DHARAMSHALA: Several Tibetans in Martak Village in Yamayultso township, Dechen county (incorporated into China’s Yunnan Province) have been arrested and brutally beaten by Chinese police on 1 July.

The Tibetans were peacefully protesting the rampant mining in their locality by a Chinese company and have urged the Chinese authorities to immediately stop the mining activities.

According to information received from inside Tibet, a Chinese company started mining a sacred hill near a Tibetan township for copper. It built an unauthorised road from the hill to the town and restricted local Tibetans from visiting the hill. The Tibetans were also barred from going to a lake located near the hill.

Unhappy with the mining activities and the turn of events, a group of Tibetans from the township went to the site to demand a stop to the mining activities and an altercation ensued between the two sides. Hundreds of Chinese police and military personnel arrived at the site and instead of resolving the dispute, they started beating and arresting the Tibetan protesters.

Nine Tibetans were arrested and several people were wounded in the beatings, including a woman who was seriously injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The local residents have been further warned by the authorities that they have an order to kill if they continue their protests against the mining activity.