Updates on Tibet, 17 April 2008
Thursday, 17 April 2008, 6:50 p.m.
Update for Thursday, 17 April 2008, last updated 2 PM (IST)
Re: Tibet Demonstrations
17 April 2008
Rebgong (Ch: Tongren) County (Malho “TAP”, Qinghai Province) – Protests held by the monks
On 17 April 2008, at around 11 am Lhasa local time, about 22 monks from
Rebgong Monastery, Rebgong County (Malho”TAP”, Qinghai Province)
protested for the release of three monks who were arrested on 13 April
2008. They are Lobsang Dhondup(20),Lobsang Dhondup (30) and Dakpa, all
from Gyupa Monastery. These three monks were arrested for primarily
being involved in the protest on 17 March 2008. Hearing about the
arrest of these 22 monks, another group of 80 monks followed the
protest after the arrest of these three monks.
Some local people consisting of both young and old people also joined
the protest. However a former abbot Alag Khatso-tsang, aged 80, from
Rongpo Monastery, who tried to calm down the situation was badly beaten
and injured by the Chinese army. Furthermore, about 140 people
including the monks and lay people alike were detained, and the
monastery has been kept under tight vigilance and no one is allowed to
move in or out of the monastery.
15 April 2008
Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe,) County, (Kanlho “TAP”, Gansu Province) – 13 monks from Labrang Tashi Kyil monastery continue to detain
13
monks from Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery, Sangchu County, who were among
those arrested on 15 April 2008, continue to be detained. It is
estimated that these monks are the ones who recently spoke to the
western media about the Chinese atrocities.
14-15 April 2008
Phenpo Lhundup (Ch: Lingzhi) County, Lhasa Municipality – 250 arrests
About
250 people have been arrested after a very strong protest on 14-15
April 2008, in Phenpo Lhundup County. Few of them have been released
after being badly tortured and injured. From the first week of April,
the Chinese army has started arresting nuns from the Shar Bhumpa
nunnery, thereby leaving only seven from amongst 60 nuns who used to
study in this nunnery. The People’s Armed Police made these arrests. A
nun named Tsering Lhathog who normally has hearing problem, was
brutally beaten and tortured. Her head has been badly hurt and she is
now admitted to Jang Ga-shang Hospital. Besides, on many occasions,
several people including both monks and lay people have been brutally
tortured and beaten. Due to the lack of space in County prison,
arrested people are being kept in the assembly hall. Similarly, there
have been continued arrests in Gadhen Choekhor Monastery as well.
12 April 2008
Many monks from Drepung, Sera and Gaden Monasteries arrested
Several monks from Drepung Monastery, close to Lhasa, have been
arrested on 12 April 2008. Similarly, a few monks were also arrested on
Wednesday in the beginning of April from Gaden Monastery and few more
monks from Sera Monastery were arrested on Tuesday. However, there are
no specific dates regarding these events.
“Education” campaign continue in Tibet University, Lhasa
Chinese
media sources announced that Tibet University which remains under tight
scrutiny with regular roll calls of people living within the campus,
since the march 10 uprising this year, confirmed that there has been no
cases of death, injury or disappearance of students as well as staffs
of the university. With these kind of announcements, the Chinese
government basically tries to claim that the students and staffs of the
university are in no way involved with the recent uprising in Tibet on
14 March 2008.
However, this is not the truth. It has been noted by some
higher authorities that, about 100 people from the university
consisting of both the students and the staff were involved in the
recent uprisings in Lhasa. Following these findings, they suspended one
senior staff of the university and further strengthened their
“education” campaigns. During such kind of “education” campaigns, they
particularly condemn those students who graduated from the Tibet
University about 20 years back and are currently working with the
Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamshala. Citing those
students as an example, students are repeatedly advised to refrain from
such “acts of ingratitude.”
Similarly, Chinese Central Television also claimed that Mr
Ngodup who was killed by the Chinese army during the 14 March protest
in Lhasa was also not from the Tibet University. The fact is just the
opposite. Ngodup whose full name was Tenzin Ngodup was from Gung-ru
village, Chamdo Prefecture (Kham).
It still remains unclear whether Lobsang Tsephel [among the
death toll list released by CTA] who was killed during the recent
protest in Tibet on 14 March was actually from Sera Monastery or not.
Nevertheless, it is known and is confirmed that he is originally from
Toelung Dechen (Ch:Duilongdeqing) County, Lhasa and was killed by the
Chinese army during the recent peaceful protest in Lhasa on 14 March
2008.
