The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

Woeser: Tibet Update (May 1-3, 2008)

Beijing based Tibetan writer/blogger Woeser continues her “Tibet Update.” After her blog being attacked last month, she now publishes her writing on overseas Chinese news site Boxun.com here, here and here:

May 3

Corrections: On May 1st I wrote that “Jamyang Rinpoche, the abbot of Labrang Monastery (the deputy president of China Buddhist Association, the director of the Advanced Buddhism College of Tibetan Language Family and the director of Gansu Provincial Buddhist association) sent a telegram to the Chinese officials concerning the issue…”, but it is the wrong information. The person who reported to the authorities that the military police destroyed and even plundered the cultural relics of the monastery is the Great Geshe Jamyang Gyatso (Ch. Jiamuyang Jiacuo) of the Labrang Monastery (the deputy president of China Buddhist Association, the sutra teacher for the Eleventh Panchen Lama recognized by China. His name is also written as Jiayang Jiacuo in Chinese ). 

The foreign media reported that the two special envoys of the Dalai Lama will travel to Shengzhen via Hong Kong, and will hold talks with the Chinese side. The official Chinese media did not report this news, but the Wenhui Newspaper in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong based Phoenix Television Station and others reported the news, and they also published the photos of these two envoys. What needs to point out is that they published the wrong photo of the special envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen. The special envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen is the Dalai Lama’s special envoy to Europe and has participated in Sino-Tibetan talks for several times. However, the photo published is that of Kelsang Gyaltsen, the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies under the Tibetan Government in Exile and the member of Tibetan Solidarity Committee of the Tibetan Government in Exile. 
 
Some Tibetans say that Tibetan CCP official are completely useless. They should make their standpoints known and let the outside would hear their voice, rather than becoming the mouthpiece of the CCP. Tibetan people will support them. But, will they have enough courage to do so? The fear makes them realize that their lives will be ruined if they express people’s opinions. In Tibet we need courageous leaders. We miss the Tenth Panchen Lama. Without brave leadership and independent intellectuals, the sacrifice made by the common people is wasted. 
 
It is very regrettable that today when the seventh talk between the Tibetan and Chinese governments is about to begin, the official Chinese media still uses Cultural Revolution like languages to demonize the Dalai Lama. For instance, Tibet Daily published the article entitled “ The Dalai Clique is the one who Sabotage the Normal Order of Tibetan Buddhism (part one)”, written by a Tibetan named Dramdul from the United Front Department of the Central Government of CCP. Though he is not a monk, yet he posed as a mouthpiece of Buddhism to affirm that speeches and deeds of “the Dalai Clique” destroyed the normal religious activities of Tibetan Buddhism. He claims that they violated the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, went against the most basic precepts of Buddhism and blasphemed the sprit and tradition of Buddhist patriotism.” Furthermore, for instance, the lead news story is entitled “The True Face of Tibet Youth Congress: the Daring Vanguard of “Tibet Independence” from Violence to Terror,” claiming that the reason for the “Tibet Youth Congress” to grow in strength and put a spin on the situation is closely connected to the secret order the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. In addition, the decisions of the Dalai Clique also have deep “marks” of “Tibet Youth Congress,” etc.   
 
In Lhasa the authorities have created the appearance of harmony. The soldiers who were on duty all took off their uniforms and dressed up as tourists to walk around everywhere. Most soldiers on guard duty changed into the police uniforms, and the same soldier would change into uniforms for ground force, armed police and policemen. The authorities also created the false appearance of the freedom for religious belief. While some work units notified their employees their place of work is to circumambulate the Potala Palace, the neighborhood committees also organized and encouraged people to go on circumambulation tour and to pay homage in Sera Monastery which has been ordered to open to the public by the authorities themselves. They rewarded these people for doing so with bonuses. It is learned that recently there will be another journalist group, including foreign journalists, to visit Lhasa. In order to show that people enjoy the right to hold demonstrations freely, some work units will organize their employees to hold demonstrations, and the content for holding the demonstrations is about some trivial matters.    
 
Besides holding the mobilization assembly with the education activities focusing on “Opposing separatism, safeguarding stability and promoting development,” every work unit in Lhasa also convenes at least one session of the  “political study” a week. There are more meetings for the party members. All people, including college students and people of all nationalities, must write articles to “expose and criticize the Dalai Separatist Clique,” and they had to read their articles on the assemblies. They had to named the Dalai Lama and denounce him, in addition, they could only say “Dalai”, and could not add the word “Lama,” otherwise, they would be considered to be someone whose standpoints were not firm. Many Tibetans’ feelings are rather complex. Though they are angry, yet they can not doing anything; they are humiliated, but are very scared as well. Some Tibetan students at the School of Arts and Science under Tibet University were arrested.    
 
