October 2005
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A young monk dies under mysterious circumstances following the "patriotic education" campaign in Drepung monastery
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European Parliament urges the Chinese government to release Trulku Tenzin Delek immediately
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Lhasa PSB lifts monk from Sera Monastery for detention
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Memorandum to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture visiting Tibet and China
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Train to Lhasa: legitimacy, demographic cleansing and Chinese migrants
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Defiant monk serving eleven years term in weak health conditions
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Dublin platform for human rights defenders
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Briefings and workshop attended by TCHRD staff
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New Information Officer
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Ngawang Jangchub, 28 years old, died in the first week of October 2005 under mysterious circumstances in his quarter in Drepung Monastery, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). He was found dead a day after he had a heated argument with "work team" officials conducting the "patriotic education" campaign in the monastery.
The "work team" officials have arrived in the monastery in the beginning of October 2005 to conduct the campaign. As stipulated by the guidelines of the campaign, the monks in the monastery were required to condemn the Dalai Lama as a "splittist" and to pledge their loyalty to the Chinese government. Some of the monks refused to be "educated" and an argument erupted between them and the officials. It is reported that during the argument, Ngawang flatly refused to condemn the Dalai Lama calling him "the saviour for the present and the next life". He told the officials that he had no regrets, even if he was to be expelled from the monastery. Ngawang further refuted the Chinese officials’ claim of Tibet being a part of China; he reportedly said, "Tibet has never been a part of China historically and I dismiss your claim over Tibet". In response, the officials verbally abused him and threatened him with dire consequences. Following the argument, Ngawang furiously returned to his quarter and did not come for the next day’s session. When the other monks went to check on him, they found him dead in his room. The exact cause of his death is unknown although the monks speculate suicide due to extreme psychological trauma.
Ngawang Jangchub a.k.a. Aku Ril Ril hails from Lhakhang Village, Phodo Township, Phenpo Lhundrup County, Lhasa Municipality, "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR").
The "patriotic education" campaign in the monastic institutions dislodges the mental equilibrium of the monks and the nuns, sometimes leading them to take extreme steps. The incessant political brainwashing employed during the campaign to force the clergy to reiterate party principles make the monks and the nuns undergo extensive mental agony - sometimes driving them to commit suicide. On 1 May 2000, Tashi Rabten of Thentok Monastery died under mysterious circumstances just after a 30-member "work team" interrogated him and forcibly led him to the private hall to search for photos of the Dalai Lama. Soon after, he was found lying in a pool of blood. He died shortly afterwards.
There has been a noted rise in the conduct of the "patriotic education" campaign since early 2005. Throughout the year, recent arrivals who fled Tibet reported conduct of the "patriotic education" campaign in Talung Monastery, Phenpo Gyabdrak Nunnery, Shugseb Nunnery and Sera Monastery. Expulsions from the monastic institutions and arrests were also reported following the campaign in the aforementioned monasteries and nunneries.
The "patriotic education" campaign started in 1996 is one of the major causes of religious repression in Tibet and is in contravention with international laws on religion. Threatening, expulsion, arrest and coercion in making the monastic community to follow the official directives contravene the UN human rights provisions on religion. TCHRD has documented expulsion of 11,383 clergy between January 1996 and August 2004 under the "patriotic education" campaign.
The European Parliament (EP) urged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to release Trulku Tenzin Delek immediately. In a resolution passed on 27 October 2005 in Strasbourg, France, the EP is "deeply concerned about the state of health of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche" and called upon "the responsible authorities to take all possible steps to improve the living conditions and state of health of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche."
The resolution also called upon the government of PRC "to step up the ongoing dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama so as to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibet issue without further delay". The resolution also urged the Chinese government to cancel all sentences against Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and to release him immediately, and demanded the Chinese government to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to visit him and report on his state of health during his scheduled visit to Tibet and China in the end of November 2005.
The resolution (P6_TA-PROV (2005)0416) titled "Case of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche" also regretted the lack of concrete results in the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue seminar held from 20-21 June 2005. The EP called upon the PRC "to improve the inhuman conditions of imprisonment in jails, to abolish torture of detainees, to stop the continued violation of the human rights of the Tibetan people and other minorities, and to ensure that it respects international standards of human rights and humanitarian law."
