Dharamshala: On this 76th anniversary of International Human Rights Day, the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration, solemnly reflects on the persistent and systematic violations of fundamental human rights confronting the Tibetan people under the occupation of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Despite decades of sustained international advocacy, diplomatic pressure, and repeated scrutiny through various United Nations human rights mechanisms, the situation for Tibetans continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate. The PRC government’s repressive policies in Tibet have systematically undermined the cultural, religious, linguistic, and civil rights of Tibetans, transforming the peaceful country into a landscape of pervasive political oppression, cultural erasure, and severe restrictions on basic freedoms of expression, assembly, and religious practice.

In its 2024 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House has designated Tibet with a global freedom score of zero after 65 years of Chinese occupation, marking Tibet’s worst rating in at least eight years.

In recent years, the PRC government has strengthened the aggressive policies of Sinicization, and ideological control particularly aimed at Tibetan children and educational institutions. These measures include enrolling over a million Tibetan school-going children into state-run colonial-style boarding schools depriving them of the space and opportunity to learn the Tibetan language. These actions systematically eliminate Tibetan linguistic heritage, with schools banning Tibetan language use, closing private language classes, and interrogating and deposing teachers who advocate for cultural preservation. whose classroom instruction is exclusively Mandarin and communist ideology is forcibly taught.

For instance, this year in Tibet’s Nyagchu County, schools have mandated Mandarin-only communication. Prominent Tibetan private schools, such as the Gangjong Sherig Norling school in Golog in Tibet’s Amdo Province were systematically shut down, despite providing decades of cultural education. The psychological impact has been devastating, with multiple reported incidents of teenage students and monks attempting suicide due to the trauma of cultural separation and loss of traditional educational opportunities. The systematic blocking of Tibetan-language online platforms and the repeated arrest of language activist Tashi Wangchuk represent a calculated attempt to suppress cultural dissent and linguistic expression.
China’s systematic suppression of Tibetan Buddhism has intensified, with authorities implementing a multifaceted approach to restrict religious practices and cultural expression. Tibetan Buddhism continues to be subjected to intense state control, with monasteries facing severe restrictions on enrollment, mandatory political education, and direct pressure to denounce influential religious leaders like His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Monks are routinely targeted, with some sentenced to prison for leading simple prayers or maintaining religious symbols. Young monks have become particularly vulnerable, being forced out of traditional religious education and prohibited from wearing religious attire, according to reports emerging from Tibet. These actions constitute a profound intrusion and violations into the spiritual and cultural lives of Tibetan communities. Given the interference, these actions constitute a profound breach of international religious freedom standards, violating fundamental protections outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Freedom of expression has been almost entirely criminalized in Tibetan regions. Tibetans face severe consequences for the most mundane expressions of cultural identity, including social media posts, sharing images of religious leaders, or singing songs with perceived political undertones. The surveillance apparatus is extensive, involving digital monitoring, increased police presence, and even co-opting food delivery workers as auxiliary police. Tibetans have been arrested for seemingly innocuous acts like leaving a Tibetan flag on a rooftop or communicating with people outside the region.

Tibetan activists, intellectuals, artists, and religious figures continue to be the primary targets of the Chinese authorities, facing harsh interrogations, physical beatings, denial of necessities, extended periods of detention, and severe restrictions on their personal freedoms. Multiple case studies illustrate the severity of these violations, such as the tragic death of Losel, a 38-year-old monk from Sera Monastery, who was arrested in May 2024, subjected to prolonged physical beatings, systematically denied medical care, and ultimately died in detention. Similarly, police interrogations of Tibetan dam project protesters involved severe beating of detainees, with individuals being slapped, denied food, and requiring hospitalization. Political prisoners like Thupten Lodoe, a language advocate, are sentenced to years in prison for writing articles “endangering national security.” The case of Golog Palden, a Tibetan singer imprisoned for three years for performing a “politically sensitive song”, further underscores the Chinese Communist regime’s suppression of cultural expression. These actions directly contravene the UN Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and China’s own legal framework, which ostensibly protects individual rights.

Chinese authorities have consistently prioritized infrastructure and economic development over the fundamental rights and cultural practices of Tibetan people, as evidenced by large-scale displacement projects, environmental degradation, and violent suppression of local resistance. In Derge County, part of Karze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, hundreds of Tibetans protested the Gangtuo Dam project in front of the county government office building on 14 February 2024. Over 1,000 Tibetans, including monks, were arrested and local monasteries were completely locked down by the police. Also, the 19th-century Atsok Gon Dechen Choekhorling Monastery was demolished to make way for a hydropower dam, forcing 160 monks into makeshift tin huts. The pattern of oppression extends to environmental activism, as demonstrated by the detention of Tsogon Tsering, an activist who exposed illegal sand and gravel mining causing significant environmental damage to the Kyungchu River, and the arrest of four Tibetans in Markham County who dared to protest the seizure of their pastureland. These incidents are effectively transforming traditional Tibetan landscapes and communities through systematic displacement, economic marginalization, and brutal suppression of dissent.

The DIIR extends its deepest gratitude to the international community for their unwavering support in highlighting human rights violations in Tibet and calling out the PRC government to fulfil its international and domestic human rights obligations. In 2024, the international community demonstrated unprecedented solidarity in addressing human rights violations in Tibet, with 21 UN member states raising critical concerns during China’s 4th Universal Periodic Review and 13 UN experts expressing extreme concern on China’s crackdown against Tibetans’ opposition to the construction of Kamtok hydropower station in Tibet’s Derge County. Landmark legislative actions by the United States, Canada, Australia, and France highlighted systematic abuses perpetrated by the PRC government, including forced child separation through colonial-style boarding schools, forcible mass DNA collection, comprehensive cultural suppression, and religious persecution. This year, a coalition of 15 countries presented a joint UN General Assembly statement demanding urgent intervention to protect Tibetan linguistic, religious, and cultural heritage. These statements including those from the European Union and the G7 leaders reflect a growing international consensus that the survival of Tibetan identity is under critical threat, requiring a coordinated and decisive global response to resolve the Sino-Tibet Conflict in the long run and improve dismal Human Rights situation inside Tibet.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has a legal and moral obligation to uphold international human rights standards. The international community must continue to demand immediate accountability, calling for an end to these systematic violations of Tibetans’ rights and their calculated strategy of cultural erasure that systematically undermines the fundamental human rights of Tibetan people. The resilience of Tibetan people in confronting these challenges stands in powerful contrast to the harsh methods employed by Chinese authorities, highlighting the profound human spirit of resilience and resistance against systemic injustice.

– Filed by the UN, EU, and the Human Rights Desk, Tibet Advocacy Section, DIIR