#24.1

Two videos from RFA Unplugged (via the RFA Mandarin service):

This report was filed for RFA’s Mandarin service, at considerable risk to the reporter, Wei Si:

It’s a journey of about 400 kilometres along highway from Kangding to Ganzi, in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan. The road is liberally dotted with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples.
Read more »

This is a continuation of an RFA Mandarin service report from Wei Si:

The monks in the lamasery in Daofu county, Sichuan province, also tell us that a group of reporters arrived a few days ago, but were turned away by Chinese security forces who were guarding the gates. Such incidents have become commonplace since the Tibetan anti-Chinese protests which began on March the 14th in Lhasa, they say.
Read more »

#23.1

A Tibetan nomad shot dead in Amdo Golog, hundreds arrested

On 21 March 2008, the Tibetans in Ponkor Township staged a peaceful protest in Darlag County, Golog “TAP”, Qinghai Province, according to reliable information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

….

Sources told TCHRD that in the following weeks, hundreds of Tibetan protesters were arrested by the Chinese security forces. Many of the them, who were later released from the detention were charged with a hefty fine of 20,000 Chinese yuan as a punishment (US $ 2,500).

On 28 April 2008, events took a dramatic turn when the armed Chinese security forces surrounded a nomadic hamlet in Ponkor Toema Township. At the breaking of a dawn, the armed security forces fired live ammunition on the nomads. Moments later, 22-year-old nomad Choetop was killed during the gun fire. The Chinese security forces took the dead body with them and till date the dead body was not returned to Choetop’s family for funeral rites. The situation in Ponkor Toema Township was said to be tense and more and more Chinese security forces were beefing up in Ponkor Township.

China jails 17 Tibetans in a “swift and quick” court proceeding

China’s state media today morning announced that 17 Tibetans have been sentenced between three years to life imprisonment in connection with the Lhasa revolt in March 2008. It is the first instance of a group of Tibetans handed down with harsh prison terms since protests broke out in Lhasa and various Tibetan areas under Chinese administration beginning from 10 March 2008. The state media did not reveal whether the current group of Tibetans sentenced to harsh terms were part of those who gave in before the official surrender deadline issued by the authorities.

The Xinhua report stated, “Two men, including a Buddhist monk identified as Basang (Passang), received life sentences… Basang was accused of leading 10 people, including five other monks, to destroy local government offices, burn down shops and attack policemen… Of the five monks, two were sentenced to 20 years, and the other three to 15 years in jail.” “The other man who received a life sentence was identified as Soi’nam Norbu (Sonam Norbu), a driver for a Lhasa real estate company”. No details were given on the 10 other people sentenced.

#22.1

Latest updates from the Tibetan Centre For Human Rights and Democracy:

Over hundred Tibetans arrested in Rebkong County
Over one hundred Tibetans, including monks and lay people, have been arrested today for protesting by the Chinese security forces in Rebkong County (Ch: Tongren Xian), Malho (Ch: Huangnan) “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”, Qinghai Province, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

China closes down Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastic School
In the aftermath of series of Tibetan protests across Ngaba region in eastern Tibet, the Chinese authorities of Ngaba “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” (’TAP’) have indefinitely closed down the school run by Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastery on 8 April 2008, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

A former chief of Rong Gonchen Monastery in critical condition
According to fresh development of situation in Rong Gonchen Monastery in Rebkong, the Chinese authorities are not allowing anyone to meet the arrested Tibetans in detention centres. Multiple sources confirm that 80-year-old Alak Khasutsang, a former chief of Rong Gonchen Monastery, who tried to diffuse the tension between the Tibetan demonstrators and the Chinese security forces on 17 April has reportedly sustained severe head injury during the police crackdown and was said to be in a critical condition. He was also known to be suffering from a high blood pressure. One source reported that he was taken to a hospital in Xining City for treatment. However, there was no exact information about his current whereabouts.

#21.1

Monks of Drepung Monastery detained during Patriotic Education campaign ^TCHRD:

A number of monks of Drepung Monastery in Tibet were detained by the Chinese security officials in and around 12 April 2008 following the monks’ protest against Chinese “Work Team” who paid a visit to the monastery to conduct “Patriotic Education” Campaign, according to confirmed information received from reliable sources by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

The “Tibet Autonomous Region” (”TAR” ) authorities sent the “Legal Information Education” “Work Team” as a part of the “patriotic education” campaign to Drepung Monastery in and around 12 April 2008, according to the official mouthpiece, Xinhua, dated 13 April 2008.

According to reliable sources, a new “Work Team” on “Legal and Information Education” arrived in Drepung Monastery to start “Patriotic Education” campaign to the Drepung monks, however, the monks protested in unison against the campaign. Later security forces were called into the monastery by the “Work Team” to control the protesting monks. Number of Tibetan monks were immediately detained and taken away to unknown location by the security forces for interrupting and protesting the campaign. There is no information on the condition and whereabouts of those detainees.

Freshly obtained pictures depict peaceful protest by monks of Drepung Monastery on 10 March 2008:

Monks of Drepung Monastery peacefully
marching towards Barkhor street in Lhasa

Police stop the marching monks mid way

#20.3

Interesting and shocking comments by Tibetans over on RFA Unplugged via the RFA Mandarin and Tibetan services:

Lhasa eyewitnesses analyze the protests

When I arrived at the Lhasa City People’s Hospital, I saw three Tibetans being brought in. One of the injured was Tenzin Norbu from Kham Pelbar. His sister brought him in, and I recognized him. He had been shot in the head, and the hospital suggested that he should be taken to the TAR People’s Hospital. He was vomiting and may not have survived. That boy was very young—about 21 or 22—and according to his sister he was a student in a school just below Sera monastery. Another youth had also been shot in the head. He was bleeding heavily, and there was little hope for his survival. Another Tibetan youth had been hit in the hip and had about four bullet wounds.

