The Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality during and after the unprecedented Tibetan people's peacef

Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala: Prime Minister of Tibetan government in Exile Prof Samdhong Rinpoche is on a nine-day visit to Tibetan communities located in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh to educate them about the policies of the Central Tibetan Administration.
During his visits to settlements in Shimla, Dholanji and Mandi from 19 – 22 July, Rinpoche spoke on the administration's effort to seek genuine autonomy for Tibet through the mutually beneficial Middle-Way Approach.Rinpoche briefed the Tibetan settlers on the financial position of the Central Tibetan Administration and the upcoming election of Kalon Tripa. He also answered questions from the audience.

He spoke on the importance of specialisation in academic fields during his interaction with schoolchildren at the Central School for Tibetans in Shimla and Dholanji.The visit will take him to Chauntara, Bir and Tashi Jong.

Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala: The Central Tibetan Administration received reports of the events that followed the peaceful protest led by monks of Sera monastery near Tibet's capital Lhasa on 11 March 2008 and the subsequent brutal clampdown by the Chinese government.

When a group of Tibetan monks led a peaceful demonstration in Lhasa on 10 March, the monks of Sera monastery joined them despite repressive measures imposed by monastic committee and special armed police. As a mark of solidarity, the residents of Tibetan community located near the monastery also joined the protest on hearing reports of severe beating of the monks by the police.

Twenty-year-old Gyaltsen and a group of Tibetan youths were arrested and tortured by police on 11 March 2008.

Now after more than two years, their whereabouts still remain unknown.

The family members could not find Gyaltsen, a native of Phusum town in Nyemo County, who was working as a tailor in Lhasa when he was arrested for taking part in the protest.

Similarly, on 11 March 2008 many more Tibetans were beaten and arrested during a raid conducted by a large contingent of public security bureau, special armed police in over 100 homes under the pretext of their role in 10 March protest. Some of the Tibetans were severely beaten during the time of their arrest. One of them was later released, but the fate of others remain unknown despite search efforts by their family members.

The names of those arrested are: Tenzin, Tasang, Khyikyag, Wangdue, Phurbu, Namsey, Migmar, Pema; Kelsang, Tenzin, Dawa Tsering, Lhagwang Wangdue, Pasang, Khando, Norbu, Pasang Tsering, Pasang, Dorjee Tsering, Namgang, Nyima Tsering, Tashi Dorjee, Phurbu Ngodup, Lhakpa, Penpa, Dachoe, Phurbu and Tsering Lasang.

Meanwhile, a photo of late 20-year-old Kunga with gun-shot wounds made its way to the outside, which substantiates the human rights abuse and repression prevailing in Tibet.

Kunga was a monk of Chogri monastery located in Drakgo County in Karze. He was shot dead by Chinese security forces when he along with fellow monks were helping Tibetans wounded during a peaceful protest in Drakgo county on 24 March 2008.


Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala: The Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality during and after the unprecedented Tibetan people's peaceful protests across Tibet in March 2008, a US-based human rights group said in a new report released Thursday.

The Human Rights Watch said its researchers interviewed more 200 Tibetan refugees and visitors outside China between March 2008 and April 2010.

The 73-page report - details through eyewitness testimonies a broad range of abuses committed by Chinese security forces, which includes large-scale arbitrary arrests, brutalising detainees, and torturing alleged suspects in custody.

The report said Chinese security forces opened fire indiscriminately on demonstrators in at least four separate incidents, including in one area of downtown Lhasa on 14 March.

In the report a 24-year-old Lhasa resident testified: “They (Chinese security forces) were firing straight at people. They were coming from the direction of Jiangsu Lu firing at any Tibetans they saw, and many people has been killed.”

Another eyewitness, a 55-year-old resident from Rebgong said: “The first thing I saw was a lot of soldiers and police beating the crowd with electric batons. Groups of four or five soldiers were arresting crowd members one by one and putting them in a truck.”

"She was shot by a single bullet in the head. Local people managed to take her body home to the village, which is about five kilometers from Tongkor monastery," said Sonam Tenzin (not his real name), a 27-year-old monk from Tongkor monastery.

Rinchen Namgyal (not his real name), a 33-year-old monk from Gaden monastery, said: "We were beaten very badly. The guards used clubs and sticks to beat us ... They hit us mostly on the lower body. This lasted two days. Then we were taken to Gutsa prison in Lhasa. There, the police interrogated us non-stop for two whole days and nights. They were beating us, taking turns to conduct the interrogation."

“The beatings continued in the courtyard. The PAP soldiers were using belts and the butt of their guns … They were kicking him on the ground, and he was bleeding a lot-there was so much blood. Then they left him just lying on the ground, motionless … I saw it with my own eyes,” said Lhundrup Dorje (not his real name), a resident from Lhasa.

