There is no improvement of human rights in Tibet, says ex-prisoner[Thursday, 10 March 2011, 7:00 a.m.]
GENEVA:
“There is no improvement of human rights in Tibet,” said Mr. Jampa
Monlam, Assistant Director, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and
Democracy based in Dharamsala, India.He gave a testimony on the
human rights situation in Tibet at a briefing organised by Human Right
Watch on the human rights situation in China. The briefing took place
during the UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva. The other key
speaker was Ms. Sophie Richardson, Advocacy Director Asia Division of
Human Rights Watch.Ms. Richardson said China continues to
violate the basic human rights. She said that top of the list was
disappearance – denying individuals being held by security forces.The
Asian Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch said that the mass arrest
that followed after the 2008 uprising in Tibet by the Chinese security
forces had gone unnoticed. The Chinese authorities showed profound
disrespect for Tibetans way of life.Mr. Monlam said he was
speaking as a former political prisoner who was tortured during five
years and six months imprisonment. He was first arrested in 1987 and on
two other occasions for taking part in demonstrations in Lhasa.“To
maintain stability, the Chinese authorities in Tibet are using every
means of force to create stability,” he said. “In the monasteries,
there is no religious freedom.”Mr. Monlam said that while the
Chinese prisoners are allowed to hire lawyers, the same right is denied
to Tibetans. He said this shows nationality discrimination. Also while
the Chinese people are allowed to listen to Radio Free Asia, Tibetans
in Tibet are forbidden.“We are not against the Chinese
government or people but want the world to know the true situation in
Tibet. I have spent half of my life in Tibet,” he said.There are over 500 Tibetans missing and 831 known political prisoners in Tibet today.About 50 people including representatives from 18 Foreign Missions to the UN attended the briefing.In
July 2010 Human Rights Watch released “I saw it with my own eyes:
Abuses by Chinese security forces in Tibet, 2008 -2010” report. It
documented that subsequent crackdown that followed after the 2008
uprising across Tibet. The report was based on more than 200 interviews
with Tibetan refugees and visitors conducted immediately after they
left China.The report details through eyewitness testimonies, a
broad range of abuses committed by security forces both during and
after protest incidents, including using disproportionate force in
breaking up protests, proceeding to large-scale arbitrary arrests,
brutalizing detainees, and torturing suspects in custody.The
report decisively refutes the Chinese government’s claim that it
handled the protests in line with international standards and domestic
laws. The report details the Chinese government’s own sources – the
official willingness to use lethal force against unarmed protestors.
