October 2001
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Monks at Sera Monastery face detentions
[ read ]
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A Tibetan juvenile detained in Nepal
[ read ]
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Begging in Lhasa
[ read ]
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Border Security halts mass freedom flight
[ read ]
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Chinese monopoly over business and employment sectors in Lhasa
[ read ]
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Tibetan leader's transfer ignites local protest
[ read ]
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Tibetan TV crew member share behind-the-scene story
[ read ]
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Ordeal of a female prisoner of conscience
[ read ]
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Solidarity Network Meeting at Dharamsala, 20-23 September 2001
[ read ]
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School Tour with Amnesty UK
[ read ]
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Human Rights Workshop at Delhi, 23-29 September 2001
[ read ]
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Martin Ennals Award nomination
[ read ]
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Educational Talk series in three Tibetan schools
[ read ]
According to reliable information received from Tibet, the
Public Security Bureau (PSB) in Shigatse "Tibet Autonomous
Region" ("TAR") detained a monk while he was listening to
an audiotape containing teachings of the Dalai Lama.
In January 2001, at around 10 p.m., a patrolling officer
based in the monastery overheard the tape being played
in Jampel Gyatso's room. Gyatso belonged to the Tsangpa
Khangtsen (Tsangpa Unit) of Sera Monastery. The officer
ransacked his room for further incriminating evidences
and found the audiotape.
Gyatso was immediately detained in Gutsa Detention Centre,
where he remains incarcerated. It is reported that his
family and friends are prohibited from visiting him at
the detention centre.
Jampel Gyatso, 26, was born in Lhatse County, Shigatse
"TAR". Since 1994, he has resided in Sera Monastery as an
"unregistered monk" and studied Buddhist philosophy.
Two months later, another detention occurred at Sera
Monastery. In March 2001, Tendar, a 30-year-old monk,
was detained on suspicion of involvement in political
activities. His current whereabouts and place of detention
are unknown. Tendar is originally from Purung County in
Shigatse "TAR", and was well respected in the monastery
for his mastery over Buddhist philosophy.
Sera Monastery has 580 "registered monks" (red-card
holders) and 200 "unregistered" monks (white-card
holders). The "unregistered" monks are prohibited from
attending monastic gatherings but many still engage in
personal studies.
Since 1996, the Chinese government has stationed a
Democratic Management Committee (DMC) in every religious
institutions in Tibet.Three times a month, this committee
holds compulsory meetings to indoctrinate the monks with
political education and the DMC's rules. Failure to attend
the meeting results in a fine of 50 Yuan (eight yuan is
equivalent to one US $) per session.
[ top ]
According to a letter dated 7 May 2001, received recently
by the Tibetan Reception Centre (TRC) in Kathmandu, the
border police has detained a boy and his guide at Dulikhel
Checkpost near Tibet-Nepal border, on 3 May 2001.
Tsewang Phurbu,
14, is originally from Tingri County,
Shigatse "TAR", and had recently worked as a waiter.
His father, Nyima Tsering and mother, Shedol, live in Tibet.
In accordance with his parents' wishes, Phurbu tried to escape
Tibet to seek audience with the Dalai Lama in India and
then to pursue study in a school administered by the
Tibetan government-in-exile.
Phurbu sought the help of a Sherpa guide to escape
through the Nepal border. The pair left Dram border on
2 May 2001, around 5 p.m., and walked the night along a
forest track. The next morning, they rode in a taxi for
a considerable distance. The guide suggested Phurbu to
go ahead in a public bus and that he would pick him up
soon. Phurbu followed the instruction and travelled till
the guide who came in a taxi, stopped the bus. Phurbu got
down to continue riding in the taxi. The guide assured
Phurbu that he was safe and he would reach Nepal soon.
However, after few hours, the Nepali border police at
Dulikhel Checkpost stopped the taxi and interrogated the
passengers. Since Phurbu could not speak either Nepali or
English, he was immediately recognised as a newcomer.
