US Government Documents ‘Severe Repression and Discrimination’ in Tibet [Monday, 11 April 2011, 11:26 a.m.]
DHARAMSHALA:
The US State Department has released a comprehensive report on Tibet
documenting severe human rights abuses and social, economic and
cultural discrimination suffered by the Tibetans under the Chinese rule.”There
was severe repression of freedoms of speech, religion, association, and
movement. Authorities continued to commit serious human rights abuses,
including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests,
extrajudicial detention, and house arrest. The preservation and
development of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural, and linguistic
heritage remained a concern,” noted the 2010 Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices released on 8 April.”A number of Tibetans,
especially monks, remained incarcerated for their role in the 2008
protests and riots. People’s Armed Police (PAP) presence remained at
historically high levels in many communities across the Tibetan
Plateau. In March all major monasteries in Lhasa were guarded by
security forces,” it said.The report documents cruel treatment
meted out to Tibetan detainees, harsh prison conditions and denial of
fair public trial to the detainees. It also records severe restrictions
on the freedom of speech and press, Internet freedom, academic freedom
and protection of cultural heritage. “The economic and social
exclusion of Tibetans was a major reason why such a varied cross
section of Tibetans, including business operators, workers, students,
university graduates, farmers, and nomads participated in the 2008
protests,” it noted.Below is the full text of the report on Tibet: 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights PracticesApril 8, 2011TIBETThe
United States recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan
autonomous prefectures and counties in other provinces to be a part of
the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Tibetan population within the
TAR was approximately 2.7 million and outside the TAR was an estimated
2.9 million. The government strictly controlled information about, and
access to, the TAR and Tibetan areas outside the TAR, making it
difficult to determine accurately the scope of human rights abuses.There
was severe repression of freedoms of speech, religion, association, and
movement. The intensified controls applied following the March 2008
riots and unrest in Tibetan areas eased somewhat after the second
anniversary of the unrest and its suppression. Authorities continued to
commit serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings,
torture, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial detention, and house arrest.
The preservation and development of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural,
and linguistic heritage remained a concern.The fallout from the
March 2008 protests continued to affect the human rights situation in
Tibetan regions of the PRC. A number of Tibetans, especially monks,
remained incarcerated for their role in the 2008 protests and riots.
People’s Armed Police (PAP) presence remained at historically high
levels in many communities across the Tibetan Plateau. In March all
major monasteries in Lhasa were guarded by security forces. On March
14, many shops in the city closed to mark the anniversary of the
demonstrations and the police crackdown. Students in many areas
protested; in southern Gansu Province, students reportedly protested
for freedom, human rights, and in support of the Dalai Lama.Deprivation of LifeThere
were numerous reports that the government or its agents committed
arbitrary or unlawful killings; however, it was not possible to verify
independently these reports. There were no reports that officials
investigated or punished those responsible for the killings.In
August police shot and killed a Tibetan during a mining protest in
Phayul County in Ganzi (Kardze) Prefecture. State media claimed the
Tibetan was shot accidentally when police fired warning shots at
protesters.In December 2009 33-year-old Tibetan nun Yangkyi
Dolma died of unknown causes in a Chengdu hospital after eight months
in police custody. She was severely beaten by police and arrested in
March 2009 after she joined a protest in Ganzi County, Ganzi
Prefecture, Sichuan Province calling for human rights and the swift
return of the Dalai Lama.No further information was available
regarding the January 2009 death of Pema Tsepag following his beating
by authorities; the March 2009 killing of Phuntsok Rabten by public
security agents; the March 2009 killing of Panchou Lede in a clash
between soldiers and farmers; and the August 2009 death of Kalden
following his torture in a Lhasa prison.Following the outbreak
of protests in March 2008, the government reported that 22 persons were
killed in the Lhasa violence, including 18 civilians, one police
officer, and three rioters. However, outside observers, including
Tibetan exile groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),
variously placed the number of persons killed in Tibetan areas due to
official suppression that began March 10 at between 100 and 218.There
were reports of persons tried, found guilty, and executed for their
activities during the 2008 protests. Trials and executions were not
transparent, and requests by foreign observers to attend trials were
denied. There was not enough information available to determine whether
they were afforded due process.DisappearanceFollowing
the 2008 riots in Lhasa, authorities arbitrarily detained Tibetans,
including monks and nuns, many of whom remained missing. Official
statistics for the number detained were incomplete and covered only
limited areas. In February 2009 official media reported that 953
persons were detained or had surrendered to police in Lhasa following
the riots. The report stated that 76 persons were sentenced to prison
in connection with the unrest, and an additional 116 were awaiting
trial. Official sources have not reported the fates of these 116
persons. On December 21, an NGO reported that Jampel Wangchuk, 55, the
disciplinarian at Drepung’s Loseling College, had been sentenced to
life in prison; Konchok Nyima, 43, the scripture teacher at Drepung’s
Gomang College, had been sentenced to 20 years; and 38-year-old Ngawang
Choenyi, the scripture teacher at Drepung’s Ngakpa College, was
believed to be serving a sentence of 15 years.There was no
information on the whereabouts of five monks, including Sonam Rabgyal,
Damdul, and Rabgyal, who disappeared following a 2008 midnight raid on
the Ramoche Temple in Lhasa. The whereabouts of Paljor Norbu, a Tibetan
traditional painter sentenced to seven years in prison after a secret
trial in 2008, remained unknown at year’s end. No new information was
available on the whereabouts of Phuntsok Gyaltsen, the deputy head of
Phurbu Township, Palgon County, who was detained in 2007.The
whereabouts of the Panchen Lama, Gendun Choekyi Nyima, Tibetan
Buddhism’s second-most prominent figure after the Dalai Lama, and his
family remained unknown. In October 2009 government officials in Tibet
told a visiting foreign delegation that Gendun Choekyi Nyima was
“growing up very well, loves Chinese culture and is enjoying his life.”
