China Arrests Another Kirti Monk, Intensifies Patriotic Education [Friday, 27 May 2011, 1:01 p.m.]
DHARAMSHALA: As the Chinese government’s crackdown on Kirti Monastery in Ngaba continues, a monk from Kirti monastery, Gatsetsang Lobsang Choephel, aged 27, was arrested on 19 May for not complying with official diktats, a human rights group based in Dharamsala said.Lobsang Choephel was arrested for showing his resistance and remonstration against the patriotic education campaign or legal education which was forced on monks by the Chinese authority with indefinite ban on normal religious activities at the monastery since 20 March.The patriotic education session involves forcing the Tibetans to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”The monk’s whereabouts and well being are not known yet,” reported the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), which monitors rights situation inside Tibet.”Although reports are emerging about frequent arrests in the monastery in the ongoing patriotic re-education session, it is however getting increasingly difficult to ascertain their current status due to official clampdown on information,” TCHRD said.”Monks defying official orders and protesting against the Chinese authority were arrested and taken to custody for interrogation,” said Lobsang Yeshi, a monk of Kirti monastery in Dharamsala.Another two monks from Kirti monastery, Lobsang Dorjee and Lobsang Jinpa, were taken away for detention, who were later released. According to TCHRD, the Chinese authorities earlier took profile pictures of the monks of Kirti Monastery and those who missed out are facing difficulties in not being allowed to reside in the monastery.The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy calls upon the government of People’s Republic of China (PRC) to account for the disappeared and release those in detention. It also appeals to the international community to maintain its pressure on the Chinese government until the security crackdown is lifted and normalcy returns to the area. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the 300 monks who were taken away for detention on 21 April are still unknown.