Recently some people who were arrested during the March 14 Incident without any reasons were released. It is learned that they were arrested one after another after March 14. While some of them were arrested on their way home from their offices, others were arrested when they were asleep late at night. Many people were locked up in the warehouse of the railway station. Those who were tortured include: Some were forced to shoulder the instruments of torture when they were tortured, thus, those who shouldered the iron club had broken ribs; those who carried mechanical springs had their flesh cut off; those who carried electric wire lost consciousness as they were shocked, etc. Some of them were not given water to drink, so they had to drink each other’s urine, but in the end they did not even have urine to drink. Every day they were thrown a few steamed bread, and all the people would fight for them. Every four or five days they would be transferred to different places. Since they were transferred late at night, they did not where they had been.    
 
However, in other Tibetan areas tragedies which pain the Tibetans continue to happen. On the morning of April 30 in Gonsar Monastery Ñü the old Geluk Monastery of Kham in Derge [Ch. Dege] County, Kham (Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province) Ñü the work team force the monks to sign their names in the official document entitled “Expose and Criticize the Dalai Separatist Clique”, and also demanded each monk to hand in two photos to paste on the document. The authorities threatened the monks if they did not obey the order, the monastery would be closed. The monks voluntarily gathered at the Hall of the Protective Deity, and took the oath in front of the image of the protective deity that they would rather die than signing their names. We do not know any details about the immediate situation. 
 
On April 28 in the village near Wonpo Monastery in Dzachukha [Ch. Shiqu] County in Kham (Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province) the military police searched the villagers’ houses, and destroyed the Dalai Lama’s photos worshipped by the villagers. A woman named Drilhamo was extremely grieved and hanged herself; an old monk over seventy-years old became mentally deranged. Earlier when the authorities held the ceremony to hang the Chinese flag, due to the fact that nobody except a monk attended the ceremony, they had to cancel it. Some local villagers were arrested. 
 
In the last ten day period of March, when the work team was carrying out the “Patriotic Education Campaign” in Seshul Monastery in Kham (Dzachukha [Ch. Shiqu] County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province), the well-respected reincarnated Lama Thubten Nyandra said, “ It is totally without any bases to claim that this incident was masterminded by the Dalai Lama. The cause for this incident is that a great number of Han immigrants moved to Tibet to plunder the land resources, and to rob the locals of their rights to receive education and to work. There is no Tibetan who does not want to believe in the Dalai Lama. The Chinese government should hold talks with the Dalai Lama as soon as possible.” From that time on, Thubten Nyandra Rinpoche has been under house arrest. 

In addition, it is learned that in Rebgong (Ch. Tongren) County, Amdo (Tsolho [Huangnan] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province) the local court recently tried three monks from Dowa Monastery in secret, and their prison terms are two to three years. In Drakgo [Ch. Luhuo] County (Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province), Kham, the local court recently held secret trail for six nuns and one lay person. While Khadro Lhamo, Wamo and Droma Yangtso were sentenced to seven-year prison term, Yeshe, Sonam Chodron, Deyang and the lay person Gesang Dorje were sentenced to three-year prison term. Due to the fact that these people were tried in secret, thus, it is impossible to obtain more detailed information.     

On May 2, Tibet Forum (in Chinese), http://tibetalk.com/bbs, sponsored by Tibetans in exile was attacked, and all the data on the forum was lost! 

May 2

Many official Chinese media published articles to offer official explanation for the process of trials for Tibetans who were involved in March 14 Incident, and this is an response to the questioning and criticism by the leaders of western countries and human rights organizations. Therefore, they specially reported that “31 lawyers defended 30 defendants.” All of the lawyers were designated by the court. Except those local lawyers in Tibet, there were two lawyers from Beidou Dingming Law Office in Beijing, but they are not Chinese lawyers who openly signed their names to express their willingness to provide legal assistance to the arrested Tibetans. What merits our attention is Beijing lawyer Sun Wenge’s account of his meeting with the defendant Yeshe: “The first question I asked is whether he has ever been tortured to extort a confession during his imprisonment and trail and how the food was in the house of detention. Yeshe told me that he had not been tortured for confession, and the food there is also very good.” However, the Tibetan lawyer Mimar Drokar described her meeting with the defendant Losang Samten as follows: “When I walked into the house of detention, two doctors were treating the suspects who were detained there. At that time over d dozen suspects were waiting to see a doctor. In addition, two suspects were receiving an I.V. there.” According to the information gathered from investigations into some Tibetans who were released, all those who were arrested, in varying degree, were beaten and abused. There are cases that some monks and common people were beaten to become disabled, were beaten to death or were beaten to become mentally deranged. Some Tibetans were beaten so severely that they were critically ill, as a result, they were transferred to be treated in the hospital, but the local police warned them, saying that they were forbidden to reveal that they were tortured to confess. Therefore, the Beijing lawyer’s claim that the defendant has not been subject to torture does not conform to the fact.