The resolution further called upon the Council and the Member States to maintain the EU embargo on trade in arms with the PRC.
Tsering Dhondup, 32, a monk at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR") has been arrested in early July 2005 by the Lhasa Public Security Bureau (PSB), according to information received by the TCHRD. He was arrested on suspicion of carrying out political activities. The PSB alleged that he distributed "pro-independence" leaflets.
According to the report, Tsering disappeared suddenly from the monastery and panic stricken family members and his friends began a search for him. The monastery administration sent teams of monks to search for him in Lhasa but to no avail. About thirteen days later, Lhasa PSB called the monastery administration and informed them about him being in their custody.
Upon knowing his whereabouts, the family members and the monks went to visit him in the Detention Centre. However, the authorities restricted them from meeting him. Except for a couple of clothing, the officials did not allow the food and denied them the visitation. Apart from his detention at Gutsa Detention Centre, it is not known yet whether he has received any imprisonment term.
Tsering Dhondup, 32, hails from Chema Township, Phenpo Lhundrup County, "TAR".
In other instances of arrests between 5-9 May 2005, eight monks from Sera Monastery and 13 nuns from Shugseb Nunnery have been reported to be arrested. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) welcomes the UN Special Rapporteur’s forthcoming visit to Tibet and China from 21 November to 2 December 2005. The Centre strongly supports and attaches great importance to the much awaited visit by the expert in order to gain first hand information of the true picture of the torture situation in Tibet and China.
On the eve of the visit, TCHRD urges the UN expert to investigate the widespread and systematic use of torture within Tibet’s prison, detention centres, labour camps and other detention facilities. The Centre pleads the expert to especially investigate the treatment of political prisoners since cases of extreme torture against them are often reported.
Since 1987, the Centre has documented the deaths of 88 known Tibetan political prisoners due to torture. While many prisoners died in custody, some succumbed to torture-related injuries after being released from prison in near death condition. The prison authorities often shun responsibility by releasing prisoners in critical conditions before they die. A case of concern was the death of Nyima Drakpa, 29, who died in October 2003 shortly after being released from prison on medical parole. The Centre also urges the UN expert to investigate the death while in custody, of Tibetan political prisoners. Some highlighted cases are the death of Rinzin Wangyal at the end of 2004 in TAR Prison no 2, popularly known as Powo Tramo Prison. In May 2004, the last update on him prior to his death was that he was in critical condition due to extreme torture in the prison. Lobsang Dhargay, another political prisoner, died due to torture on 19 November 2002 in a labour camp located in Qinghai Province.
Torture is a regular feature in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) although it has ratified the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in October 1988 and outlawed certain forms of torture in the revised Chinese Criminal Procedure Law, which came into effect in 1997. Despite that systematic torture is still endemic in the Chinese administered prisons in Tibet. Torture is being used to defeat the Tibetan prisoners’ nationalist spirit, to extract confessions, to intimidate prisoners and to cause humiliation and mental trauma that affect the prisoners for the rest of their lives. China is responsible for innumerable acts of abuse through its repressive system of surveillance, intimidation, and persecution inside Tibet’s prisons and detention centres.
The torture techniques include electric shocks, pricking cigarettes on the face, hand or thumb cuffs, feet manacles, suspension from ceiling, beatings, booting, exposure to extreme temperature, long period of solitary confinement, deprivation of food, water and sleep, forced labour, forced exercise drills, etc.
Though many countries in the world abide by the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) to accomplish human rights, peace, freedom, democracy and equality, the situation in China and Tibet remains of concern. In Tibet, Tibetans exercising fundamental rights like staging peaceful protest and peacefully expressing their political ideologies are labelled as "separatists" and are accused of "endangering the State security". The peaceful exercise of fundamental human rights leads to arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, involuntary disappearance, torture during interrogations and detention and heavy sentences due to arbitrary judicial processes. There are about 145 known Tibetan political prisoners in a network of Chinese administered prisons in Tibet.