The officials asserted that his identification as the 11th Panchen Lama
was “illegal.”Torture and Other Cruel and Degrading TreatmentThe
security regime employed torture and degrading treatment in dealing
with some detainees and prisoners. Tibetans repatriated from Nepal
reportedly suffered torture, including electric shocks, exposure to
cold, and severe beatings, and were forced to perform heavy physical
labor. Prisoners were subjected routinely to “political investigation”
sessions and were punished if deemed insufficiently loyal to the state.In
March 2009 police severely beat 21-year-old Tibetan nun Lobsang Khandro
from the Gema Dra-wok Nunnery for carrying out an individual protest in
Ganzi Prefecture. She allegedly carried pamphlets and prayer flags and
shouted calls for freedom and support for the Dalai Lama as she walked
to the Ganzi Prefecture government headquarters.On June 22,
well-known businessman and environmentalist Karma Samdrup, on trial for
alleged grave robbing and theft of cultural artifacts, accused his
jailers of beatings, sleep deprivation, administration of drugs that
made his ears bleed, and other mistreatment. On June 24, he was
sentenced to 15 years in prison.Late in the year four monks
from Lutsang Monastery were released from confinement in Qinghai
Province. The four were arrested and sentenced to reeducation through
labor (RTL) following a February 2009 protest by Lutsang monks outside
a government office.In May 2009 according to an NGO report,
police injured six persons in Tawu County of Ganzi Prefecture while
breaking up a protest against a hydroelectric project.According
to numerous sources, many of those detained after the rioting in 2008
were subjected to extrajudicial punishments such as severe beatings and
deprivation of food, water, and sleep for long periods. In some cases
detainees suffered broken bones and other serious injuries at the hands
of PAP and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers. According to
eyewitnesses, the bodies of persons killed during the unrest or
subsequent interrogation were disposed of secretly rather than returned
to their families.Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, head of Pangri and
Yatseg nunneries in Ganzi, told of police abuse during his April 2009
trial. He claimed that after his arrest in 2008, police handcuffed him
with arms outstretched to an iron pillar and forced him to stand while
they interrogated him continuously for four days and four nights. They
told Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche that if he did not confess his wife and
son would be detained. His trial was later postponed indefinitely.
Foreign diplomats asked to observe the trial but received no reply. In
late December 2009 a court sentenced Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche to
eight-and-a-half years in prison for illegal possession of weapons and
ammunition (see Denial of Fair Public Trial section).In May
2009 Tibetan monk Jigme Guri from Labrang Monastery was released from
prison. He alleged that prison authorities beat him repeatedly during
two months of detention beginning in 2008. According to Jigme, the
beatings left him unconscious for six days, and he required two
hospitalizations.Prison ConditionsIn December
2009 the deputy director of the TAR Justice Bureau told a foreign
diplomat that there were 3,000 prisoners in the five TAR prisons, which
are separate from the RTL system.The mass detentions connected
with the March 2008 unrest amplified already crowded and harsh prison
conditions. Some prisons, including those in the RTL system, used
forced labor to which prisoners may be assigned for three years (with
the possibility of a one-year extension) without court review. The law
states that prisoners may be required to work up to 12 hours per day,
with one rest day every two weeks, but sometimes these regulations were
not enforced; conditions varied from prison to prison.According
to numerous sources, political prisoners in Tibetan areas endured
unsanitary conditions and often had little opportunity to wash or
bathe. Many prisoners slept on the floor without blankets and sheets.
Prisoners reported being confined side by side with 20 to 30 cellmates
for many days.Former detainees reported that prisoners were not
provided with enough food. According to sources, prisoners rarely
received medical care unless they had a serious illness. Prisoners also
complained that they often failed to receive money, food, clothing, and
books sent by their families because such items were routinely
confiscated by prison guards.Arbitrary Arrest and DetentionDuring
the year arbitrary arrest and detention continued in Tibetan areas.
