Most of the monks at the nearby Karma monastery have fled the institution, saying they cannot bear the pressure piled on them by Chinese security forces.
28. Oct 2011
Writer Meycheh arrested
(TCHRD) Choepa Lugyal, (pen name Meycheh), a young Tibetan writer working at the National Publication Department in Gansu province was arrested by Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers in Lanzhou city, Gansu province, on 19 October 2011. According to TCHRD, there is no information as to why he has been arrested. Meycheh was born in Dopee township, Yadzi (Chin: Xunhua) county in Qinghai province. He later joined the Northwest Nationalities University as a research student. He temporarily worked at the Qinghai Tibet news agency after his studies. Meycheh was also a writer for the banned literary magazine "Shar Dungri" (Eastern Snow Mountain). He wrote a few books in Tibetan including "Gye-Choe Gyang-Gel" (rough translation: Seeing Gedun Choepel from Afar) and "Me-sem Nying-top" (rough translation: Power of the Human Heart). He also writes and posts many articles and blogs online.
29. Oct 2011
Writer sentenced to three years
(TCHRD) Jolep Dawa, a teacher at Ngaba County Middle School for Nationalities, was sentenced to three years imprisonment by a court in Barkham (Chin: Ma'erkang). He was arrested on 01 October 2010 and was held at Jinchuan County Detention Centre for over a year before he was sentenced. According to TCHRD, the charges for which he was arrested and sentenced are not yet known. Dawa is also the founder, editor and writer of the monthly Tibetan language magazine, "Du-rab Kyi Nga". Several years ago, Dawa was detained for around a month for his involvement in a mass campaign to end the use of animal fur on Tibetan clothing. He was arrested again on 16 March 2008 and detained for three months.
01. Nov 2011
China to nominate law-abiding "model monastery" in TAR
(TCHRD) A Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Communist Party meeting approved the creation of an annual ''contest'' among the various monasteries and nunneries in the TAR, with the 'prize' being declared a "model monastery", according to Xinhua. There will be a half-yearly assessment carried out in all monasteries and nunneries, and an annual award is to be given to the one that best obeys all the rules set by the Chinese government. That "winner" will be referred to as the "model monastery" whose students (monks/nuns) will be given certificates and monetary rewards.
01. Nov 2011
China, Nepal discus military co-operation
(PTI) China and Nepal discussed bilateral military cooperation as Beijing praised Kathmandu's containing of anti-Chinese protests by Tibetan refugees in the country. "China approves of Nepal's firm stance on issues relating to Tibet and heartily appreciates Nepal's sincere co-operation in that area", General Chen Bingde, the Chief of the General Staff of the PLA told his Nepalese counterpart, General Chhatraman Singh Gurung, during their meeting. General Gurung, who is in China on an official visit, stressed that Nepal views China as a "friend for all time". The top Nepalese commander said the militaries of the two countries have co-operated well in recent years and vowed to work with China to continuously enhance Nepal-China relations.
01. Nov 2011
UN concerned by rights for Tibetan monks
(UPI) Heavy security measures near Tibetan monasteries and a Chinese crackdown on religious freedoms is never acceptable, a group of UN experts has said. Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN special envoy on freedom of religion, said raids and surveillance in and around Tibetan monasteries in Sichuan province was unacceptable. "Intimidation of the lay and monastic community must be avoided and the right of members of the monastic community and the wider community to freely practice their religion, should be fully respected and guaranteed by the Chinese government", he said in a statement. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said restrictions on freedom of religion have resulted in the forced disappearance or displacement of hundreds of Tibetan monks. Jeremy Sarkin, a special envoy on involuntary disappearances, expressed grave concern about the situation in Tibetan areas. "This heinous practice is not permitted under any circumstances", he said. "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked to justify an enforced disappearance".