He along with the guide were detained in Dulikhel for two
days before being handed over to the Nepali Immigration
Department.
During their detention by the immigration department,
the guide suggested they would break the jail together.
However, Phurbu reassured the guide that the TRC
would soon help bail them out. On the night of 5 May 2001,
the guide woke up Phurbu and asked him to help break the
windows, but Phurbu refused to assist.The guide finally
managed to break the window and escaped, only to be
caught outside.
The attempted escape resulted in both Phurbu and the guide
being transferred to Dili Bazaar Jail in Kathmandu on 6 May 2001.
The guide was released on payment of a fine,
although the amount is unknown. The officers there asked
Phurbu to pay a fine of 17,200 NC. As he did not have the
money, he sent a letter to the Tibetan Reception Centre
appealing for help.
It is believed that Phurbu will be released as soon as the
fines are paid. TCHRD understands that relatives of Phurbu
in Nepal are trying to raise money to secure his bail.
[ top ]
Jampa Wangchok, a recently-arrived refugee from Tibet,
provided information on begging in Lhasa.
Wangchok and his brother arrived in Lhasa in July 2000.
As they had no money, they begged for alms in order to
survive. According to Wangchok, the beggars would sit
along the circumambulation route of Potala Palace every
morning. The patrol officers, during their rounds around
11 am, would forcefully remove the beggars from the place.
However, unfettered by the restrictions imposed upon them,
the beggars would return to the same place around 4 pm.
Except for a few physically handicapped Chinese beggars,
the other beggars were Tibetans originating from
remote areas of Tibet.
The number of beggars increases significantly during
religious occasions. For instance, on 15th day of the
Tibetan calendar (considered as the holiest day of the
month), particularly the fourth month, hundreds of beggars
would line up along the routes and each beggar would
receive an average of 100 yuan per day. While on other
days, a beggar would receive an average of 10 yuan a day.
All people including the beggars who come outside from
Lhasa have to register at the Local Committee Office and
60 yuan is charged as registration fee. Chinese officers
would come to inspect each household once every ten days
and those who fail to register are liable for fine. The
committee also collects another 10 yuan from the beggars
in the name of "cleanliness".
Jampa Wangchok and Jampa Choephel, both in their
twenties, arrived in Nepal on 18 September 2001. They are
both originally from Choego Village, Derge County in
Kham Province.
Wangchok further said Choego Village has failed to reap
the benefits of China's "modernisation" and "developments"
in Tibet. The village has 40 families with an approximate
population of 200 people, mostly farmers. The village has
no motorable road, electricity or medical facilities. Sick
villagers seek the blessings of lamas in lieu of medical
treatment.
[ top ]
Nagchu Police on 1 April 1999 detained a group of 72
Tibetan escapees in Nyima County, Nagchu "Tibet Autonomous
Region". Twenty-five of the detainees, their ages ranging
from six to 40 years old, hail from areas around Lhasa
and the rest from eastern parts of Tibet. All were
attempting to flee into exile. One of these was Samdup,
who has recently arrived in Nepal and provided us with
the information.
The group was detained in Nagchu Detention Centre for eight
days and then transported to Lhasa PSB Anti-Riot Department
where they underwent intensive interrogation. Afterwards,
they were transported to Gutsa Detention Centre and
detained for three months and three days. During their
detention, the interrogation sessions sought to determine
the purpose of their escape to India and their future
plans.
Sixty-four escapees were released after four months of
detention at various detention centres. However, eight
Tibetans were singled out for further punishments of
"re-education through labour". This penalty in theory
applies to people who commit minor offences that do not
rise to the level of crimes but in practice it is widely
used against political dissidents. Here, courts do not
make the decisions, rather they are made by administrative
committees dominated by the police.
All eight of the Tibetans penalised this way were either
former political prisoners, former clergy who had been
expelled from their institutions by "work team" members
or current clergy.