The Centre wishes to draw the attention of the Special Rapporteur to the following five Tibetan political prisoners of concern and urges him to visit them and raise their case to the Chinese authorities.
-Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche (Imprisoned in Sichuan Province, Life imprisonment
-Ngawang Phulchung (Imprisoned in Drapchi Prison), 19 years prison term
-Bangri Rinpoche (Imprisoned in Drapchi Prison,) Life imprisonment
-Jigme Gyatso, (Imprisoned in Drapchi Prison) 15 years prison term
-Lobsang Tenphen (Imprisoned in Sichuan Prison) five years prison term
-Phuntsok Wangdu (Imprisoned in Drapchi Prison) 14 years prison term
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy appeals to the UN Special Rapporteur to stamp out torture in Tibet and bring human dignity and human rights to the Tibetan people. The Centre also urges the expert to pressure the PRC to ratify the optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.
China’s Golmud-Lhasa railway arrived at Lhasa West Station on 18 Sept 2005 according to People’s Daily online. According to the report, more than 1,100 km of the railway track has been laid; the remaining 50 kilometers in the project would be completed by mid October 2005. It further reported that the railway will be put into trial operation by 1 July 2006.
Tibetans in Tibet fear that the government’s much publicized railway project will deeply transform their way of live and their livelihood. Because of the increased influx of Chinese migrants made possible by the railway, the already marginalised Tibetan population will face enormous hardships in preserving their identity. The railway will speed the assimilation of the Tibetan culture and aggravate subsistence problems.
The construction of railways to Xinjiang Autonomous Region’s Urumqi and Kashgar created a huge influx of Han Chinese migrants. Inner Mongolia faced demographic cleansing with the introduction of the railway. And a similar fate awaits Tibet where Tibetans have already been considerably marginalised.
With massive international concerns over the railway in Tibet, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) makes every effort to legitimize its biggest project on the Tibetan plateau. All the media in China, which are mostly state owned, flash the image of happy local Tibetans welcoming the railway. However, Tibetans in Tibet are anxious about the railway, especially in regards to the influx of Chinese immigrants which is envisaged to further marginalise the Tibetan people and lead to cultural assimilation, livelihood hardships, etc.
Government forcing legitimacy over its railway
A newly arrived Tibetan refugee (name withheld upon request) from Damshung County in Lhasa Municipality, "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR") reported to TCHRD that the Chinese authorities are forcing the Tibetans to attend government celebrations to gain propaganda legitimacy over the railway project. The informant told TCHRD, "At the end of May 2005, the laying of the railway track was completed in Damshung County. The local authorities, in order to show their loyalty to the central government, arranged thanksgiving celebrations. The authorities made mandatory representation from all the townships under the county. Around 125 Tibetans from Uma, Lungring and Gesha Townships, etc were called at the ceremony ground. Although the Tibetans had no wish to attend the ceremonies, they were compelled to come unwilling to choke up 25 Yuan as a penalty for each day missed during the ceremonies. The authorities had also threatened the absentees of dire consequences. During the ceremony, there were Chinese officials from the local government, Tibetan representatives from the townships and the railway employees. Some media personals had also been called to cover the ceremony."
"The authorities told the Tibetans to portray genuine happiness and some were lined up alongside the track clapping their hands. This image was later broadcasted on the Lhasa TV with the news reader reporting "Tibetans welcoming the railway". However, in reality, Tibetans in Damshung County were not happy with the railway."
"Tibetans are anxious about their nomadic lifestyle since the railway track has already destroyed the green pastures for their livestocks and is bound to bring more trouble to the nomads in the future. One of the main anxieties of the Tibetans is that the railway will bring in more Chinese settlers, which will make their livelihood harder. The Chinese settlers already outnumber the Tibetans and they control about seventy percent of all businesses. Since the majority of the Tibetans is illiterate, the Chinese usurp all the job openings."
"Due to illiteracy, the Tibetans are gullible and fall in the traps laid by the authorities. Even for the railway track completion ceremony, some Tibetans believed the authorities when they said that those attending the ceremony would be rewarded for celebrating a great feat by the government. In order to portray authenticity, the Tibetans were asked to put their signatures against a piece of paper for their attendance. But nothing good will happen to them. The authorities used them to gain legitimacy for their project."
