Geneva: More than 80 demonstrators—including Tibetans, members of the Suisse Romande Tibet Support Group, and Chinese Christians from The House Church and The Church of Almighty God—gathered in Geneva on the opening day of the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to draw the attention of diplomats from member states to the continued deterioration of the human rights situation in Tibet.

The peaceful protest, held on 23 February 2026, was organised by the Tibetan Community in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (TCSL) and attended by Representative Thinley Chukki. Also present were TCSL President Ngedun Gyatso Drongpatsang, Vice President Kalsang Namgyal Kangrang, and members of the Executive Committee, along with executive members of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe. From the Tibet Bureau Geneva, UN Advocacy Officer Phuntsok Topgyal and Chinese Liaison Officer Sangay Kyab attended the event alongside Representative Thinley Chukki.

Addressing the demonstrators, Representative Thinley Chukki said the protest aimed to remind the international community of the deaths of more than one million Tibetans since 1959, the demolition of approximately 6,000 Tibetan monasteries, and, more recently, the coercive enrolment of over one million Tibetan children—as young as four—into state-run, colonial-style boarding schools. She noted that these policies systematically disconnect Tibetan children from their cultural and linguistic heritage. The protest, she emphasised, reflects the Tibetan people’s sustained and peaceful struggle for justice and fundamental rights. “Though progress may be slow, our efforts will ultimately bear fruit,” she concluded.

In his address, UN Special Rapporteur Nicolas highlighted reports of the forced enrolment of large numbers of Tibetan children in state-run schools, describing the policy as part of broader patterns of repression and systematic cultural erosion in Tibet.

Representative Thinley Chukki also expressed grave concern over the People’s Republic of China’s restrictions on religious freedom in Tibet and condemned interference in the issue of the reincarnation of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

The 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to take place in Geneva from 23 February to 31 March 2026, bringing together representatives of member states and civil society organisations to deliberate on pressing human rights issues worldwide.

– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Geneva