‘Human Rights Situation Worsens in Tibet’[Wednesday, 12 January 2011, 5:51 p.m.]
The
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said today that
repression in Tibet intensified throughout last year despite the
formulation of a human rights plan by the Chinese government.DHARAMSHALA: “The
Chinese government laid policies to enforce systematic crackdown on
influential Tibetans like singers, writers and environmentalists among
others,” TCHRD’s executive director, Mr Ugen Tenzin, said while
releasing Tibet’s 2010 annual human rights report.The
90-page report documents violation of right in Tibet in the area of
civil and political rights, religious freedom, right to education and
right to subsistence. “As of 30 December 2010, there are 831
known political prisoners in Tibet out of which 360 are known to have
been legally convicted by courts and 12 Tibetans are serving life
imprisonment term. During 2010, 188 known Tibetans have been arrested
and detained, out of which 71 have already been sentenced by the
courts,” the report noted.Last year, Sonam Tsering, Pema Yeshi,
Lama Lhaga, Sonam Dorjee were given death sentence with two years
reprieve. Ven Jampel Wangchuk of Drepung monastery, Dorjee Tashi, owner
of Yak guest house, Sonam Gonpo, Tsewang Rinchen were sentenced to life
time imprisonment. Tsewang Gyatso, Karma Samdup, environmentalist and
businessman, and Tashi Rabten were sentenced to 15 to 16 years
imprisonment by the PRC government, it said. The report
further said “Since 2008, more than 60 Tibetan writers, bloggers,
intellectuals and cultural figures have been arrested”.The report criticised the Chinese government’s plan to replace Tibetan with Mandarin as the medium instruction in Tibet. “The
Tibetans have been calling for the preservation of Tibetan language as
an identity of the Tibetan race and the foundation of religion and
culture which connects to the wider issue of cultural and ethnic
identity. …In light of China’s constitution, national and
international laws, the state of PRC has the responsibility protect the
Tibetan language. The proposed change in the education system by the
regional government of Qinghai absolutely contradicts all the legal
provisions,” it added.It said the Chinese government’s
developmental policies like the Western Development Strategy, has
failed to benefit more than 80 percent of Tibetans living in rural
area. “…Little of the development money has trickled down to
the poorest sections of the society. While China claims to prioritize
economic rights of its people, it has failed to employ rights based and
need based approach to development in Tibet thus rendering extreme
difficulties in the lives of nomads and farmers,” it added.The
report reiterated the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food,
Olivier De Schutter’s call to the Chinese government not force the
Tibetan nomadic herders to sell off their livestock and resettle. “The
key to win over hearts and minds of the Tibetan people lies in
connecting with the Dalai Lama. The state should have a bold vision in
resolving the issue of Tibet through dialogue with Dalai Lama in order
to ensure a stable environment where in the people of Tibet and China
live harmoniously,” the report concluded.
