#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).

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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.

#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.

#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.

#16.1

Latest updates from the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy include these images:

Chinese army convoy being deployed in Sertha County, Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province

These images are from a protest in Holkha Township, Tsigorthang County (Xinghai Xian) Tsolho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province:

“Peace, Democracy. We mourn and pray (mani mantra) for our people who lost their lives.”

Meanwhile Free Tibet have confirmed the reports of a recent protest in Lhasa:

Our contact in Dharamsala has spoken by phone to a source in Lhasa who confirmed he had witnessed a large protest in the Tibetan capital at 2pm local time today (Sat 29 March). Other Tibetan sources are also reporting the protest.

The protest took place despite the deployment of thousands of armed police in Lhasa. The protests, which involved hundreds of Tibetans according to the eyewitness, were centered around the Barkor and the Ramoche monastery. The eyewitness said that the protrest was peaceful and no Han Chinese were targetted by the protesters. The protest did not last long and was suppressed by hunderds of armed police who were already in postion. The eyewitness said that the closure of shops and restaurants and other businesses in eastern Lhasa showed the gravity of the incident.

#15.2

RFA reports:

Tibetan Protests Linger Amid Armed Police Presence in Western China

Hundreds of high-school students from a Tibetan middle school in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu are boycotting classes in protest at the recent crackdown on Tibetan protesters in the region, sources in the area said.

“Many people protested and things got very chaotic,” a woman living in Chone (in Chinese, Zhuoni) county, Kanlho (in Chinse, Gannan) prefecture, told RFA’s Mandarin service.

“The protesters are Tibetan students from a local high school. It is not yet over,” she said.

A law enforcement official from the Chone county government told reporter Qiao Long: “The majority of the protesters are good people.” But while he didn’t deny the high-school students were striking, he declined to comment further.

At least two monks were reported killed in Chone in mid-March during a crackdown on Tibetan protests in the area, according to multiple sources.

“They were killed by troops on March 14,” a Tibetan resident said March 31. Residents said armed police from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei province, had been deployed to the area to keep the peace.

“Armed police are trying to arrest Tibetans who remain at large. There are still some sporadic riots,” a Han Chinese resident of the region said Sunday.

And on the provincial border between Gansu and southwestern Sichuan province, monks continued to protest, despite a large armed police presence, Tibetan sources said.

Armed police were also reported in large numbers in Draggo (in Chinese, Luhuo) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) autonomous prefecture of Sichuan, and in Chigdril (Jiuzhi) county in the Golog (Guoluo) autonomous prefecture of Qinghai province, sources said.

#10.2

Photos from protest in Chigdril County, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, on 17 March 2008 (via TCHRD):

For more, click here

#9.1

News from Qinghai, via TCHRD:

On 22 March 2008, around hundreds of Tibetans carried out a peaceful protest in Markhul-thang Township, consisted of four villages, which is located in Chentsa County, Malho “TAP”, Qinghai Province in north-eastern Tibet according to information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

The Tibetans in Markhul-thang Township were carrying out special religious ceremony for a prosperous bounty harvest for this year. Shortly after the end of ritual ceremony, several hundreds of Tibetans erupted into a peaceful protest by proceeding to the County headquarter chanting slogans.

According to sources, the peaceful Tibetan protestors were proceeding to the County Headquarter carrying a portrait of the Dalai Lama and the missing eleventh Panchen Lama Gedun Choekyi Nyima. In addition to that, the peaceful Tibetan protestors were carrying the banned Tibetan National flag and were shouting slogans “Long Live the Dalai Lama”, “The Dalai Lama to return to Tibet”, “Release the eleventh Panchen Lama Erdeni Gedun Choekyi Nyima” and “Freedom for Tibetan people”.

However, when the peaceful Tibetan protestors came near the County headquarter, prominent local religious leaders requested the peaceful protestors intervened and turn away from continuing their demonstration to avoid bloodshed and loosing human lives. The demonstrators were later sent back to their respective places. Sources say that hundreds of Chinese security forces were expecting the peaceful protestors at the County headquarter in full combat kit to quell and disperse the peaceful protestors.

A large mobilization of Chinese paramilitary troops from Chinese city of Seling (Ch: Xining) to Chentsa County is on a full swing to quell the Tibetan protestors when the report last came in. The heavy security blanket is maintaining a close vigil on the protestors as well as patrolling the streets. The situation on the ground is said to be tense and volatile.

#6.6

Images from Repkong (Ch. Tongren) dated 16th & 17th March 2008:

Monks burn incense on a hill above the monastery at Tongren, in China’s Qinghai province Sunday March 16, 2008. Dozens of monks, defying a directive not to gather in groups, marched to a hill where they set off fireworks and burned incense in what one monk said was a protest.

#4.2

Fresh protests in Amdo Golog (Qinghai province) and Tsoe City (Gansu province) according to TCHRD.

Meanwhile photos have surfaced of dead protesters in Ngaba County: