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).

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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.