Five Tibetans were ordered to undertake two years
"re-education through labour". They were Dawa, a monk from
Gaden Monastery, Meldrogungkar County; Phuntsok Choedon and
Nyima Dorjee from Phenpo Lhundrup County; Lhakpa Dorjee
from Nyemo County; and Samdup from Chushul County. The
other three escapees were ordered to undertake one-year
"re-education through labour". They were Yangkyi, a nun
from Nyemo County; Passang Norbu from Lhasa; and Rinzin
from Lhasa.
All eight were taken to Trisam Prison, one of the biggest
"re-education through labour" camps located in Toelung
Dechen County, 10 km west of Lhasa. Established in 1992,
the prison is sometimes referred to as Toelung Dechen or
Toelung Bridge.
Samdup reported that when he was first imprisoned,
there were approximately 300 prisoners. By the time he
was released on 31 March 2001, the number had doubled to
600. The majority of the prisoners were Tibetans.
Samdup recalled the horrific prison conditions they
endured. Prisoners did not get sufficient food. Some
prisoners fell sick due to contaminated water and unclean
food. The prisoners were also required to clean human
excrement from the toilets and manure the prison fields
with human waste.
At nine years of age, Samdup became a monk of Ratoe
Monastery in Nyethang Township, Chushul County, Lhasa
City. The monastery had a maximum of 90 monks while at
present they numbered only 50. The decreasing trend in
the total number of monks is ascribed to the frequent
"work team" visits to the monastery.
In 1995, a Tibetan National Flag was hoisted at the
door of the monastery's main hall but nobody knew who
was responsible. With the appointment of Rabgyal, a
pro-Chinese Tibetan, as the Head of the monastery, the
monks felt as if they were under close surveillance. No
cases of independence activities in the monastery have
been reported since then.
Since 1997, the officials from Religious Department and
Police Department of Chushul County have visited the
monastery once every week. During meetings, the monks
would show immediate annoyance at any criticism levelled
against the Dalai Lama.
Samdup is originally from a farmer's family in Chushul
County, Lhasa. Samdup reached the TRC in Nepal in October 2001.
[ top ]
The dominance of Chinese citizens over all walks of Tibetan
life can be attributed to the population transfer policy
of Beijing authorities. Viewed as an attempt to change and
control Tibetan culture and identity, the population influx
threatens the livelihood of the Tibetans and encourages
racial discrimination.
According to a recently arrived Tibetan couple from
Lhasa, Chinese citizens are able to obtain the necessary
papers and permission to run a business more easily than
local Tibetans. This is due to their links with higher
Chinese authorities. In Lhasa, a large number of shops
and restaurants, factories and in fact, almost all the
business establishments are owned and run by Chinese
nationals. Moreover, the Chinese authorities give more
grants and assistance to Chinese civilians than to the
Tibetan people.
Most of the taxi drivers in Lhasa are Chinese
nationals. They have a strong sense of Chinese-ness
and help each other set up business and other related
matters. Chinese passengers would rarely ride in a taxi
owned by Tibetan. Given the high percentage of Chinese
population in Tibet and more particularly in Lhasa, this
seriously hampers the Tibetan driving business.
Since Chinese restaurants have flooded Lhasa, the survival
of traditional Tibetan food looks dim. The husband, one
of the two escapees, used to work in a restaurant as a
cook. He quit as his business failed to reap profits and
the restaurant was closed down.
The couple escaped via Saga County in Shigatse in the
"TAR". Saga County patrol officers detained the couple
for two nights on charges of attempted escape to India,
the charge that they both denied. Armed patrol officers
and sniffer dogs guard the escape route in the area. They
were told whilst in detention that it was the same escape
route for the Karmapa (the head of the Kagyu religious
sect who had a dramatic escape in the end of 1999) and
his entourage.
The duo complained that the living opportunities in
Lhasa are pathetic for the Tibetans. The wife lamented,
"No matter how hard we work, we have always lived hand
to mouth. The fruit of our toils goes into heavy tax
payments instead of uplifting our living conditions.
To put it in a nutshell, we work to feed Chinese mouths.