With a detention warrant, police legally may detain persons for up to
37 days without formally arresting or charging them. Police must notify
the relatives or employer of a detained person within 24 hours of the
detention. Following the 37-day period, police must either formally
arrest or release the detainees. In practice police frequently violated
these requirements.Official state media reported the detentions
of 4,434 persons in Tibetan areas (1,315 in Lhasa) between March and
April 2008. In 2008 official media reported that approximately 1,317
persons were arrested in the March-April time frame, 1,115 of whom were
released afterwards. Overseas organizations placed the total number
detainedat more than 5,600.Many prisoners were subject to the RTL system or other forms of detention not subject to judicial review.Denial of Fair Public TrialLegal
safeguards for Tibetans detained or imprisoned were inadequate in both
design and implementation. According to a TAR Bureau of Justice
official, all seven cities and prefectures had established legal
assistance centers that offered services in the Tibetan language.
Prisoners may request a meeting with a government- appointed attorney,
but in practice many defendants did not have access to legal
representation.According to the Tibet Daily, the TAR was
strengthening the Communist Party’s leadership over lawyers in the
region in order to ensure that the work of lawyers “goes in the correct
direction.” Of the 18 law firms in the TAR, 11 had their own Communist
Party committee and six shared a Communist Party committee with the
Justice Bureau in their prefecture. A party development leader was
assigned to the law firm that had no party organization.Ethnic
Han lawyers who volunteered to represent detainees involved in the 2008
protests received warnings from authorities not to take on such cases.
Authorities threatened some with punishment or placed them under police
surveillance. In cases that authorities claimed involve state security,
trials often were cursory and closed. Authorities denied multiple
requests from foreign diplomats to observe the trials of those charged
with crimes related to the 2008 unrest. By law maximum prison sentences
for crimes such as “endangering state security” and “splitting the
country” are 15 years for each count, not to exceed 20 years in total.
Authorities sentenced Tibetans for alleged support of Tibetan
independence regardless of whether their activities involved violence.Political Prisoners and DetaineesDue
to the lack of independent access to prisoners and prisons, it was
impossible to ascertain the number of Tibetan political prisoners. A
number of the Tibetans arrested or detained in the days and weeks
following the spring 2008 protests were sentenced throughout 2010. Many
prisoners were held in the extrajudicial RTL prisons operated by the
Ministry of Public Security and never appeared in public court.Based
on information available from the U.S. Congressional Executive
Commission on China’s political prisoner database, as of September 3,
there were 824 Tibetan political prisoners imprisoned in Tibetan areas.
Of these, 765 were Tibetans detained on or after March 10, 2008, and 59
were Tibetans detained prior to March 10, 2008. Of the 765 Tibetan
political prisoners who were detained on or after March 10, 2008, 443
(approximately 58 percent) were Tibetan Buddhist “religious
professionals” (monks, nuns, and trulkus, or high-ranking reincarnated
lamas). Sentencing information was available for 152 of the 824
Tibetans. Of the 152 Tibetan political prisoners for whom sentencing
information is available, 116 were detained on or after March 10, 2008.
According to an NGO report, as of December 30, there were 831 known
political prisoners in Tibet, of whom 360 were known to have been
convicted by courts; 12 Tibetans were serving life sentences. The
actual number of Tibetan political prisoners and detainees was believed
to be much higher. An unknown number of prisoners continued to be held
under the RTL system.In January authorities sentenced singer
Tashi Dhondrup to 15 months’ hard labor for writing, recording, and
distributing songs with lyrics such as: “The occupation and denial of
freedom of Tibetans/This is torture without trace.”On April 6,
at Northwest Nationalities University in Lanzhou, authorities detained
Tashi Rabten, editor of the banned literary magazine Eastern Snow
Mountain, which discussed the 2008 protests.On April 23,
authorities detained the Tibetan writer Tagyal (pen name Shogdung) in
Xining. Shogdung is the author of the banned book Opening of Earth and
Sky, which severely criticized PRC government policies in Tibetan areas
and praised the 2008 protests against the government. Authorities
considered the book subversive for its criticism of the PRC government:
On October 14, Tagyal was released on bail, and at year’s end was
awaiting trial.On May 20, authorities arrested writer Doku
Tsultrim apparently because of material he was preparing to publish on
Tibetan youth after the April 14 Yushu earthquake.On May 25,
the Lhasa Intermediate Court sentenced Sonam Tsering to death with two
years reprieve to consider his post-sentencing behavior for inciting
and participating in the Lhasa riot; five others were sentenced to
between three and seven years in prison.On June 26, authorities
sentenced businessman Dorje Tashi, owner of the Yak Hotel in Lhasa, to
life in prison. Although the authorities kept the charges against him
secret, they reportedly involved helping exile groups.In
