DHARAMSHALA: The human rights situation inside Tibet is continuing to deteriorate despite the promise of reforms by the Chinese government, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said today at a press conference to launch their 2014 annual report.

Ms. Tsering Tsomo, Executive Director of TCHRD, gave a brief outline of the human rights situation inside Tibet, followed by remarks from researchers Mr. Tenzin Nyinjey, Mr. John Gaudette and Ms. Fan Xuan Li at the press conference.

A press release issued by TCHRD said the annual report demonstrates the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet, particularly highlighting death in detention, collective punishment, and restrictions imposed on the right to freedom of assembly and association. It further said that Tibetan prisoners are frequently subject to torture, beatings, and denial of medical care. “ In 2014, an increasing number of Tibetans died because of mistreatment in detention,” it said.

The annual report also highlighted the consistent and systematic problems with health care and education in Tibet, with claims that it has uncovered disturbing trends in Tibet by examining official census data that showed education and healthcare for Tibetans has fallen behind other parts of China.

“By most metrics, healthcare in Tibetan areas is worse than almost anywhere else in the PRC. Similarly, Tibetans receive less school and that schooling is generally ineffective and inefficient,” it said.

The TCHRD report further documented the prevalence of collective punishment inside Tibet. “The PRC expanded the scope of its punishment of Tibetans by announcing that entire families and villages would be punished if there was a self-immolation protest or if someone attended religious festivals,” it said.

The annual report also addressed the violation of civil and political rights, including the right to privacy, and the expansion of the security state, economic, social and cultural rights including the resettlement of Tibetan nomads.

A comprehensive political prisoner database including information from various sources on 2,110 known political prisoners is also included in the 206-page report.

This year’s annual report is available in English, Tibetan and Chinese. The Chinese version is a fresh attempt by the rights group to reach out to people ideally in China, and also to the Chinese speaking population in the world, said one of the researchers at the press conference.

TCHRD is a non-governmental organisation based in Dharamshala. It works to promote and protect human rights of Tibetans in Tibet and to educate the exile Tibetans on human rights concept and democratic principles.