China Urged to Release Hundreds of Monks detained from Besieged Kirti Monastery[Friday, 29 April 2011, 4:00 p.m.]
Kasur
Kirti Rinpoche has called on the Chinese authorities to immediately
release over 300 monks detained from the besieged Kirti monastery in
Ngaba in northeastern Tibet where two Tibetans have died due to police
beating on 21 April.
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| A severely burned Phuntsog, the 21-year-old monk of Kirti monastery, who committed suicide after setting himself on fire to protest China’s repression on 16 March 2011/TCHRD |
DHARAMSHALA: Speaking
to reporters in New Delhi today, Losang Tenzin Jigme Yeshi Gyatso, the
spiritual head of the Kirti monastery in Tibet and Dharamsala, says
Chinese forces are not allowing relatives to meet more than 2,000 monks
living in the monastery, The Associated Press reported. The
monastery has been completely surrounded since 16 March by Chinese
armed forces, who at one point prevented food and other supplies from
entering the compound. Meanwhile, a prominent human rights
group has raised deep concern over military blockade at Kirti monastery
which was occasioned when a monk named Phuntsog set himself on fire on
16 March in protest against China’s brutal crackdown on peaceful
protests which shook Tibet in 2008. Instead of putting out the
flames, the police beat the young monk which was one of the causes of
his tragic death. This act created huge resentment among the monks,
which resulted in this massive blockade of Kirti monastery.The
situation further aggravated on 21 April when the Chinese police beat
two elderly Tibetans to death as they attempted to stop detained monks
to be taken away from the monastery. More than 300 monks are said to be
removed from the monastery and are detained at two unknown locations.The
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy based in Dharamsala,
which monitors rights violations in Tibet, said “it is extremely
concerned at fate of the monks led away by the security troops.”“Banning
peaceful freedom of expression, curtailing religious freedom,
restricting movement, forced political indoctrination campaigns are
grave violations of human rights,” the group said today in a press
release. It called for an immediate end to the use of force by
the Chinese government and said the grievances of the Tibetans should
be addressed peacefully by the Chinese leaders with a bold and
courageous heart, and clear vision. Related reports:Central Tibetan Administration Appeals for Help to
Diffuse the Kirti Monastery Crisis in TibetHis Holiness Expresses Concern about Grim Situation at
Kirti Monastery; Appeals for RestraintDharamsala Appeals to China to Lift Blockade of
Monastery in TibetUS Expresses Concern Over Repression in Kirti Monastery
Tibetan Parliament Seeks UN’s Help in Stopping
Repression in TibetChinese Government Imposes Military Blockade in Ngaba,
TibetTibetans Block Armed Forces at Kirti Monastery; Kirti
Rinpoche Appeals for RestraintKirti Monastery Under Siege: Rights Group