Pasang Choepel (not his real name), a former detainee from Ngaba, said: “Up to 30 people were crowded in cells of three to four square meters. There was no space to sit down so detainees had to stand most of the day and night. The cells had not toilets but prisoners were not taken out and had to relieve themselves in the cell. They were given one bowl of rice congee a day. Many were subjected to beatings.”

According to Jampa Lhaga (not his real name), a former Drepung monk in Lhasa: “They burst in, breaking the doors and gates of the colleges and dormitories. The soldiers were armed and equipped with hatchets and hammers, as well as torches, handcuffs and wire ropes. On entering monks' rooms they would first ask for phones, which were systematically confiscated … Some of the arrested monks were handcuffed; others tied up with wire ropes … They ordered us to move very fast, and if we didn't, they'd hit us. Several hundred monks were taken away.”

“Dozens of eyewitness testimonies and the government's own sources show clearly the official willingness to use force against unarmed protesters. This report decisively refutes the Chinese government's claim that it handled the protests in line with international standards and domestic laws,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

“The need for an international investigation into the situation in Tibet is a great as ever. Abuses by security forces are unlikely to quell, and may even aggravate, the longstanding grievances that prompted the protests in the first place,”Richardson said.

According to information received by the Central Tibetan Administration, more than 223 Tibetans were killed and over 1294 injured during the ruthless crackdown by Chinese security forces. Over 4,657 were arrested or detained and the whereabouts of 990 Tibetans remain unknown


Bijender Sharma
Dharamshala: The Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality during and after the unprecedented Tibetan people's peaceful protests across Tibet in March 2008, a US-based human rights group said in a new report released Thursday.

The Human Rights Watch said its researchers interviewed more 200 Tibetan refugees and visitors outside China between March 2008 and April 2010.

The 73-page report - “I saw It with My Own Eyes': Abuses by Security Forces in Tibet, 2008-2010” - details through eyewitness testimonies a broad range of abuses committed by Chinese security forces, which includes large-scale arbitrary arrests, brutalising detainees, and torturing alleged suspects in custody.

The report said Chinese security forces opened fire indiscriminately on demonstrators in at least four separate incidents, including in one area of downtown Lhasa on 14 March.

In the report a 24-year-old Lhasa resident testified: “They (Chinese security forces) were firing straight at people. They were coming from the direction of Jiangsu Lu firing at any Tibetans they saw, and many people has been killed.”

Another eyewitness, a 55-year-old resident from Rebgong said: “The first thing I saw was a lot of soldiers and police beating the crowd with electric batons. Groups of four or five soldiers were arresting crowd members one by one and putting them in a truck.”

"She was shot by a single bullet in the head. Local people managed to take her body home to the village, which is about five kilometers from Tongkor monastery," said Sonam Tenzin (not his real name), a 27-year-old monk from Tongkor monastery.

Rinchen Namgyal (not his real name), a 33-year-old monk from Gaden monastery, said: "We were beaten very badly. The guards used clubs and sticks to beat us ... They hit us mostly on the lower body. This lasted two days. Then we were taken to Gutsa prison in Lhasa. There, the police interrogated us non-stop for two whole days and nights. They were beating us, taking turns to conduct the interrogation."

“The beatings continued in the courtyard. The PAP soldiers were using belts and the butt of their guns … They were kicking him on the ground, and he was bleeding a lot-there was so much blood. Then they left him just lying on the ground, motionless … I saw it with my own eyes,” said Lhundrup Dorje (not his real name), a resident from Lhasa.

Pasang Choepel (not his real name), a former detainee from Ngaba, said: “Up to 30 people were crowded in cells of three to four square meters. There was no space to sit down so detainees had to stand most of the day and night. The cells had not toilets but prisoners were not taken out and had to relieve themselves in the cell. They were given one bowl of rice congee a day. Many were subjected to beatings.”

According to Jampa Lhaga (not his real name), a former Drepung monk in Lhasa: “They burst in, breaking the doors and gates of the colleges and dormitories. The soldiers were armed and equipped with hatchets and hammers, as well as torches, handcuffs and wire ropes. On entering monks' rooms they would first ask for phones, which were systematically confiscated … Some of the arrested monks were handcuffed; others tied up with wire ropes … They ordered us to move very fast, and if we didn't, they'd hit us. Several hundred monks were taken away.”

“Dozens of eyewitness testimonies and the government's own sources show clearly the official willingness to use force against unarmed protesters. This report decisively refutes the Chinese government's claim that it handled the protests in line with international standards and domestic laws,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

“The need for an international investigation into the situation in Tibet is a great as ever. Abuses by security forces are unlikely to quell, and may even aggravate, the longstanding grievances that prompted the protests in the first place,”Richardson said.

According to information received by the Central Tibetan Administration, more than 223 Tibetans were killed and over 1294 injured during the ruthless crackdown by Chinese security forces. Over 4,657 were arrested or detained and the whereabouts of 990 Tibetans remain unknown

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