#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.
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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 »

#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.”

#18.1

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.”

#17.1

Latest via TCHRD:

Nuns of Tawu County hold prayer session for those killed in recent crackdown

In the aftermath of severe crackdown on the Tibetan protesters by Chinese military forces across various parts of Tibet since 10 March which led to the deaths of scores of Tibetans, a subtle form of protests are surfacing from Tibet in the form of staging peaceful solidarity prayer procession despite authorities’ placing severe restriction.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) received confirm information from reliable sources that on 2 April 2008 at 8 AM (Beijing Standard Time), around 200 nuns of Ratroe Nunnery in Tawu County (Ch: Daifu Xian), Kardze “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture” (“TAP”), Sichuan Province set off a peaceful procession to showcase their solidarity with and pray for those who lost their lives in the recent spat of protests across the Tibetan plateau by chanting Buddhist prayers. The nuns of Ratroe Nunnery marched towards the county headquarters chanting Buddhist prayers such as, prayer for the Dalai Lama’s longevity and Dolma (Tara prayer).

According to sources, the People’s Armed Police (PAP) and the Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers ordered the chanting nuns to return to their nunnery or be forcibly returned. The nuns dispersed and return to their nunnery after offering prayers in front of Tawu County government headquarters. There is no immediate report of arrest of nuns although eyewitnesses report a heavy presence of the PAP and PSB during the peaceful procession.

In a similar peaceful protest in Holkha Township in Tsigorthang County on 25 March, where hundreds of Tibetans staged a peaceful solidarity march and later held a prayer session for those who lost their lives in the recent series of protests in Tibet. Following the peace march and prayer session at the township government headquarters, three Tibetans were arbitrarily arrested in an early morning raid in their home by the PAP and PSB officials. In the following days four more Tibetans were also arrested and their whereabouts are still unknown to their families.

#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.

#15.1

From TCHRD:

China arrest over 572 monks from Kirti Monastery in two-day raid

From credible information received from multiple sources in Tibet by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a total of 572 monks from Ngaba Kirti Monastery were arrested by the Chinese People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) following a two day raid in monks’ residence on 28 and 29 March 2008.

As reported earlier by the Centre, more information on the number of monks arrested following two days of raids in Ngaba Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County (Ch:Aba Xian), Ngaba ” Tibet Autonomous Prefecture” (‘TAP’), Sichuan Province, is surfacing from the area. According to several credible sources, a total of 572 monks including novice as young as ten years old from Kirti Monastery were known to have been arrested in two days’ raid at the monastery by PAP and PSB officials. Before the launch of raids in the monastery on 28 March, hundreds of PAP and PSB reached the monastery, dispersed people, mostly devotees and visitors gathered around the monastery compound, and ordered surrounding shops to be shut down.

During the sudden and thorough raid, monks with modern communication gadgets such as mobile phones, cameras, computers or MP3 players in their residences were known to have been arrested under suspicion of having communicated with the exile Tibetan communities. The PAP and PSB ransacked every room of the monastery, baring every box and cupboard with rifle butts. There were even reports of security forces taking advantage by taking away valuable items from monks’ residences. The sources also confirmed that in an attempt to hurt the religious sentiment of the Buddhist monks, the PAP and PSB officials forced monks to step over the portraits of the Dalai Lama found in monks’ residences. The security forces even took photographs of monks who were coerced to hold the banned Tibetan national flag and portrait of the Dalai Lama to use as evidence of their crimes. The sources confirmed that symbolic ceremonial weapons hung on the statues of protecting deities inside the monastery altar were also reported to have been confiscated, and were accused of being weapons used by the protesters.

#10.1

TCHRD: One shot dead and another in critical condition in Drango protest

At around 2:00 pm (Beijing Standard Time), a peaceful protest was initiated jointly by the monks of Chokri Monastery and nuns of Ngyoe-go Nunnery of Drawo Township, Drango County (Ch: Luhuo Xian), Kardze “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture” (“TAP”), Sichuan Province, in eastern Tibet which was later joined by the common citizens of Drawu Township. Around 200 protestors headed towards the township government headquarters chanting slogans “long live the Dalai Lama”, “Independence for Tibet” and “freedom for Tibet”.

According to multiple sources within Tibet, when the protesters were marching towards the township headquarters, a large number of People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers came to the scene to quell the agitated protestors. In the process, a clash occurred between the two sides, soon the Chinese security forces started firing live ammunitions indiscriminately into the protesting crowd, which led to the dead of at least one monk and left another in critical condition.

#7.1

RFA reports on the most recent protests:

2,000 Tibetans Defy Chinese Crackdown as China Admits Shooting

“In the Tsekhog [Zeku] area in Huangnan prefecture, the monks are continuing their peaceful protests as of March 20,” a protester told an Amdo dialect reporter from RFA’s Tibetan service.

“Roughly 2,000 Tibetans, both monks and laypersons, are involved in the protests. The protesters are calling for the Chinese leadership to open a peaceful dialogue with the Dalai Lama and resolve the Tibetan issue peacefully,” the protester said, over the sound of slogans being chanted.

The protesters, who live in a traditionally Tibetan area of Qinghai which is home to large numbers of nomadic herders, were demanding a meaningful autonomous status inclusive of all Tibetan areas, but within the People’s Republic of China, he added.

They were also demanding that the Chinese leadership allow the Dalai Lama to visit the Amdo region, a cry raised during protests in another Sichuan town, Lithang, last summer.

“Right now there are no security forces in the area but we heard that they are coming. We have no freedom inside China,” the protester said. “We are right now protesting in front of the county government offices. We are about 2,000 protesters and we are protesting peacefully.”

Residents of Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) autonomous prefecture in Sichuan said two monks were shot dead by Chinese armed police after they defied a police cordon set up around the Kirti monastery. Local residents also said a “massacre” had occurred during the clashes around Kirti.

#6.3

RFA Unplugged has news about the situation in Chengdu.

Huang Xiaomin, a Han Chinese activist in Chengdu, told Mandarin reporter Xinyu: “All major thoroughfares leading to the Tibet Autonomous Region’s office in Chengdu are manned by riot police and also armed police sitting in cars waiting. I walked around the neighborhood and saw no fewer than 60 vehicles, including mini vans and cars, with tags indicating that they were from public security. All cars traveling toward the direction of the TAR office are subject to inspection. Car trunks are searched. The drivers must get out of the cars and show their IDs. “

Our reporter Xinyu called the TAR office in Chengdu to confirm the security checks and was told by the duty officer: “We don’t know about that.”