February 2009 authorities handed down sentences of 18 months to three
years in prison to six Tibetans in Ganzi Prefecture for participating
in protests.In May 2009 according to an NGO report, authorities
sentenced Tsultrim Gyatso, a monk of Labrang Monastery in southern
Gansu Province, to life imprisonment for “endangering state security.”According
to the Agence France Presse, early in 2009 authorities handed down
sentences ranging from three years to life in prison to a total of 76
persons involved in the March 2008 riots.An NGO reported that
in July 2009 the Lithang County, Ganzi Prefecture Intermediate People’s
Court sentenced Tibetan monk Jamyang Tenzin of Yonru Geyden Rabgayling
Monastery, Lithang County, to three years’ imprisonment for opposing a
work team sent to conduct a “patriotic education campaign” at his
monastery.In August 2009 an NGO reported that eight Tibetans in
Machen County were sentenced to one to seven years in prison following
protests related to the suicide of Tashi Sangpo, which was reportedly
triggered by his inhumane treatment at the hands of the police.In
December 2009 authorities sentenced filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen to six
years in prison for “splittism” for his film Leaving Fear Behind, which
documented the lives of Tibetans in China and their views on the Dalai
Lama.In 2009 in Barkham County, Aba (Ngaba) Prefecture, four
students were imprisoned for working on a student newspaper at their
Tibetan high school. One of the students was sent to an RTL camp in
Mianyang. Charges were not brought against the other three. Three
teachers at the high school were fired in connection with this case.Wangdu
(Wangdui), a former employee of an HIV/AIDS prevention project run by a
foreign NGO, who in 2008 was sentenced to life imprisonment for
engaging in “espionage” on behalf of the “Dalai clique,” remained in
prison. Migmar Dhondup, another former employee of a foreign NGO, also
remained in prison on the same charge.Prominent Buddhist figure
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was serving a life sentence in a Sichuan prison
on separatism, firearms, and explosives charges. According to Tibetan
sources, the firearms were left at his temple by a group who had
renounced hunting.Dozens of monks and nuns who resisted “patriotic education” campaigns before the 2008 protests continued serving prison terms.According
to an NGO, the PSB arrested Kunga Tsangyang, a monk from the Labrang
Monastery, during a late-night raid in March 2009. The reported arrest
was part of a continuing sweep of Tibetan Internet writers that began
after the 2008 unrest. In November 2009 he was sentenced to five years
in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets in a closed-door trial
by the Gannan Intermediate People’s Court in Gansu Province.In
December 2009 Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, a senior religious leader who
allegedly had been tortured to extract a false confession, was
sentenced to seven years for misappropriation of public assets and
one-and-a-half years for illegal possession of ammunition after dozens
of nuns at a nunnery he headed staged a peaceful protest inMay
2008. Prosecutors maintained that a pistol and ammunition were found
during a police raid, but Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche maintained that he
had been framed. The monk’s lawyer stated he had given a false
confession after police deprived him of sleep for four days (see
Torture section).Late in 2008 the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Dorje Kangzhu, a
34-year-old nun, to seven years in prison for “inciting secession.” She
was arrested for distributing Tibetan independence leaflets and
shouting pro-Tibet slogans in 2008.The following political
prisoners remained incarcerated: Rongye Adrak, Adak Lupoe, Lama Jigme
Tenzin (Jinmei Danzeng) aka Bangri Chogtrul, Jarib Lothog, monk Lodroe,
Khenpo Jinpa, art teacher and musician Kunkhyen, Buchung; Penpa, Bangri
Chogtrul Rinpoche, monk Choeying Khedrub (Quyin Kezhu), Dawa (also
called Gyaltsen Namdak),monk Lobsang Palden, teacher Dolma Kyab,
Sherab Yonten, Sonam Gyelpo, retired physician Yeshe Choedron (Yixi
Quzhen), monk Tenzin Bucheng (Danzeng Puqiong), monk Lobsang Ngodrub,
and monk Tsering Dhondup.Freedom of Speech and PressTibetans
who spoke to foreign reporters, attempted to relay information to
foreigners outside the country, or passed information regarding the
2008 protests were subject to harassment or detention. During 2009, 59
individuals were convicted for “creating and spreading rumors” after
the 2008 unrest.The government severely restricted travel by
foreign journalists to Tibetan areas. In the TAR, foreign journalists
can gain access to the region only by participating in highly
structured government organized tours, where the constant presence of
government minders makes independent reporting difficult. Outside the
TAR, foreign journalists frequently were expelled from Tibetan areas
despite government rules, adopted in 2008, stating that foreign
journalists do not need the permission of local authorities to conduct
reporting. In June the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC)
called on China to apply its own reporting regulations and open the TAR
to foreign journalists. An FCCC survey found that 86 percent of
respondents said that it was not possible to report accurately and
comprehensively about Tibet. Respondents submitted 35 applicationsfor
travel to the TAR over the past two years; only four were approved.