We chose to escape to India with the hope for a better and
more certain future".
The couple arrived in Tibetan Reception Centre in Nepal on
15 October 2001. They wish to study in a Tibetan school
in India. Pema Dolkar, 28, is the wife of Phurbu who is a year older.
Dolkar studied in Lhasa Middle School no.4. The school
tuition fee excluding expenses on books and miscellaneous
items cost approximately 500 Yuan per term. The amount is a
huge financial burden on average Tibetan family who finds
it difficult to afford the exorbitant fee, and eventually
resulting in high school dropout rates. Dolkar quit school
to work as a receptionist in a hotel. From 1989 to 1997,
she remained at home. In 1997, she was employed as a taxi
driver in Lhasa till her escape into exile. Phurbu worked
as a cook in a restaurant in Lhasa.
According to another escapee, Tibetan exile returnees
who work as tour guides or translators face racial
discrimination. Certain NGOS like Save Children's Fund
prefer exile returnees for translators as they have better
accent than the Chinese. Many Chinese translators replaced
the Tibetan translators.
It is believed that a thousand Chinese who have been
trained as translators and tour guides are soon to flood
Lhasa City, thus endangering the few existing jobs for
the Tibetans. The local authorities would summon Tibetan
tour guides who are exile educated Tibet returnees for
interrogation sessions concerning their past and present
activities. The exile returnees have to buy a compulsory
ID for 1,000 Yuan, and besides they are not entitled to
ration cards.
[ top ]
Shalo,
the Tibetan head of Karlang Township, Karze County,
is highly respected by the local inhabitants for his
generosity. He played an important role in the preservation
of Tibetan culture and identity in Karze and particularly
in Karlang Township.
Shalo had always stressed the importance of all aspects of
Tibetan culture and had shown keen interest in traditional
Tibetan dance and costume. Owing to his good leadership,
the local people held the Tibetan culture in high
esteem. He also acted as the benefactor of poor and needy
Tibetans and provided them assistance whenever necessary.
In August 2001, as words went round that Shalo has been
transferred away from the position of Township Head, the
local Tibetans grew anxious. Therefore, a delegation of
three Tibetans, a local community leader, a retired Tibetan
and a civilian Tibetan from Karlang, went to Karze County
to protest against the transfer. The three men requested
the county government to retain Shalo in his present post
as Township Head (Ch: Xiangzhang).
The local residents interpreted this transfer as a
deliberate attack against leaders who upheld Tibetan
culture and tradition. At the time, the results of this
protest were unknown, as our informant had left her
hometown by then.
Dolma Youdon, the informant, is 16 years old. She escaped
with her two brothers via Lhasa and arrived at the Tibetan
Reception Centre in Kathmandu on 18 October 2001. She
intends to join a school in India whereas her brothers
wish to join monasteries. She is originally from Karlang
Township, Karze County.
She and her brothers left behind four other brothers
and three sisters. Youdon is the second youngest in her
family. Their elder brother, a monk based in India, asked
her to come to India for a better education and future as
well. She came with her two brothers to India.
[ top ]
Ngawang,
who reached Nepal on 20 October 2001, worked for
the "Tibet Autonomous Region" TV Network as a driver and
technical assistant. This position provided him with a
good insight into the makings of Chinese propaganda where
exaggerated statistics and distorted realities play a
dominant role.
In July 2001, Ngawang's TV crew was involved in a project
filming the scale of economic and social development during
the 50 years' of Chinese occupation of Tibet. Under the
banner of "TAR" TV headed by a Chinese man called Yeyu,
the team covered rural and remote areas in close proximity
to Lhasa.
During their visits, Ngawang could see no sign of real
development in any sphere of Tibetan lives. In a primary
school in Nyemo County he found that the students receive
only 2 jiao (10 jiao is equivalent to 1 yuan) out of 5.3
jiao allocated for daily expenditure.This is despite the
Central government allocating the school 16 yuan per
student a month. It appears that the reduction occurs
when the Central Government transfers the money via Lhasa
authorities to Nyemo County. Hence, only a fraction of
the money reaches the actual beneficiaries.