Opportunities taken away by Chinese settlers
Another interview with a Tibetan woman newly arrived exile showed that the livelihood problems created by the Chinese settlers are worsened by discriminatory practices against the Tibetans. With liquor, tobacco and prostitutes cheaply and freely available, Tibetan women lead a very hard life without support from their husbands and from the government. Tsering Dolma, had come to settle in Lhasa from her native village in Markham County, Chamdo Prefecture, "TAR". Her husband and she came to Lhasa after hearing about the opportunities there. However, their efforts in sustaining their family in Lhasa failed due to lack of job openings, most of which are taken away by the Chinese settlers. She told the Centre, "My husband and I left for Lhasa from our native village in the hope of sustaining our family. We had two children and I was just nineteen years old. For years we worked as helpers in a restaurant owned by a Chinese Muslim settler. We received a monthly salary of 30 Yuan each despite the hard work and ill treatment we suffered. In most of the Chinese restaurants, the Tibetan employees were put under a senior Chinese employee and they would treat us very badly by calling us names. Ignoring everything we continued to work and went back to our native village with our savings of about 1500 Yuan."
"After spending some time at home, we went back to Lhasa. However, we didn’t get any job. So I started to make bread and sell them on the roadside. There were Chinese bread makers and the people prefered to buy bread from them. The Chinese buy from the Chinese bread sellers as they consider the Tibetans to be dirty and their bread unhygienic. When the Chinese officials happen to pass by the road, they accuse the Tibetan women bread sellers of making the road dirty and make them clean the road. When a woman tried to argue back, she was pulled by the hair and thrown on the ground."
"Most of the Tibetan women who try to earn their bread are divorced. Their husbands spent their nights at the brothels and blow away their money on liquor which is available very cheap in Lhasa. The brothels are mostly run by Chinese settlers and the prostitutes also mostly come from mainland China to earn their money."
Gangster activity by Chinese settlers, Tibetan youth follow suit
In another interview with a twenty year old Tibetan from Ngari County, ‘TAR’, gangster activity and tension between Chinese settlers and Tibetan residents were reported. Tenzin Tseten who has arrived from Tibet recently told TCHRD, "In our area there is a growing concern over subsistence because of the increasing number of Chinese settlers. In addition to taking away our business opportunities, young Chinese form gangs and extort money from the Tibetans. Four Tibetans have been killed last year by the gangsters. There are about five Chinese gangs in our area, ranging from thirty to over hundred members. Most of the gangsters carry their activities under the cover of being businessmen. They bring in stolen motorbikes and cars from mainland China and sell them in and around our region. It is said that they also carry out narcotics deal."
"The gangsters create a lot of social problem. They visit the liquor bars and dance bars and fight among themselves and also with the Tibetans. They are always armed with knives and pistols. Four Tibetans were killed last year alone. The victims were a Tibetan working in the Electricity Department, two traders from Batang and Markham counties, and a Tibetan policeman from Gyantse County. The gangsters target all the rich Tibetans and extort money from them."
"To combat their activities, some local Tibetans have also formed gangs. Two Tibetan gangs with twelve and eighteen members respectively have been formed to retaliate against the Chinese gangs. The Tibetan gangs are composed of uneducated and unemployed young Tibetans. They blow away their money on liquor and do nothing good. Many young Tibetans are tempted to become gang members. In the near future it seems that gangster activities will grow further and the day is not far when there will be gang wars in our region."
There are enormous problems in Tibet with Chinese settlers outnumbering the Tibetan population. With the completion of the railway track and the trains being operational in the near future, the problems are bound to grow manifold. The train to Lhasa will have devastating effects on the lives of the Tibetan people. Tibetans will become strangers in their own land.
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Yeshi Jinpa, 27, was born in a farming family in Khimshi Township, Gongkar County, Lhoka Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region ("TAR").
During his childhood, he attended the local elementary school and soon after joined the Sungrabling Monastery in 1990.
While in the monastery, he was very studious and showed great interest in the contemporary political affairs of Tibet and also in the history of Tibet. Upon learning the ground reality and Tibet’s glorious past, his nationalism began to grow day by day. He encouraged others to take their responsibility as Tibetans and to fight for their rights.
