New Report: US
Encourages Chinese Govt To Respect Religious Freedom in Tibet[Thursday, 18 November 2010, 12:00 p.m.]

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at the Department of State in Washington, DC, on 18 February 2010. [State Department photo / Public Domain]

Dharamshala: The report documented
comprehensive accounts of restrictions on religious freedom, abuse of
religious freedom, forced religious conversion and the US government’s
efforts encourage greater religious freedom in Tibet. (Read
full report on Tibet)According to the report, “the level of
religious repression in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and other
Tibetan areas remained high. Government control over religious practice
and the day-to-day management of monasteries and other religious
institutions continued to be extraordinarily tight since the spring 2008
outbreak of widespread protests and unrest in Tibetan regions.””These
restrictions included forcing monks and nuns to undergo extensive
“patriotic education” in monasteries and nunneries that included
significant amounts of “legal education” which detracted from religious
studies. In patriotic education sessions, authorities often forced monks
and nuns to denounce the Dalai Lama and to study materials praising the
leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the socialist
system. Monks and nuns fled from their monasteries and nunneries because
they faced expulsion for refusing to comply with the education
sessions. Overall numbers of monks and nuns in monasteries and nunneries
remained at significantly lower levels than pre-March 2008,” it said.The
report criticised the Chinese government for using rules and
regulations to control Tibetan religious traditions. “Rules and
regulations provided a legal basis for government control over Tibetan
religious traditions. The Management Measures on Reincarnation, issued
by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, codified government
control over the selection of Tibetan religious leaders, including
reincarnate lamas,” it said.The report said as of 1 September
2010, the Congressional Executive Commission on China’s Political
Prisoner Database records 824 Tibetan political or religious prisoners
believed to be currently detained or imprisoned. Of those 824 Tibetans,
479 (approximately 58 percent) are Tibetan Buddhist “religious
professionals” (monks, nuns, and tulkus).At the end of the
reporting period, many monks and nuns remained in detention because of
their involvement in the March 2008 protests. Several monks also
reportedly committed suicide as a result of the harsh conditions and
religious restrictions in monasteries that were imposed after March
2008, the report said. According to numerous sources, many of
those detained were subjected to extrajudicial punishments, such as
beatings and deprivation of food, water, and sleep for long periods. In
some cases detainees reportedly suffered broken bones and other serious
injuries at the hands of People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security
Bureau (PSB) officers.More than 80 nuns reportedly were
detained in Sichuan Province after March 2008 and their whereabouts were
still unknown.Limited access to information about prisoners and
prisons made it difficult to ascertain the number of Tibetan prisoners
of religious conscience or to assess the extent and severity of abuses,
the report said.The US government encouraged the government and
local authorities to respect religious freedom and allow Tibetans to
preserve and develop their religious traditions. US diplomatic personnel
visited the TAR five times during the reporting period. TAR officials
often restricted US diplomatic personnel’s ability to talk openly with
persons in Tibetan areas. The US government protested religious
persecution and discrimination, discussed individual cases with the
authorities, and requested further information about specific incidents,
the report noted.The US government continued to urge government
leaders to engage in constructive dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his
representatives and to address policies in Tibetan areas that have
created tensions due to their effect on Tibetan religion, culture, and
livelihoods, as well as the environment, it said.”…Every year,
the State Department prepares a comprehensive review of the status of
religious freedom in countries and territories around the world. We do
this because we believe that religious freedom is both a fundamental
human right and an essential element to any stable, peaceful, thriving
society,” Secretary Hillary Clinton said in her opening remarks during
the release of the report.”This is not only the American view;
it is the view of nations and people around the world. It is enshrined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is protected by the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and it is
guaranteed by the laws and constitutions of many nations, including our
own,” Clinton said.