16. Feb 2009
Solo protester arrested in Lithang
A monk from Nekhor Monastery in Lithang county in Kardze TAP was arrested for staging a solo protest, according to a report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Lobsang Lhundup staged the protest in the main square of Lithang town for about 15-20 minutes before being detained by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and People's Armed Police (PAP). Lobsang chanted slogans: "Long live the Dalai Lama"; "Independence for Tibet"; "Swift return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet" and "No Losar celebration this year", according to a TCHRD source.
16. Feb 2009
Fifteen Tibetans arrested in Lithang
(TCHRD) Following the arrest of Lobsang Lhundup, in Lithang county, a group of 15 Tibetans from Lithang staged a similar protest the following day, according to TCHRD. Sonam Tenpa, the younger brother of Lobsang Lhundup along with fourteen other Tibetans staged a protest march in the main square of Lithang, which lasted for around two hours. Sonam Tenpa, who led the protest, was carrying a huge portrait of the Dalai Lama. According to eyewitness accounts the protesters were beaten and loaded into trucks by the PSB and the PAP. All the detainees were known to be from nomadic families who have shifted their residences from different villages to Lithang Town. According to a TCHRD source: "Two more groups of Tibetan people - a few Tibetans close to Ronggye A'drak who was arrested and sentenced in 2007 and a few other local Tibetan residents of Lithang - were also detained by PSB and PAP forces following their protest demonstration".
17. Feb 2009
Five more detentions in Lithang
(TCHRD) According to additional information received by the TCHRD regarding the arrest of fifteen Tibetans in Lithang county on 15 February 2009, the PSB and the PAP have detained five more, bringing the total detained to twenty-one. The arrested include the head of Dekyi village, Lithang county, and two Tibetan nomad women from Sako village in Lithang county.
19. Feb 2009
Four Tibetans sentenced in Kardze
(TCHRD) Four Tibetans, detained for their participation in the 2008 protests in Kardze county, were sentenced by the Intermediate People's Court to varying prison terms. According to TCHRD sources, out of fifty-five nuns who were arrested following demonstrations at Kardze county government headquarters on 14 May 2008, two nuns were sentenced by the County Intermediate People's Court to ten and nine years respectively, and two other Tibetans were given three-year sentences. Between twelve and thirteen nuns are still being held in a detention centre whereas the remaining nuns were released between 15 and 17 September 2008. Nuns who are still held in detention centre are said to be "important members" of Pangri Na Nunnery.
20. Feb 2009
Lithang under siege
(TCHRD) According to TCHRD, hundreds of PAP in full combat gear arrived in Lithang county following the protests of 18 February. People from villages and monasteries were told not to leave their homes and were warned of serious consequences if they went on to the streets. All the shops and restaurants were closed. A meeting was called among the monks, monastic committee members and high lamas from the monasteries in Lithang, where monks were warned by the authorities of "dire consequences" if anyone participates in any "secessionist activities". Next to Lithang, security increase has been recently witnessed in at least three other Tibetan areas that witnessed a persistent and large scale protest in 2008: Labrang (Chin: Xiahe), Gansu; Rebkong (Chin:Tongren), Qinghai; and Lhasa.
23. Feb 2009
Nepal Maoists 'arrest' five Tibetans for 'anti-China' activities
(IANS) Members of the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) which heads Nepal's current government have detained five Tibetans and handed them over to local police accusing them of crossing into Nepal illegally in a bid to take part in campaigns against the Chinese government. The group, including two Tibetan women, were detained in Sindhupalchowk district in north Nepal, near the Tibetan border. This is the first time that the youth cadres are known to have handed Tibetans, often travelling through Nepal to India, over to the authorities.
24. Feb 2009
China-EU summit re-scheduled
(DPA) A China-EU summit, which had been cancelled by Beijing in December 2008, will be held in Prague in May 2009, EU officials said. Beijing withdrew from the summit after a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who then held the rotating EU presidency, and the Dalai Lama. The current Czech EU presidency suggested the meeting to be held in Prague in mid-May, officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). While the dates have not been confirmed officially by Beijing, both sides agreed during a visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Brussels in January to hold the summit before 01 July when the EU presidency passes to Sweden.
24. Feb 2009
Dalai Lama’s Losar message
(tibet.net ) The Dalai Lama said he admired the resolute decision made by Tibetans both in and outside Tibet to forgo "celebratory activities" during Losar, the Tibetan new year. The Tibetan leader said: "I would like to greet all Tibetans, both inside and outside of Tibet. I pray that there be peace and prosperity, and that our just cause may see gradual resolution". He added: "last year in Tibet we witnessed hundreds of Tibetans losing their lives, and several thousands facing detention and torture, in response to the widespread display by Tibetans all over Tibet of their discontentment with the Chinese authorities' policies". Highlighting the repressive measures enforced by Chinese authorities all over Tibet since then, he called on Tibetans to exercise patience against provocative actions, since otherwise "the authorities can then indulge in unprecedented and unimaginable forceful clampdown". He therefore directed "a strong appeal to the Tibetan people to exercise patience and not to give in to these provocations so that the precious lives of many Tibetans are not wasted, and they do not have to undergo torture and suffering". In the message, the Dalai Lama also reiterated that there should not be a departure in the Tibetan people's commitment towards non-violence in their struggle for freedom.
25. Feb 2009
Tibetans ignore New Year
(RFA) Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and across Tibetan areas of the PRC boycotted Losar festivities in response to China's crackdown on Tibetan protests in Spring 2008. A resident of Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) told Radio Free Asia (RFA) in an interview: "The authorities ordered all shops to be closed on the first day of Tibetan Losar, but instead of complying with the order, most of the Tibetan shops were open early in the morning in Kardze town". In Lhasa, residents told RFA of extremely tight security and the presence of soldiers, rather than worshippers, in temples. "Compared to last year this time, there are very few people to be seen in Lhasa. No one is celebrating Losar", one resident told RFA.
26. Feb 2009
China rejects US rights report as interference
(AP) Beijing dismissed a US State Department report criticising its human rights record, calling the claims groundless and accusing Washington of interfering in its internal affairs. The report accuses China of stepping up cultural and religious repression of minorities in Tibet and elsewhere and increasing the detention and harassment of dissidents. It said authorities continued to limit citizens' right to privacy, freedom of speech, assembly, movement and association. Authorities also committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions from prisoners and used forced labor, the US report said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China favoured a rights dialogue but opposed "any countries interfering in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. We urge the US side to reflect on its own human rights problems, stop acting as a human rights guardian, stop interfering in others' internal affairs by issuing such human rights reports", Ma told reporters at a scheduled news conference.
27. Feb 2009
Beijing "concerned" by possible rallies in Nepal
(Asianews) Deputy Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue expressed Beijing's concern about anti-Chinese rallies in Nepal to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule and the subsequent flight of the Dalai Lama to India. Asianews reports that Hu called on Nepali authorities to contain the situation. Deputy Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue was meeting Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and other Nepali security officials in Kathmandu and stressed that 2009 was "a sensitive year" for his country. Following the talks Nepali Prime Minister's Press Advisor Om Sharma reiterated his government' intention to control "anti-China" activities. Nepal's defence minister said that Nepal would tighten controls on the border to prevent Dalai Lama supporters from entering the country.