Since we cannot move freely and our lines of communication are cut, it is very difficult for me to give you any details or comprehensive information. However, in our area, the Chinese crackdown and restrictions on monks and Tibetan youths and students have been shockingly rigid and ruthless. Monks are being ostracized, and the police look on them as objects of hatred. The situation is extremely tense. All Tibetan monks and students, regardless of their participation or non-involvement in the protests, are being treated as suspects.

#20.2

15 monks in Labrang (Xiahe) disrupt another Chinese-organized media tour:

Monks carry a Tibetan flag and shout slogans as a group of journalists, invited to an official visit by the local government, arrived at the Labrang Monestry in Xiahe, Gansu provinve April 9, 2008. The monks demanded the return of the Dalai Lama to China and yelling that they had no human rights. (REUTERS)

More at NY Times:

“The Dalai Lama has to come back to Tibet,” one monk said, according to Reuters, which was invited on the tour. “We are not asking for Tibetan independence, we are just asking for human rights. We have no human rights now.”

#20.1

TCHRD has the latest news about a raid on Ramoche Temple:

On 7 April 2008, around 70 monks from Ramoche Temple were detained by the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials during the midnight raid carried out in the monks’ residences. The detained monks were taken away to an unknown location, according to reliable sources. At present only a few monks are left in the Ramoche Temple, which previously housed around a hundred monks, with scores detained and taken away in the midnight raid. There is no immediate information on the condition and whereabouts of those detained.

#19.1

Further protests in Sichuan ^RFA :

A Tibetan witness in Daofu (Dawu), in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi), told RFA’s Tibetan service on April 5 that a protest was under way, with 15 people injured, five people of them seriously. The five who were gravely wounded were all initially taken into custody, the witness said.

“The monks called the head of Daofu county and warned that if those detained weren’t released, all the monks would continue protesting even if it meant they would be killed. So the county chief released those who were injured and detained. There were about 15 Tibetans who were injured and five are in serious condition,” the witness said.

“Please tell the world what we are doing here and that the Chinese are waging a violent crackdown,” the witness said. The call was lost, and the line was dead when a reporter tried to ring back.

An official at the Daofu Public Security Bureau confirmed that a protest had occurred but added: “Now everything is quiet and under control.” Tibetan exiles reported similar information after speaking with relatives in the Daofu area.

One source, based in India, said monks from the Mintso monastery planned a special ceremony to mourn those killed in earlier protests, despite a warning that Chinese police had orders to shoot on sight anyone seen protesting.

“Local people joined them, and the crowd grew to about 1,000,” the source said.

“They marched peacefully through the side road, but when they reached a cross-section, several hundred armed police stood there and blocked them. They then allowed the monks to pass and stopped ordinary Tibetans from going any further.”

“At that point, the Tibetans who were simply reciting prayers and marching peacefully were agitated and started raising slogans. They shouted ‘Long live the Dalai Lama’ and slogans [against the] deprivation of freedom for Tibetans inside Tibet. So the… police started firing at the Tibetan crowd and injured about five Tibetans seriously,” the source said,

The monks demanded that the injured Tibetans be returned to them, and the police handed them back, the source in India said. “They were taken to the local hospital but the hospital denied them treatment.”

Another Tibetan exile, in Switzerland, said he too had spoken to witnesses before the phone lines went dead, and they had reported 14 people injured, four of them seriously.

“Ten of the Tibetans are in stable condition,” he said. “The four in serious condition are on the way to China for medical treatment in a vehicle owned by Mintso monastery.”

#18.2

TCHRD obtains fresh pictures of the protest in Lhasa on 14 March 2008. The pictures depict the large scale crackdown by the Chinese Government during and after the protest by deploying large numbers of Public Security Bureau (PSB) personnel and army convoy in Lhasa.

View them all on the TCHRD website

#18.1

Chinese Police Fire on Tibetan Protesters, Death Toll Unknown ^RFA :

Paramilitary police in China’s southwestern Sichuan province fired on a crowd of Tibetan protesters demanding the release of two detained monks, killing and wounding an unknown number of people, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

At about 8 p.m. April 3, paramilitary People’s Armed Police fired on a crowd of several hundred monks from the Tongkor monastery in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) and several hundred residents, witnesses told RFA’s Tibetan service.

The witnesses, who declined to be identified, said they believed 15 people were killed and dozens injured, with scores more unaccounted for as of April 4.

A source told RFA’s Cantonese service: “One monk has been killed, and seven Tibetans. Yesterday morning the police came to some Tibetan houses and asked them not to mourn those Tibetans who died in earlier clashes, and not to post the Dalai Lama’s pictures. Then they had a clash with the police. Many people have been beaten up and arrested.”

The unrest around Tongkor monastery—unaffected by recent unrest in Tibetan areas until this week—began after Chinese authorities tried to launch a “patriotic education” campaign there aimed at quashing support for Tibetan demonstrations elsewhere.

But when they tried to enlist the head lama, Lobsang Jamyang, on April 2, he refused, an authoritative source said. He is said to have told the authorities: “We cannot criticize the Dalai Lama, but I will discourage any incidents of protest here.”