Owing to such embezzlement of money reserved for social
benefits at various official ranks, the condition of
the school and the students has not improved. The local
people have requested the authorities ' permission to set
up a new Tibetan school. However, no positive response has
been forthcoming. The local people have built the existing
school with little assistance from the Chinese government.
During interviews, the leaders at township and county
level, would present fabricated and exaggerated versions of
the reality. While the crewmembers were filming the school,
the entire scene was set up to present a different picture.
The monasteries and monks were deliberately left out from
film shooting as there was a likelihood of monks speaking
against the Chinese government and this would challenge
the image the company was told to project to the world.
The whole project took longer than the planned three months
because every scene was staged. People would be selected
first and given rehearsals on what to project in front of
the camera. Owing to the large number of Chinese propaganda
works, people hardly ever believe everything that is aired
on TV. Ngawang said, "The only show the people believe to
be true are the football matches and world news which the
Chinese can not distort. Anything else shown are known to
be fabricated".
Ngawang also reported that preparation is underway for
construction of a railway station in Toelung Dechen
County. This is being partly built by Tibetans in Lhasa
who are arrested for gambling or for trying to escape
Tibet. The gamblers are punished with two years' of labour
at the railway construction site, whereas it is three
years for the arrested escapees.
Generally, Tibetans from areas in close proximity to
Lhasa draw more suspicion from the Chinese authorities and
therefore, it is normally impossible for them to obtain
passport and visa to come to Nepal. It is widely believed
that all the documents for travel will be processed from
Beijing by next year, thus making the whole procedure all
the more difficult for the Tibetans.
Ngawang said the mood in Lhasa is repressive. Police
personnel, both uniformed and plain-clothed, patrol Barkhor
and Lhasa. The authorities are still on the lookout for
those Tibetans who participated in the mass demonstration
in the eighties. So, there is minimal chance of putting up
protest posters and initiating independence demonstrations.
However, during Shoton Festival (Curd Festival) in Drepung
Monastery this year, a Tibetan national flag was seen
hanging out from the windows of a house located near
where the thangka was hung. It is an annual event for the
thangka to be displayed across the walls of the monastery.
Many people saw the flag including the informant. Several
foreign tourists photographed the scene and hid the film
rolls immediately to avert confiscation.
Ngawang along with his wife and a child reached Nepal on
10 October 2001. The couple escaped because they felt a
strong sense of job insecurity.
[ top ]
Ngawang Dolma,
layname Nyima Dolma, was born in 1971 in Sangna Village,
Yarong Gang Township, Phenpo Lhudrup County, Lhasa.
At seven, she joined a local primary school and studied
for six years. Later, she gained admission to a middle
school in Lhasa and graduated with good grades. At the end
of 1986, she became a nun of Garu Nunnery in Lhasa. After
a few years, she served the nunnery as a cashier.
Tibet during the eighties saw the rekindling of Tibetan
demonstrations against Chinese rule. Many Tibetans courted
arrests and long-term imprisonments for participating in
anti-Chinese and pro-independence demonstrations.
On 19 December 1987, Ngawang Dolma and six nuns from Garu
Nunnery led a pro-independence protest in Barkhor in Lhasa,
calling out for a "Free Tibet". This protest is believed
to be the first ever independence demonstration initiated
by nuns after the Chinese take-over in 1959 and Cultural
Revolution (1966-1977) in Tibet.
The other six were Gyaltsen Choenyi, Gyaltsen Norbu
(layname Tsetan Dolkar), Gyaltsen Wangchuk, Gyaltsen
Dickyi, Ngawang Zompa , and Gyaltsen Choetso. Their ages
ranged from 17 to 25 years.
Within few minutes, Lhasa Public Security Bureau (PSB)
officers rounded up the nuns and detained them in Gutsa
Detention Centre for a period of one month and six days.