Some foreign media were able to report from Yushu immediately after the
earthquake without serious government interference.In March
2009 the FCCC urged the government to halt detentions of journalists
and open Tibetan areas for news coverage. Reporters from at least six
different news organizations were detained or had their property
confiscated when they attempted to visit Tibetan areas of Gansu,
Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces ahead of the first anniversary of social
unrest in Tibet.Tibetans noted that the authorities had ordered
that coverage of the Yushu relief efforts should focus on the army’s
efforts and should downplay the work of Tibetan monks.On April
6, two Tibetan writers, Tashi Rabten and Druklo, were taken into
custody by police during a raid at their hostel at the Northwest
University for Nationalities in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. Tashi Rabten
was one of four Tibetan writers whose arrest the NGO Reporters Without
Borders reported in August 2009. The other three were Zhuori Cicheng,
the monk Gang Ni, and Kang Gongque. Kang Gongque was sentenced to two
years in a Sichuan Province prison.On December 30, the Aba
Intermediate Court found three Tibetan writers, Jangtse Dhonko, Bhudha
and Kalsang Jinpa, guilty of splittism. Jangtse and Bhuda were each
sentenced to four year’ imprisonment; Kalsang Jinpa was given a
three-year sentence.The government continued to jam radio
broadcasts of Voice of America’s (VOA) and Radio Free Asia’s (RFA)
Tibetan- and Chinese-language services and the foreign-based Voice of
Tibet. Some Tibetans reported that at times they were able to receive
such radio broadcasts despite frequent jamming. One monk in Sichuan
observed that he might be able to hear VOA/RFA broadcasts “if he bought
a better radio”; however, “if he were caught with a better radio he
would be punished.” In Tibetan areas of southern Gansu Province and the
Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province police
confiscated or destroyed satellite dishes suspected of receiving VOA
Tibetan-language television as well as VOA and RFA audio satellite
channels. The dishes have been replaced with government-controlled
cable television systems. Some Tibetans were able to listen to overseas
Tibetan-language radio and television on the Internet.Domestic journalists did not report on repression in Tibetan areas; bloggers who did so faced punishment.Internet FreedomIn
August the Internet magazine Tibetan Review reported that Internet
cafes across Tibet had been ordered to finish installing a
“state-of-the-art” surveillance system by the end of the month. The
system would not only restrict content that could be viewed but would
also monitor users’ Internet activities. Identity cards belonging to
the person using the Internet must be swiped to allow online access,
and viewed content could then be traced back to that identity. The
order reportedly has been implemented.During major religious,
cultural, and political festivals in Tibetan areas, many Web sites were
shut down and Internet cafes were closely monitored.The
Internet blog of well-known Tibetan poet and journalist, Tsering
Woeser, remained inaccessible to Internet users inside China due to
official Internet filtering. Authorities continued to refuse to issue
Woeser a passport. Most foreign Tibet-related Websites critical of
official policy in Tibetan areas were blocked to users in China
throughout the year.Official censorship greatly hampered the
development of Tibetan-language Internet sites. Although the government
funded projects designed to improve Tibetan-language computer
interfaces, security agencies responsible for monitoring the Internet
often lacked the language skills necessary to monitor Tibetan content.
As a result, Tibetan-language blogs and Web sites were subject to
indiscriminate censorship, with entire sites closed down even when the
content did not appear to touch on sensitive topics.In March
authorities cut off both Internet and cell phone text messaging in
various parts of Ganzi and Aba prefectures in Sichuan Province and in
the TAR. In June when the two sons of the leader of the Sakya school of
Tibetan Buddhism made a short visit to the Sakya Monastery in the TAR,
cell phone connections and the Internet in Sakya County were completely
shut down.In February 2009 police in Machu County, Gannan
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, arrested Kunchok Tsephel Gopey Tsang,
owner of the Tibetan cultural and literary Web site The Lamp, which was
taken off the Internet for several months. In November 2009 he was
sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets.In
2009 according to an NGO, Gonpo Tserang was sentenced in Dechen, TAR,
to three years in prison for “inciting separatism” by sending e-mail
and text messages about the March 2008 protests. The verdict from the
trial stated that “Gonpo Tserang used the Internet to deliberately
fabricate rumors, distorting the true situation to incite separatism.”Tibet
activists inside and outside of China have been harassed by
well-organized computer-hacking attacks originating from within China
according to a foreign-based study group.Cell phone and
Internet service in the TAR and the Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Qinghai,
and Gansu provinces were curtailed at times during the March period of
sensitive anniversaries and the new “Serf Liberation Day” (see Academic
Freedom and Protection of Cultural Heritage).Academic Freedom and Protection of Cultural HeritageAuthorities
in Tibetan areas required professors and students at institutions of
higher education to attend political education sessions in an effort to
prevent separatist political and religious activities on campus. Ethnic
Tibetan academics were frequently encouraged to participate in
government propaganda efforts, such as by making public speeches
supporting government policies or accepting interviews by official
media. Academics who failed to cooperate with such efforts faced
diminished prospects for promotion. Academics in China who publicly
criticized the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policies on Tibetan
affairs faced official reprisal. The government controlled curricula,
texts, and other course materials as well as the publication of
historically or politically sensitive academic books. Authorities
frequently denied permission to Tibetan academics to travel overseas
for conferences and academic/cultural exchanges.Planned urban
economic growth, rapid infrastructure development, the growing
non-Tibetan population, the expanding tourism industry, the forced
resettlement of nomads and farmers, the weakening of Tibetan-language
education at the middle and high school levels, and the introduction of
more modern cultural influences continued to disrupt traditional living
patterns and customs and marginalized the local population.In
March the authorities in Lhasa launched another in a series of “Strike
Hard” campaigns. According to official reports, in the early days of
the campaign, they raided 4,115 rented accommodations; checked 60
crime-prone areas; carried out comprehensive checks on 7,347
nonpermanent residents of the city; raided more than 70 guest houses,
Internet cafes, entertainment centers, and bars; and detained 435
persons. Although ostensibly an anticrime operation, police searched
private homes, guest houses, hotels, bars, and Internet cafes for
photographs of the Dalai Lama and other politically forbidden items.
