China, we’re still waiting for the truth about Tibet
Sophie 17 March 2008, 07:08AM
Tibetan monks © Andy Wong/AP/PA Photo
On March 10 2008 the 400 monks began their peaceful march heading to Tibet's capital, Lhasa. Their call - an end to the Chinese Government's brutal treatment of the Tibetan people. The Government's systematic campaign is steeped in propaganda and forces monks to denounce the Dalai Lama in writing, excludes Tibet from the benefits of economic development, places restrictions on religious practice and imposes policies that weaken Tibetan culture and ethnic identity.
More than 50 of the 400 monks were arrested on their way to Lhasa. Tibetan leaders reported that 80 people were killed by the Chinese Government in the Lhasa crackdown. Official Chinese sources reported ten, mainly business people in Lhasa dead. Police and military forces are reported to have fired teargas into crowds, beaten protestors and fired live ammunition in an attempt to disperse people. What began as a peaceful march had turned violent and by 14 March, some protestors in Lhasa set fire to a police car, and set fires targetting Chinese-owned businesses.
Lhasa was in lockdown with a city wide curfew in place and all shops closed. Entry into the city was been blocked by check-points, armoured vehicles and members of People’s Armed Police are present throughout Lhasa. Reports suggest that scattered protests continue. Police and military forces have surrounded three major monasteries in the Lhasa area, confining monks inside and beating those who have attempted to leave. Monks from Sera monastery were reported to have started a hunger strike demanding the withdrawal of military forces from their monastery.
In solidarity, other peaceful protests began around Tibet and in neighbouring provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan. Clashes in the Sichuan city of Aba, referred to as Ngawa in Tibetan, have resulted in an unconfirmed number of casualties. Approximately 1,000 monks took to the streets of Aba.
The solidarity spread even further with peaceful protests taking place in India and Nepal. Tibetans in India intending to march to the Chinese border were issued with a restraining order and detained. Protestors in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu were violently dispersed those people briefly detained reported being beaten and otherwise ill-treated.
In 2007 when monks of Myanmar were subject to brutality on the streets, we saw smuggled video footage, web postings and pictures from mobile telephones sent around the world. China made such communication very difficult for those in Tibet and surrounding areas, cutting phone and internet connections to the areas. Yet still, some people did manage to get their messages and accounts out to the world. And this was all we could access given the Chinese Government's complete refusal to allow journalists into the area to conduct accurate reporting of the issues as they unfolded or even in the weeks and months afterwards.
Journalists permitted into Tibet Australians, Steve Lewis and Cameron Stweart were among the first journalists in the world permitted into the area following the crackdowns (although there was a very staged visit of journalists in April 2008 who were under heavy guard and not permitted to speak with locals). Here is Cameron's account in November 2008. Still, this is far from the free and unrestricted access we are calling for and it is a long way from China's own newly extended media regulations. These new laws were put in place for the Olympic Games, apply only to foreign journalists and in October 2008 as they were due to expire we welcomed China's decision to extend the laws indefinitely. Although they have no application whatsoever in Tibet. See the photos taken by the Australians in November.
And today
Still we do not know the fate of hundreds of Tibetans detained in March 2008. We fear that these individuals are being tortured and treated inhumanely. Without any charge or trial apparent, we call for their immediate release.
Amnesty International still calls for Chinese authorities to allow an independent UN investigation into the events of March 2008, particularly in the light of the China sealing off of the Tibetan region and the long-term restrictions on human rights monitoring there.
Again, with China, we come to the issue of transparency. With denied freedom of expression, denied access and denied information human rights abuses continue. We must demand the truth from China and call them to account on the human rights abuses that occur daily under Government policies and practices in Tibet, in Xinjang and in all parts of China.
A Western tourist in Lhasa gives an account of the last few days. This person wishes to remain anonymous, understandable given the Chinese Government's treatment of those who speak the truth and raise concern over human rights abuses.
Read more
Amnesty International's June 2008 account of the situation in Tbiet.
Disturbing video footage from Lhasa last week.
Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon's wrap up and links to news on the current Tibet crackdowns.
Reports of Chinese authorities raiding Tibetan houses in attempts to detain more people.
The Dalai Lama's home town is one of many areas that China attempts to hide from the rest of the world - there are no signs to the Dalai Lama's earlier residence, yet still tourist buses converge on the town!
About the Author
This blog entry was created by Sophie and does not necessarily represent the position or opinion of Amnesty International Australia.
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After long-term imprisonment for speaking publicly about human rights issues, Wei Jingsheng was finally released with help from Amnesty International.
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Clarence Bailey
21 March 2008, 05:35PM
The Chinese Government has been calling the Dalai Lama a “monster”. Don’t they realise that this could only be for local consumption and the international community, who have witnessed the peaceful motivations of the Dalai, last heard the word used by Monkey and Pigsy.
Sophie
18 March 2008, 07:36AM
Over night, we have amazing news that Tibetans living in Beijing held a peaceful public vigil to respect those who have died in the week’s violence. The few dozen were able to stage their sit-in for a short time, a rarity in Beijing. Authorities were reportedly on hand to keep the media away and to move the group on. It is peaceful acts like this that China often calls ‘disrupting harmony’, ‘causing instability’ and a ‘threat to national interest’. Will there be more?
Reuters covered the rare sit-in..
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK26733920080317
Michelle Li
17 March 2008, 10:56AM
Here is a description how the CCP treated the Tibetan monks during the Culture Revolution from The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party:
The Red Guards even forced the second highest Tibetan living Buddha, the Panchen Lama, to eat human excrement. They ordered three monks from Temple of Bliss located in Harbin city, Heilongjiang Province, which is the biggest Buddhist temple built in modern times (1921), to hold a poster board that said, “The hell with sutras—they are full of shit.”
Want to know more about how the CCP crackdown the spiritual beliefs in the past?
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-20/25087.html
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