Friday, March 21, 2008
More on Tibet
Like many others, I am greatly disturbed by the events now going on in Tibet. The Tibetan heritage is all important to us. Many of us associate our own spiritual awakening with the ancient traditions passed down through the generations, or, in some cases, simply reawakened within.
The Dalai Lama is recognized as one of the world's greatest spiritual leaders. This morning I spent my practice time listening to the moving "Healing Prayers and Chant,"
a CD which was presented to the world a few years ago with the instruction that it could not be sold, only given by one person to another.
This CD is remarkable. As I listened to these sacred words, I seemed to feel the sweet energies of the Dalai Lama flow within, and I knew that he was indeed the vessel of a sacred mission.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others representing both parties in Congress went to India yesterday, to meet with the beloved leader of the Tibetans in exile, and to express their support.
What follows is information about the crisis, which was forwarded to me:
Pacific Northwest Community Rally and March in Support of the Tibetan Uprising inside Tibet
On Saturday March 22 in Vancouver, BC
Tibetans from across British Columbia, Washington State, and Oregon will gather to make their voices heard. At least 300 Tibetans and supporters are expected to attend.
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As China's clampdown on protesters inside Tibet intensifies, Tibetans and their supporters outside Tibet grow even more determined to speak out and demand that China cease its oppression of Tibetans, and that the International community hold China accountable for its actions.
Since March 10 Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have been holding vigils and demonstrations in solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet who are risking their lives by demanding human rights and freedom.
Tibetans and their Supporters Worldwide Demand:
1) China must halt its crackdown, withdraw military and security forces, release detainees and allow peaceful protest. China must halt house-to-house searches and authorities must refrain from any further arrests of Tibetan protesters. We call on our Governments to support these demands.
2) Governments must support the Dalai Lama's call for a UN team of investigators to go to Tibet as soon as possible.
3) China must immediately allow foreign journalists back into all Tibetan areas (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan)
4) The IOC must withdraw all Tibetan areas from the planned Olympic torch relay route (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan). This includes the planned torch ascent of Mount Everest.
5) All political leaders and other prominent persons who have accepted an invitation to attend the Olympic Games should withdraw their acceptance.
Background:
GLOBAL VIGILS SUPPORT TIBETAN UPRISING AS INCREASED CRACKDOWN LOOMS IN LHASA
The Chinese government has threatened an increased crackdown after midnight Monday March 17 (China standard time) and according to Chinese state-run media, "Those who cover up or shelter the lawbreakers [will] be punished in accordance with the law." Reports of protests in cities across Tibet, including the Tibetan provinces of Amdo and Kham now annexed into China's Qinghai, Sichuan, and Gansu provinces, counter the Chinese government claims that the unrest is the result of a handful of "troublemakers" and demonstrate the widespread Tibetan opposition to China's occupation.
The Dalai Lama has expressed anxiety about the Chinese government's threats of an impending crackdown and repeated his urgent appeal today for an international investigation into China's actions against Tibetan protestors. The Chinese government continues to maintain a media blackout and journalists have been denied access to all Tibetan areas, making it virtually impossible to verify the reports of atrocities emerging from Tibet.
Contact: Mati Bernabei 778-999-4578 mbernabe@sfu.ca
For the most up to date information on the developments in Tibet:
Canada Tibet Committee: www.tibet.ca
Students For a Free Tibet: www.studentsforafreetibet.org
Phayul (Tibetan on-line news): www.phayul.com
Tibetan Centre fro Human Rights and Democracy: www.tchrd.org
Tibetan Government in Exile: www.tibet.net
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China Terrorizes Tibet
New York Times, Editorial
March 18, 2008
It was impossible not to notice that the United States removed China from its list of top 10 human rights violators just as the biggest anti-China protests in 20 years erupted in Tibet. Even when handed that undeserved dispensation, the Beijing government cannot control its authoritarian nature.
A week of protests in Tibet turned violent last Friday as Chinese security forces clashed with hundreds of Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans. Information was hard to verify nearly all foreigners are barred from entering and Tibetans have no freedom but news reports said a market in the capital was burned; at least 16, and perhaps many more, people were killed; and paramilitary police and troops were deployed. Over the weekend, rioting spread to neighboring provinces, and demonstrations even reached Beijing.
The protests began March 10, the anniversary of a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. The Chinese took Tibet by force in 1951, and the region has been a source of tension ever since. Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama who, much to Beijing’s fury, met President Bush at the White House last October has urged greater religious and cultural freedom for Tibet. But talks with Beijing have gone nowhere.
To earn the right to play host to this summer’s Olympics, Beijing promised to improve its human rights record. As its behavior in Tibet and the recent arrest of the human rights advocate Hu Jia and others demonstrates, China does not take that commitment seriously.
In its annual human rights report on 190 countries, the State Department conceded that Beijing’s overall performance remained poor. But in what looked like a political payoff to a government whose help America desperately needs on difficult problems, the department dropped China from its list of 10 worst violators.