Police examined the cell phones of Lhasa residents to search for
“reactionary music” from India and photographs of the Dalai Lama. Human
rights groups believed the motive behind the “strike hard” campaign was
to harass human rights activists and supporters of Tibetan independence.On
March 28, the TAR marked its second annual observance of “Serf
Emancipation Day,” the day in 1959 that China’s rulers formally
abolished the Dalai Lama’s regional government. During the official
celebration, Tibetan officials denounced the Dalai Lama.The
Dalai Lama and other observers expressed concern that development
projects and other central government policies disproportionately
benefited non-Tibetans and continued to promote a considerable influx
of Han, Hui, and other ethnic groups into the TAR.Residents
lacked the right to play a role in protecting their cultural heritage,
including their environment. In 2007 the TAR government revised the TAR
Cultural Relics Protection Regulations, asserting ownership over
religious relics and monasteries.Tibetans protested against
mining or other industrial activities that harm the environment. In
September Radio Free Asia reported that Tibetan demonstrators in Driru
County, TAR protested construction of a dam. In August police shot and
killed 47-year-old protester Babo at a mine in a Tibetan area of
Sichuan. Local Tibetans said that three Tibetans were shot in the
incident. On May 25, police opened fire on Tibetans at a cement factory
in Xiahe (Labrang) County in Gansu Province; 15 Tibetans sustained
gunshot wounds or injuries from police beatings according to an exile
source in contact with Tibetans in the area.Tibetan and
Mandarin Chinese are official languages in the TAR, and both languages
appeared on some, although not all, public and commercial signs. In
most cases, Chinese signage was in large characters, with Tibetan in
small letters, sometimes misspelled, and often there was no Tibetan at
all. Inside official buildings and businesses, including banks, post
offices, and hospitals, very little signage in Tibetan could be found
and in many instances, forms and documents for use by citizens or
customers were available only in Mandarin. Mandarin was widely spoken
and was used for most official communications. The illiteracy rate
among Tibetans was more than five times higher (47.6 percent) than the
national average (9.1 percent), according to 2000 census data. In many
rural and nomadic areas, children received only one to three years of
Tibetan-language education before continuing their education in a
Mandarin-language school. According to official figures, the illiteracy
rate among youth and working-age adults fell from 30.9 percent in 2003
to 2.4 percent in 2008.According to a 2006 report by the Xinhua
News Agency, a looser definition of literacy was used for Tibetan
speakers than for Mandarin speakers in rural Tibet. Tibetanspeaking
peasants and nomads were considered literate by PRC government
standards if they could read and write the 30 basic letters of the
Tibetan alphabet and read and write simple notes. However, Tibetan
writing commonly stacks letters on top of one another creating an
additional 89 letters beyond the basic 30. Tibetans regard persons who
only recognize the 30 letters as semiliterate. Mandarin-speaking nomads
and herders were considered literate if they could recognize 1,500
Chinese characters.The Primary/Middle School Tibetan-language
Curriculum Committee of the Five Provinces (TAR, Sichuan, Qinghai,
Gansu, and Yunnan) established a national Tibetan-language curriculum
for primary and middle schools in Tibetan areas that was predominantly
translated directly from a standard Chinese curriculum, offering
Tibetan students very little insight into their own culture, history,
and values. Few elementary schools in Tibetan areas used Tibetan as the
primary language of instruction. In Kangding (Dartsedo), capital of
Ganzi Prefecture, there were no elementary schools where Tibetan
children could study in Tibetan. Tibetan students were required to
study Mandarin, which generally was used to teach most subjects. In
middle and high schools–even some officially designated as Tibetan
schools–teachers nearly always used Tibetan only to teach classes in
Tibetan language, literature, and culture, and taught all other classes
in Mandarin. Of more than 15 middle and high schools in Aba Prefecture
of Sichuan Province, in only three was the curriculum taught primarily
in Tibetan.On October 19, a provincial government decision to
replace Tibetan with Mandarin as the main medium of instruction in
Tibetan schools in Qinghai Province set off protests by several
thousand Tibetan students in Tongren (Rebkong), Huangnan (Malho)
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai. The protesters held banners
in both Mandarin and Tibetan calling for “Equality for Nationalities”
and “Expand the Use of the Tibetan Language” and “Freedom for the
Nationalities.”As a practical matter, proficiency in Mandarin
was essential to qualify for higher education. China’s most prestigious
universities provided no instruction in Tibetan or other ethnic
minority languages. Lower-ranked universities established to serve
ethnic minority students only offered Tibetan-language instruction in
courses focused on the study of the Tibetan language or culture. At the
minority universities, Tibetans and other ethnic minority students
typically achieved high proficiency in Mandarin, as it was the medium
for much of the curriculum, such as computer and business courses.Leading
universities generally required English-language proficiency for
matriculation. Most graduates of Tibetan schools, however, learned only
Mandarin and Tibetan and were thus unable to attend the better
universities. This resulted in a shortage of Tibetans trained in
science and engineering and, consequently, a near-total reliance on
imported technical specialists from outside Tibetan areas to work on
development projects.On April 3, Tibetan students of the Machu
Tibetan Middle School protested the firing of the school’s headmaster
Kyabchen Dedrol and two Tibetan assistants Do Re and Choekyong Tseten.