In 1997, Yeshi and some monks from his monastery undertook a peaceful demonstration chanting "Independence for Tibet". In the evening following the demonstration, a combined team of officers from the local Public Security Bureau ("PSB") and from the Army came to arrest the monks in their monastery. However, the local Tibetans foiled the apprehension by gathering in large number and preventing the officers from arresting the monks.
Fearing similar circumstances, the officers revisited the monastery at the dawn of the next day and took the monks away to Tsethang County PSB Detention Centre. As a precautionary measure, the PSB had deployed additional officers in the whole township. Two officers stood guard in front of every house. Some Tibetans were reported to be arrested during that time for standing up against the officers.
Yeshi Jinpa and the other monks were severely beaten in the vehicle while they were being led to the Tsethang County Detention Centre. Upon reaching the Detention Centre, they were subjected to interrogation with severe beatings. The monks were held in detention for six months during which they faced enormous hardships and torture. At the end of their six-month detention, the Lhoka Tsethang People’s Intermediate Court awarded varying sentences to the monks on charges of "counter-revolutionary activities" and "anti-government propaganda." Yeshi Jinpa and Tsultrim Topgyal received five years’ imprisonment term whereas the other monks received varying terms between three and four years term. They were transferred to the infamous Drapchi Prison in Lhasa to serve their sentence.
In May 1998, two protests by the prison inmates broke out in Drapchi Prison. Some prisoners were shot dead by the prison officers quelling the protest. Many received sentence extension for their participation. Yeshi’s original sentence of five years term was extended by another six years term thus bringing his total term to 11 years.
Some of his co-demonstrators were later freed upon completion of their term. But Tsultrim Topgyal died soon after his release due to injuries inflicted during the beatings he suffered in Drapchi Prison.
Yeshi Jinpa is also known to be in weak health conditions due to ill treatment in the prison. He will be released in 2007 if his sentence is not further extended.
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Mr. Jampa Monlam, Researcher, participated in the 3rd Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders conference in Dublin, Ireland from 13-15 October 2005. The conference organized by Frontline Human Rights Defenders based in Dublin saw around 200 human rights defenders from all over the world share their views, testimonies and discuss measures for the protection of human rights defenders. The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Hina Jilani, and other representatives from various countries’ foreign ministries graced their presence during the conference. Mr. Jampa had attended the first conference in January 2002.
Earlier, at the invitation of Frontline Human Rights Defenders, Mr. Jampa attended a month long training in English language at the Centre of English Studies in Dublin to enhance his language capability to promote human rights work.
Mr.Tsering Agloe, Researcher, and Mr. Dawa Tsering, Field Officer, attended a seminar on "Human Rights Violation" in Delhi on 24 October 2005. During the seminar, organized by the Jagannath International Management School, Mr. Dawa gave his testimony as a former political prisoner while Mr. Tsering interpreted his accounts and briefed the seminar participants about the human rights situation in Tibet.
Mr. Tashi Choephel, Researcher, and Mr. Tashi Phuntsok, Information Officer, attended a seminar on "China’s regional ethnic autonomy" on 25-26 October 2005. The seminar organized by the Department of Information and International Relations of the TGIE saw many Tibetan academics speak on the issue.
Ms. Norzin Dolma, Assistant Director, gave a briefing to 22 students from the Woodstock School, Mussoorie, at the Tibet Museum on 26 October 2005. She spoke on the human rights situation in Tibet and the role of TCHRD as a Tibetan NGO focused on the issue.
Mr. Ugyen Tsewang, Information Officer, resigned from TCHRD on 15 September 2005. He worked in the Centre for more than four years during which he showed earnest enthusiasm in all the Centre’s activities. TCHRD wishes him a very prosperous future and good health.
Mr. Tashi Phuntsok, was selected as the new Information Officer of TCHRD following a written test and an interview on 4 and 5 October 2005 respectively. He joined the Centre on 10 October 2005. Mr. Tashi had earlier served in the Publication Section of the Department of Education of the Tibetan-Government-in-Exile for more than five years.
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