All the nuns were detained for periods ranging from seven
to nine months. Owing to intervention by the late 10th
Panchen Lama, the nuns were released on 23 January 1988.
Dolma and her friends rejoined the nunnery after their
release. Chinese officials and policemen visited religious
institutions and expelled those clergies with a history
of arrest, detention and imprisonment, for involvement in
political activities.
Around March 1990, a team of Chinese officials visited
Garu Nunnery. In the process of "clearance operation",
22 nuns including Ngawang Dolma were expelled from the
nunnery and returned to their homes.
After expulsion, Dolma learnt English language for a
while, then worked as a salesgirl in a Chinese shop on the
streets of Norbulingka Palace. Due to her good educational
background, she was paid handsomely for her job.
In April 1998, Dolma in collaboration with her friend
Phuntsok Tsondue printed independence leaflets. She
entrusted some leaflets to her friends for distribution
while she herself pasted and distributed the leaflets in
and around Potala Palace.
The officers from Lhasa PSB Branch Office started
investigating the leaflet distribution incident. In June
1999, Dolma and Tsondue were arrested and kept in Lhasa PSB
Detention Centre where they were interrogated and beaten.
The nuns were later transferred to "TAR" PSB Detention
Centre and remained incarcerated for few days. On 6 January
2000, Lhasa Intermediate People's Court sentenced the two
detainees to different years of imprisonment on charges
of "endangering state security" under Article 103 (2),
25th, 66th and 56th of the Chinese Criminal Law. Ngawang
Dolma received a sentence of three years' imprisonment
and deprivation of political rights for two years.
Within ten days, she was transferred to Drapchi Prison
where she is currently serving her sentence.
[ top ]
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD)
joined hands with Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), Tibetan
Women's Association (TWA), and Habitat International
Coalition (HIC) to organise the first Solidarity
Network Meeting of Peoples under Occupied Territories in
Dharamsala, India, from 20-23 September 2001.
Groups representing Tibetan, Palestinian and Kurdish people
participated in the meeting. Ms. Youdon Aukatsang, Senior
Programme Officer, and Mr. Lobsang Tsering, Researcher
represented the Centre at the meeting.
The participating group conceived this solidarity network
programme in 1996 at the Istanbul Habitat Conference. In
Istanbul it was decided that there would be three stages to
the programme: Information Sharing; Analysis of Individual
Cases; and Formulation of Joint Actions.
The goal of this continuing solidarity network is to change
the behaviour of the occupying states. This goal provides
the network with a common purpose of ending occupation by
building on international legal frameworks.
The context of the meeting was set by HIC through the
presentation of housing rights legal framework and
describing changes in housing rights discourse from
Istanbul to the present. To measure and evaluate current
work, each group went through the SWOT Analysis looking at
Strengths and Weaknesses in the present, and Opportunity
and Threat in future.
After reviewing each others' strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, the participating groups
decided on supporting a democratisation process within
each independence movement first and then externally.
To share and combine network and advocacy actions,
it was decided that joint training in UN treaty bodies
especially International Covenant on Economic Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and intervention in regional
or international forums, should take place. The network
decided to promote reciprocal solidarity through civil
society and leadership.
On 22 September 2001, the group had a special audience with
His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his Palace. The participants
briefed His Holiness about the meeting and the country-specific
situations.
[ top ]
Mr. Gaden Tashi,
Field Officer at the Kathmandu Branch Office of TCHRD,
was invited by the Amnesty International
to tour different secondary schools in UK, to mobilise
youth involvement in the Stamp Out Torture Campaign through
student action networks forum.
The tour took place from 8-18 October 2001 and covered
15 different schools in Manchester, Glasgow, Kent and
London. A balance of public and private schools was
selected to reach young people from cross section of social
economic and ethnic backgrounds.
The presentations, which were described as "effective"
and "interactive", lasted from 15 minutes to one hour,
and relevant materials were left at the schools for
long-term impact.
The number of direct participants in the school
tour is just over 3,780 young people and over 120
teachers. Inspired by the talks, many students suggested
organising awareness raising events in future and
submitting feedback to the organisers.