Chinese authorities fired them following a student-led protest. In
China, school authorities were held strictly accountable for the
political activities of their students.Freedom of ReligionFor
a complete discussion of religious freedom, please see the 2010
International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/g/drl/irf/rpt.Freedom of MovementThe
law provides for the freedom to travel; however, in practice the
government strictly regulated travel and freedom of movement of
Tibetans.Freedom of movement, particularly for monks and nuns,
was limited severely within Lhasa and throughout the TAR, and in
Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces. It was less of
a problem in Yunnan, where there were many fewer monasteries and
nunneries than other Tibetan areas. The PAP and local PSBs set up
multiple roadblocks and checkpoints on major roads, in cities, and on
the outskirts of monasteries. Tibetans traveling in religious attire
were subject to extra scrutiny by police at roadside checkpoints.
Several Tibetan monks reported that it remained difficult to travel
outside their home monasteries, with officials frequently denying
permission for outside monks to stay temporarily at a particular
monastery for religious education. After the Yushu earthquake, many
monks from neighboring counties and provinces were forced to leave,
although local Tibetans needed their help to conduct funeral ceremonies
for the many earthquake victims.Many Tibetans, particularly
prominent religious figures, scholars, and dissidents, as well as those
from rural areas, continued to report difficulties obtaining passports.
It has been more difficult for Tibetans to obtain new or renew existing
passports following the 2008 protests. In some cases, in order to
obtain passports Tibetans had to promise not to travel to India. In
other cases, Tibetan students with scholarships to foreign universities
could not study abroad because authorities refused to issue them
passports. Some Tibetans were able to obtain passports only after
paying substantial bribes to government officials.Tibetans
continued to encounter substantial difficulties and obstacles in
traveling to India for religious, educational, and other purposes.
Ethnic Tibetan government and CCP cadres in the TAR and Ganzi
Prefecture were not allowed to send their children to study abroad. In
addition to passport restrictions, reinforcement of border posts made
travel, such as pilgrimages via Nepal to India to see the Dalai Lama,
more difficult.The government restricted the movement of
Tibetans during sensitive anniversaries and events, and increased
controls over border areas at these times. There were reports of
arbitrary detentions of persons, particularly monks and nuns, returning
from India and Nepal. Detentions generally lasted for several months,
although in most cases authorities did not bring formal charges against
prisoners.Tight border controls sharply limited the number of
persons crossing the border into Nepal and India. The Tibetan Reception
Center in Kathmandu received 874 new Tibetan arrivals. In 2009 there
were 838 arrivals, in 2008 there were 596, and in 2007 there were 2,156.The
Dalai Lama, the Karmapa, Sakya Trizin, Kyabje Trulshuk Rinpoche, and
Gyalwa Menri Trizin–leaders of all the schools of Tibetan
Buddhism–remained in exile. The whereabouts of the Panchen Lama,
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, remained unknown.Many non-Tibetan Chinese
citizens worked in Tibetan regions. Buddhist monks, particularly Han,
were allowed only temporary visits to Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.
Local religious affairs authorities often forbid Han or foreign
Buddhists from staying in monasteries for long-term study.The
government also regulated foreign travel to the TAR. In accordance with
a 1989 regulation, foreign visitors were required to obtain an official
confirmation letter issued by the government before entering the TAR.
Most tourists obtained such letters by booking tours through officially
registered travel agencies.Authorities halted nearly all
foreign travel to Lhasa for several months following the 2008
demonstrations. Foreign tourists were again banned from the TAR in
March 2009 during the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.
After March the number of foreign tourists traveling to the TAR
increased, but authorities enforced more tightly than before existing
rules that foreign visitors must remain with tour groups.Foreign
nationals who were granted official permission to travel to Lhasa had
their movements restricted within the city and surrounding areas.
