Geneva, 10 March:  A Chinese diplomat’s attempt to undermine a Tibet Briefing on the sidelines of the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council this afternoon failed as the UN Security refused to take any action.

The briefing officially titled, “Human Rights in China” by the Council Secretariat was organized the Society for Threatened Peoples, an NGO in Consultative Status to UN, based in Germany at request of the Tibet Bureau in Geneva.

Mr. Vincent Metten, International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Brussels and Mr. Kai Müller, ICT Germany were the invited as speakers, unfortunately Mr. Kai Muller could not attend due to flight problem in Berlin.

The briefing, “Human Rights in Tibet-2016” began with a brief introduction by the moderator Mr. Ngawang Choephel who also touched upon the historical importance of the Tibetan National Uprising Day of 10 March, in the history of Tibet.

The event thereafter screened HBO’s recent TV reportage that concludes with an interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama by Mr. John Oliver, the host of “Last Week Tonight”.

Mr. Metten presented an overview of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue.

The moderator briefly touched about the human rights situation inside Tibet, including the situation that confronts Larung Gar, a case which has been addressed by six UN Special Procedure Mandate-holders.  In the conclusion, video reportage compiled on Larung Gar’s situation by the Central Tibetan Administration was screened.

Due to time constraints the event concluded without questions and answers part. The briefing was attended by diplomats, including two from the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, UN officials and NGOs.

The Chinese diplomat, a lady, seemed outraged that a Tibetan participant was covering the briefing on video and photograph inside the room.  As the briefing concluded, she brought a UN Security personnel aiming for the video and photograph contents to be “confiscated” or “deleted.” Not knowing the rules, she even claimed that only the media had the right to cover the event.

In the end, the UN Security personnel told the Chinese diplomat that the event was a “public meeting” and said that it was the organizers right to use the time to their liking and finally she left without fulfilling her attempt in front of other participants.

– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Geneva –