03. Nov 2011
Officials pressed on Tibetan prisoners
(RFA) John Kamm, founder and chairman of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua (Eng: Dialogue) foundation said he has "hope" that Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Lobsang Tenzin would be set free. Lobsang Tenzin, one of Tibet's longest serving political prisoners, is suffering from acute diabetes. "On my most recent trip I raised [the release of] Lobsang Tenzin, of course, and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche", Kamm said in an interview in Washington. Kamm said that for "many years" there have been no known early releases or sentence reductions for Tibetan political prisoners convicted of "subversion", "splittism" or "incitement", charges commonly levelled against dissidents in China.
03. Nov 2011
Nun sets herself alight
(ICT; Xinhua) A Tibetan nun called Palden Choetso set fire to herself and is believed to have died in Kardze TAP in Sichuan. Xinhua confirmed the case and reported that the nun died after setting herself on fire at about 12:50 pm near her nunnery in Dawu (Chin: Daofu) county in Kardze. Palden Choetso is the second Tibetan nun to have set herself alight after 20-year old Tenzin Wangmo who did so in Ngaba (Chin: Aba) on 17 October and becomes the 11th Tibetan to have set fire to themselves in Tibet in 2011. Palden Choetso's nunnery is believed to be Ganden Choeling in Tawu and, according to reports, she may have set fire to herself in the same place that monk Tsewang Norbu from Nyitso monastery self-immolated on 15 August 2011.
04. Nov 2011
Tibetan art show closed
(RFA) Chinese authorities in Lhasa have closed an exhibition of Tibetan art just two hours after it opened. The exhibition included modern paintings and a display of wooden writing boards called jangshing, traditionally used to teach the written Tibetan language. "[On 16 October] there were many people browsing through the exhibition", a Lhasa resident told RFA. "Among them were police and other security officials", the man said. "Since it was really crowded, I left with the intention to return when fewer people were there. But when I came back on 17 October, the exhibition had closed with no word of explanation".
04. Nov 2011
Threat to cut off Nepal aid
(AFP; TibetInfoNet) US Congressman Frank Wolf said he would propose cutting off aid funding to Nepal if the country's record of handling Tibetans does not improve before a review in 2012. Wolf sits on the Appropriations Committee that determines US funding. AFP quoted Wolf, a Republican from Virginia and outspoken critic of China, as saying: "We're not just going to cut them, we're going to zero them out". He added: "If they don't share our values, we do not want to share our dollars". The warning comes a few days after Nepal's police suppressed a Tibetan demonstration in the Kathmandu Valley. It is, however, unclear from press reports exactly which area of Tibetans' welfare Wolf expects progress. Potentially, he could refer to obstructions faced by them while crossing the Nepal-Tibet border to reach India, or to bureaucratic issues faced by 5,000 Tibetans scheduled to emigrate to the US, or to limitations imposed on Tibetans residing in Nepal. Wolf also announced that he has been appointed to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which monitors human rights and the development of the rule of law in China.
04. Nov 2011
Two Kirti monks arrested
(Tibet.net) Chinese security forces arrested two young monks from within Kirti Monastery. Their whereabouts of Yonten and Lopey, and the reason for their arrest are still unknown. Tibet.net reports that more than 200 Chinese security officials are still stationed at the monastery to keep a close watch on the movement of the monks. Tibet.net reports that the officials disrupt the daily religious routines of the monastery by calling the monks for 'patriotic education' and political meetings. Tibet.net also reports that all Tibetan youths below the age of 18 years in the Ngaba area are being forced to go to Chinese government-run schools for 'political education'. Families who have their children in monasteries are also forced to take them back and send them to Chinese schools. A penalty of 3,000 yuan (UK£300; US$472; EUR€350) is imposed on the families who do not comply with the new policy.
04. Nov 2011
Lhasa customs seize drugs and animal products
(People's Daily Online) The Lhasa Customs Office held a conference to report a drug seizure made on 22 March 2011. The customs office seized about 100 kilograms of cannabis, arrested four suspects and "successfully wiped out" a Nepal-Lhasa-Shenzhen cross-border drug smuggling gang, according to Chinese state media. It was the largest drug seizure that the Lhasa customs has made in the past 20 years. As well as the drugs, the customs office also seized many endangered animal products, including 5.4kg of pangolin scales, 72.3kg of elephant tusks and Tibetan antelope wool.