Officials continued to restrict severely the access of diplomats and
journalists to Tibet. Foreign officials and reporters were able to
travel to the region only on closely chaperoned trips arranged by the
Tibet Foreign Affairs Office. Foreign diplomats must obtain permission
from the TAR’s Foreign Affairs Office for each visit to the TAR;
permission was difficult to obtain. During the year three-quarters of
the U.S. requests for official travel to the TAR were denied. In
September authorities approved a visit to Lhasa by the U.S. Ambassador.Official
visits to the TAR were supervised closely, and delegation members were
afforded very few opportunities to meet local residents not previously
approved by the authorities. For those diplomatic trips that were
approved, the TAR Foreign Affairs Office required some high-level
delegations to stay at the government-affiliated Lhasa Hotel, in the
western, predominantly ethnic Han portion of Lhasa, rather than hotels
in the Tibetan quarter.With the exception of a few highly
controlled trips, authorities repeatedly denied requests for
international observers to visit Tibetan areas.National MinoritiesAlthough
TAR census figures showed that Tibetans made up 92 percent of the TAR’s
permanently registered population, official figures did not include a
large number of long-, medium-, and short-term Han residents, such as
cadres, skilled workers, unskilled laborers, military and paramilitary
troops, and their dependents. Chinese social scientists estimated the
number of this floating population, including tourists and visitors on
short-term business trips, for Lhasa alone was more than 200,000
(nearly half the population of Lhasa and more than 10 percent of the
TAR’s population) during the May to November high season for tourism
and migrant workers. According to a Lhasa city official, 260,000 of the
450,000 individuals living in downtown Lhasa during the year belonged
to the floating population.Migrants to the TAR overwhelmingly
were concentrated in urban areas, where government economic policies
disproportionately benefited ethnic Han Chinese. Small businesses,
mostly restaurants and retail shops, run by ethnic Han and Hui migrants
predominated in cities throughout Tibetan areas. Tibetans continued to
make up nearly 98 percent of the rural population, according to
official census figures.The government continued its campaign
to resettle Tibetan nomads into urban areas across the TAR and other
Tibetan areas. Officials offered nomads monetary incentives to kill or
sell their livestock and move to newly created Tibetan communities.
However, there were reports of compulsory resettlement where promised
compensation was either inadequate or not paid at all.According
to a December 2009, China News Net report, 230,000 households in the
TAR, including 1.2 million farmers and herders, had been resettled into
permanent housing–80 percent of the target population.Improving
housing conditions and education for Tibet’s poorest were among the
goals of resettlement, yet a requirement that villagers build houses
according to strict official specifications within two or three years
often forced resettled families into debt to cover construction costs.Although
a state media report during the year noted that Tibetans and other
minority ethnic groups made up 70 percent of government employees at
the provincial level in the TAR, ethnic Han continued to hold the top
CCP positions in nearly all counties and prefectures, including that of
TAR party secretary. Within the TAR, ethnic Han continued to hold all
the top security, military, financial, economic, legal, judicial and
educational positions. Tibetans holding government and party positions
were often prohibited from openly worshipping at monasteries or
practicing their religion.The economic and social exclusion of
Tibetans was a major reason why such a varied cross section of
Tibetans, including business operators, workers, students, university
graduates, farmers, and nomads participated in the 2008 protests. Some
Tibetans reported that they experienced discrimination in employment,
and some job advertisements in the TAR noted that Tibetans need not
apply. Some claimed that ethnic Han Chinese were hired preferentially
for many jobs and received greater pay for the same work. Some Tibetans
reported that it was more difficult for ethnic Tibetans than Han to
obtain permits and loans to open businesses. Continued discriminatory
treatment of Tibetans’ applications for passports is another source of
dissatisfaction. The use of Mandarin was widespread in urban areas, and
many businesses limited employment opportunities for Tibetans who did
not speak Mandarin. Restrictions on international NGOs that provide
assistance to Tibetan communities resulted in the elimination of many
NGO programs and the expulsion of many foreign NGO workers from the TAR.The
TAR tourism bureau continued its policy of refusing to hire Tibetan
tour guides educated in India or Nepal. Government officials stated
that all tour guides working in the TAR were required to seek
employment with the Tourism Bureau and pass a licensing exam on tourism
and political ideology. The government’s stated intent was to ensure
that all tour guides provided visitors with the government’s position
opposing Tibetan independence and the activities of the Dalai Lama.
Some ethnic Tibetan tour guides in the TAR complained of unfair
competition from government-sponsored “Help Tibet” tour guides brought
in from outside the TAR and put to work after receiving a crash course
on Tibet.Women and ChildrenThere were no formal
restrictions on women’s participation in the political system, and
women held many lower-level government positions. However, women were
underrepresented at the provincial and prefecture levels of government.
According to an official Web site, female cadres in the TAR accounted
for more than 30 percent of the TAR’s total cadres.There was no
information on the incidence of rape or domestic violence. In a Tibetan
area of Sichuan Province, a resident said that sex-based violence,
including rape, was common among Tibetan herders and often went
unreported.The TAR Health Bureau reported 102 cases of HIV/AIDS
in the TAR between 1993 and 2009. Lack of knowledge about HIV
transmission and economic pressures on women and girls engaged in
prostitution led them to engage in unprotected sex. Diagnosis and
treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS,
appeared to be nondiscriminatory.Family-planning policies
permitted Tibetans and members of other relatively small minority
groups to have more children than ethnic Han. Some urban Tibetans who
have permanent employment, as well as CCP members and government
officials, and some ethnic Han living in Tibetan areas, generally were
limited to two children. Rural Tibetans were encouraged, but not
required, to limit births to three children.According to
official policy, primary education was compulsory, free, and universal.
According to official TAR statistics, 96.5 percent of children between
the ages of six and 13 attended school, and 90 percent of the TAR’s
520,000 primary school students completed lower middle school, for a
total of nine years of education. In 2003 the UN special rapporteur on
the right to education reported that official PRC education statistics
did not accurately reflect attendance and were not independently
verified.The TAR is one of the few areas of the PRC that does
not have a skewed sex ratio resulting from sex-selective abortion and
inadequate health care for female infants.