After the Chinese official media solemnly reported the news that a policeman was shot to death, it mentioned that a “Tibetan separatist” was killed by the police. This is the first time China officially admit that they killed a Tibetan protester since the protests happened in the various areas in March, but they did not reveal any more information. There is a comment concerning this on one Chinese website as follows: On the internet we can not find any information concerning a minority of Tibetan separatists’ action to incite some Tibetan herdsmen from the upper Hongkho Township in Dari County to gather a mod and make trouble. We do not know whether the disturbance in Qinghai has any connection to March 14 incident in Lhasa, the incidents in Kanlho [ch. Gannan] and March 16 incident of beating, smashing, looting and burning occurred in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. At that time the only information one can find is the report about people of all walks of life in Qinghai and reincarnated lamas from Kubum Monastery condemned the violent criminal incident in Lhasa. In addition, one also reads about what Jidi Magya, the deputy governor of Qinghai Province, said when he attended the “Conference Introducing the Tourist Products of Qinghai in 2008” in Hong Kong: “The safety in Qinghai is very good and the situation is very stable,” “the various ethnic groups are interdependent of each other, i.e. you will find the situation that “there are you among us, and us among you,” and “it is a very harmonious society.” But we have not seen the report about the disturbance caused by Tibetan herdsmen in Qinghai who were incited by the separatist forces. It is possible that the disturbance was not reported because the scale of the disturbance is not great or the situation was not serious, or it is also possible that the authorities deliberated overlook it because they worry that the report about the incident would create the impression that “the incidents are too widespread.” However, due to the fact that the serious loss occurred in arresting people involved after the incidents, the unknown incident was revealed. This also causes us to wonder how many other incidents happened but were not made public. Can our media tell the public a coherent and completely true story after every incident of widespread impact occurred? Is it possible that the authorities do not want the public to read about the report, then use their imaginations to analyze and seek for the truth of the incident.

It is reported that nineteen nuns from Shuse Nunnery in Chushul County, Lhasa City and four monks practicing on Shuse Mountain who were arrested on April 28 are imprisoned in the prison of Chushul County. In addition, some military police are stationing in the nunnery.

It is learned that recently a thousand armed police and special police suddenly evacuated from Rebgong County in Amdo (Tsolho [Huangnan] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province) without knowing the reasons, but the undercover agents in civilian clothes increased. Among the monks from Rongwu Monastery who were arrested, except seventeen of them are still in custody, the rest have been released. Some monks who were beaten severely are receiving medical treatment in hospitals.

The latest news: On May 3 the two special envoys of the Dalai Lama, Gyari Lodi Gyantsan and Gesang Gyaltsan will embark on their journey to China to hold talks with the Chinese side discussing the situation and future of Tibet. This talk is the first official contact between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government after the protests broke out all over the Tibetan areas and these protests were suppressed by the Chinese authorities since March. The Private office of the Dalai Lama pointed out in today’s news statement that the two envoys would discuss the present intense situation in various Tibetan areas, and convey the Dalai Lama’s deep concern over the Chinese authorities’ dealing with the Tibet incident and make suggestions in order to create peace in Tibetan areas. The statement also claims that the Chinese side accepted the suggestions of the international society and openly express its willingness to have contact and consultation with the special envoys of the Dalai Lama. The envoys would take the opportunity to seek for a breakthrough to satisfactorily solve the Tibet issue.