Twenty young people and at least one teacher from each
school were asked to evaluate the presentation. 90% of
pupils stated that Mr. Tashi's presentation was helpful,
interesting and motivating and that they learnt new
information about torture and human rights.
The tour further strengthened links with various Tibetan
organisations such as Free Tibet Campaign, Tibet Society
in London, Tibet Information Network, Ap Tibet, Tibet
Foundation, Tibet Images, Meridian Trust, and the Tibetan
Community in London. The tour received positive media
coverage.
[ top ]
TCHRD in conjunction with Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC) in Hong Kong and South Asia Forum for Human Rights
(SAFHR) in Kathmandu, organised a one-week human rights
training workshop at Golden Huts in Delhi from 23 to 29
September 2001.
The purpose of the workshop was to increase awareness
and understanding amongst Tibetans living in exile on
human rights.The 20 participants (13 women and 7 men)
included Tibetan high school teachers and principals,
university students and staff members of Tibetan NGOs,
such as Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), Tibetan Women's
Association (TWA) and TCHRD.
The participants learnt about a number of U.N. Conventions
related to human rights, and strategies for responding to
human rights violations. These strategies included ways
to utilise the UN system, how to undertake fact-finding
and human rights monitoring, and the use of an urgent
appeal networks, such as that employed by AHRC and TCHRD.
Resource Person for the Workshop included Prof.Dawa
Norbu, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Mr.Tapan Bose, SAFHR;
Mr. Henri Tiphagne, People's Watch; Mr. Basil Fernando,
AHRC; Mr. Bruce Van Voorhis, AHRC ; and Ms. Tenzin Chokey,
TCHRD.
The workshop was hailed as a great success by the
participants judging from positive feedbacks at the
conclusion of the workshop.
[ top ]
On 15 October 2001, the International Campaign for Tibet
(ICT) nominated TCHRD for the Martin Ennals Award for
Human Rights Defenders.
The Award is granted annually to an individual, or an
organisation, in recognition of their commitment and
ongoing endeavour for the defence and promotion of human
rights.
In their nomination form, the ICT has described TCHRD
as the "first modern, professional, all-Tibetan human
rights group which has become one of the most prolifica
and effective organizations in the Tibet movement, having
many results to show".
TCHRD in turn nominated Tanak Jigme Sangpo, the longest
serving male political prisoner of Tibet, for the Award. By
the time he is released on 3 September 2011, Jigme Sangpo
will have spent 28 continuous years in Drapchi Prison on
charges of "counter-revolutionary" activities . He will
be 85 years old at the time of release.
The 2002 award ceremony is planned to be held at the
North-South Media Festival in Geneva.
[ top ]
In accordance with the Centre's objective to create
awareness of democracy and human rights among the Tibetan
children, staff members of TCHRD visited three Tibetan
schools this month.
On 8 and 9 October 2001, Mr. Lobsang Tsering and Ms. Tenzin
Chokey, researchers at the Centre, spoke to senior classes
of seventh, eighth and ninth at TCV School in Suja.
Mr. Tsering talked on the concepts of democracy and its
development in Tibetan society. Ms. Chokey dealt with
the United Nations human rights system and current human
rights situation inside Tibet. The staff members also gave
a talk in the evening to the junior schools comprising of
approximately 500 students.
On 15 October 2001, Mr. Jampel Monlam, Field Officer at the
Centre, and Mr. Lobsang Tsering, spoke to classes eighth,
ninth and tenth in TCV School in Gopalpur. Mr. Monlam
talked about issues of human rights violations in Tibet
while Mr.Tsering dealt with Tibetan democracy and human
rights principles.
On 22 October 2001, Mr. Lobsang Tsering and Mr Jampel
Monlam visited Sherab Gatseling School near Dharamsala. The
school organised around 500 students in a big meeting hall,
where Mr. Tsering and Mr. Monlam gave talks on human rights
and democratic values.
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