Whatever gain China may have gotten from being elevated above the likes of North Korea, Myanmar, Iran and Sudan was lost by the crackdown on Tibet.
China had a chance to shine for its Olympic coming-out party and is blowing it. Its leaders will continue to have to battle protests and unrest and endure international reproach until they ensure more freedom for all their citizens, including greater religious tolerance and freedom for Tibet.
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Crackdown in Tibet: 15 monks detained and at risk of torture and ill-treatment
Amnesty International/Canada, March 19, 2008
Young Tibetan Buddhist monks leave a ceremony at the historic Labrang Monastery, March 14, 2008. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON
According to information published by the Tibetan Centre on Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), 15 Tibetan monks were detained on 10 March for staging a peaceful demonstration in Barkhor, Lhasa, the capital of Tibetan Autonomous Region. There is no information of their current whereabouts or of any charges brought against them. They are at high risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
On Monday 10 March hundreds of monks began a march from Drepung Monastery towards Barkhor. Another group, which included the 15 monks now in detention, began their march from Sera Monastery, but were soon detained. The monks had been demanding that the government ease a “patriotic re-education” campaign which forces them to denounce the Dalai Lama and subjects them to government propaganda.
Protests began in other monasteries in support of those detained. Demonstrations also involving lay people then followed across Lhasa, in other parts of Tibet and in areas of the neighbouring provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan with large populations of Tibetans. On Friday the protests became violent, with some protesters specifically targeting and setting fire to Chinese-owned businesses and attacking people from other ethnic groups.
The Chinese authorities urged the protesters to give themselves in by Monday 17 March at midnight, Beijing Time, and promised that those who did would be treated leniently. As of today, the streets of Lhasa were reported to be largely quiet and empty.
Police and soldiers are reported to be conducting house to house sweeps in Lhasa. Some eyewitnesses have reported individuals being dragged from their homes. There continue to be reports of unrest in neighbouring Sichuan and Gansu provinces. There are also reports that some Chinese police and soldiers have used excessive force, including lethal force, against Tibetan demonstrators in Lhasa and elsewhere. With large numbers of troops now deployed in the region further human rights violations may be committed.
The Chinese authorities have imposed a near-total block on information leaving Tibet and surrounding areas. Permits for journalists to enter Tibet were stopped from 12 March. Foreign journalists have been barred or removed from districts in Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, where the unrest has spread.
The Chinese government has the right and duty to defend all individuals and property from violence. At the same time international law requires that the authorities handle such crises in ways that uphold fundamental human rights and the principles of necessity and proportionality in the use of force. For example, firearms should only be discharged as a last resort and when lives are at risk.
TCHRD has obtained pictures of fourteen of the detained monks. The portraits are on their website.
http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/p001.html
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TAKE ACTION:
Please send personally-worded appeals to arrive as quickly as possible in English, Chinese or your own language:
urge the authorities to release the 15 monks listed below, as well as all others detained for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly;
urge the authorities to fully account for all those detained during the demonstrations, ensuring they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, have access to lawyers and medical care, are brought promptly before an independent court and are able to challenge their detention;
ensure that those prosecuted are charged with internationally recognizable offences and tried in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards;
allow full and unimpeded access to Tibet and other Tibetan areas to journalists and other independent observers;
allow independent UN investigation into the events of the last week, including full access to scenes of confrontation, eye-witnesses, and detainees, and allow similar access to independent observers, including journalists and human rights NGOs.
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15 Tibetan Monks Detained
Samten (m), aged 17, Lungkar Monastery, Qinghai Province
Trulku Tenpa Rigsang (m), aged 26, Lungkar Monastery, Qinghai Province
Gelek Pel (m) aged 32 Lungkar Monastery, Qinghai Province
Lobsang (m) aged 15, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Lobsang Thukjey (m), aged 19 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Tsultrim Palden (m), aged 20 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Lobsher (m), aged 20 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Phurden (m), aged 22 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Thupdon (m), aged 24 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Lobsang Ngodup (m), aged 29 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Lodoe (m), aged 30 Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
Thupwang (m), aged 30, Darthang Monastery
Pema Garwang (m), aged 30, Darthang Monastery
Tsegyam (m), aged 22, Kashi Monastery
Soepa (m), aged 30, Mangye Monastery
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WRITE TO:
President of the People’s Republic of China:
HU Jintao Guojia Zhuxi
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017, People's Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency
Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Government:
Qiangba PUNCOG Zhuren
Xizang Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
1 Kang'angdonglu
Lasashi 850000
Xizang Zizhiqu, People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Chairman
Minister of Public Security of the People's Republic of China:
MENG Jianzhu Buzhang
Gong’anbu
14 Dongchang’anjie
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100741, People's Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Ambassador for the People's Republic of China
His Excellency LU Shumin
515 St. Patrick Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 5H3
Fax: (613) 789-1911
Salutation: Your Excellency
Mayor of Lasa Municipal People’s Government Tibet Autonomous Region
LOBSANG Gyaincain Shizhang
Lasashi Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
16 Jinjulu, Lasashi 850000
Xizang Zizhiqu, People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Mayor
