You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Dhondhup Wangchen' tag.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA BRIEFING
6 March 2009
People’s Republic of China – Tibet Autonomous Region:
A year of escalating human rights violations
10 March 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising in 1959, which led to the Dalai Lama fleeing to India.
Last year, the anniversary saw a wave of largely peaceful protests in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan-populated areas in neighbouring provinces. The Chinese authorities reported that during the 2008 protests, 21 people were killed by violent protestors while Tibetan sources say that over 100 Tibetans were killed. Amnesty International issued a report in June 2008 urging the Chinese authorities to open the region to independent human rights experts and journalists so that discrepancies in reports could be confirmed.
According to the United States’ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, more than 1,000 people who were detained for the protests of March 2008 remain unaccounted for.
Overseas Tibetan organizations have documented between 130-200 individual protests since March 2008. The continued lock-down in Tibet has made independent verification of reports difficult but confirmed reports of human rights violations are sufficient to warrant an independent investigation.
The Chinese authorities failure to address the long-standing grievances of the Tibetan people, including unequal employment and educational opportunities, scores of Tibetans detained and the intensification of the “patriotic education” campaign, have fuelled continued protests over the past 12 months. In addition to monks and nuns, laypeople and nomads have been taking part in these popular protests which have taken place across Tibetan-populated areas. Reports of Tibetan protests are matched by those of tightened security measures, especially over the recent weeks leading up to sensitive anniversaries in March. Some observers have interpreted the measures which include the removal of monks and nuns from monasteries, an increasing presence of People’s Armed Police and a “Strike Hard Campaign”, as acts of provocation.
This year the regional authorities have named 28 March ‘Serf Emancipation Day’ to mark 50 years since the establishment of TAR under Chinese Communist Party rule and to “strengthen Tibetans patriotism and expose the Dalai Lama clique”. The regional authorities, interviewed by Radio Free Asia, have acknowledged that Tibetans are reluctant to mark the day – yet the authorities are trying to force festive celebrations.