But the viewpoint of Tibetans in China is as follows: The CCP wants to use the Dalai Lama to quiet down the Tibet issue, the various domestic problems and the threat to Beijing Olympics posed by the international society. Having the so-called “contact and consultation” which they need is equivalent to giving China and some western countries a tranquilizer. As the coordinating party in the conflict, it should be without any favorable interest to any negotiating party, but the Sino-Tibetan talk at present is completely tendentious. It is an effort to satisfy the pressure from the western society and to brag about itself. The Dalai Lama hopes to discuss and explain protests in Tibet since March, but the Chinese Communist Party already proclaimed their verdict to the world, thus, it is not likely to have any result from the talk. In addition, when discussing issues concerning Tibetans in Tibet, yet Tibetans in Tibet, i.e., parities concerned ⎯ which here refers to common Tibetans, not those Tibetans incorporated into the Chinese system ⎯ are absent, thus, this itself is a problem. If no Tibetans who are outside of the Chinese system participate in solving the Tibet issue and there is no voice of Tibetans in Tibet, then the talk will have no substantial breakthrough. Among Tibetans who are involved in talks with the Chinese side, there should be Tibetans who have experience living in Tibetan areas and who understand the Chinese culture and the CCP system. The so-called talk, in fact, is a game of languages, a game of culture, a game of politics, thus, the talks will be doomed to fail if the two parties do not have the background of understanding each other.

May 1

From March 10 to the entire month of April, due to the fact that the peaceful protest staged by the monks in Lhasa was suppressed by the authorities, a large scale protests all over Tibetan areas happened and were also suppressed by the authorities with military power. During the period, the entire Tibetan areas have plunged into the man-made disasters. Thousands of Tibetans have met with the fate of being killed, being arrested, being tortured to confess, being missing, committing suicide or having mental disorder, and this has brought disasters to countless Tibetan families. As for 30 Tibetans who were sentenced by the Chinese court because of their “involvement” in “Lhasa Riot” and were reported by the official Chinese media, their trails are not fair, and there are many serious deficiencies in their sentences. I hope the human rights organizations and individuals who care about human rights issues pay attention to the humanistic disaster who is occurring in Tibet and has not stopped yet!

In Labrang Monastery in Amdo (Sangchu [Ch. Xiahe] County, Kanlho [Ch. Gannan] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province), while the military police arrested over 200 monks, they searched the living quarters of the monks and destroyed the possessions of the monks. What is more serious is that they damaged, and even looted the valuable cultural relics in Tibet. It is reported that Jamyang Rinpoche, the abbot of Labrang Monastery (the deputy president of China Buddhist Association, the director of the Advanced Buddhism College of Tibetan Language Family and the director of Gansu Provincial Buddhist association) sent a telegram to the Chinese officials concerning the issue, maintaining that such evil deeds of destroying and looting the cultural relices of the monastery is like another ‘cultural revolution” all over again, but the Chinese officials shirked all the responsibilities to the local officials of Kanlho (Ch. Gannan) Prefecture. The monks from Labrang Monastery who are accused of masterminding and inciting “riot” include Jigme, Kuncho Lhado, Samdrup Yalo, Tsundru, Tsangpalha, Tsage, Paldan, Tendzing, Genden Namda, Jamyang Jinpa and others. They were all arrested and were beat savagely. It is learned that among the monks Jigme, Tenzing and Geden Namda and Jamyang Jinpa are critically ill due to the serious injury, and they are under treatment in hospitals.

Today and yesterday the Chinese official media, including websites concerning Tibet, specially reported the news that Lama Tseten, the head of the vice squad of Dari County Public Security Bureau in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, was shot to death. The reports claim when he was trying to arrest the prime suspect who was accused of inciting the March 21 Incident by the “Tibetan Separatists,” he died heroically as he was shot by the suspect. The authorities held a solemn memorial meeting for him. However, it is learned that in fact Lama Tseten led the vice squad to Hongkho Township in Dari County to arrest the monk named Chodo who burned the Chinese flag on March 21, they were stopped by monks from Hongkho Monastery and local people. Lama Tseten shot to death the 21-year old monk Chodo, then the police seized his corpse, and arrested Chodo’s father Sangsang Lele. This was more than the locals could bear, thus they clashed with the police. During the clash, Lama Tseten was shot to death. At present, due to the lack of source of news, we do not know clearly what kind of clash happened between the local people and the police. Judging from the fact that the monk Chodo and the head of the vice squad were shot to death, this clash became more serious because of using guns. Moreover, what is more important is that it is a serious issue that the police was shot on the scene. We do not know any details how this conflict ended eventually and what consequences it will bring about for local monks and lay people. In view of the authorities’ actions of “taking revenge” for all the protests in various Tibetan areas, such actions of mass arrests involving large-scale killing will most probably cause Tibetan people to resist vigorously by risking their life, as a result, they will cause more serious humanitarian disaster. I appeal to the authorities to act with restraint so as to allow Tibetans to live.

It is learned that on April 29 nineteen nuns in Shuse Nunnery in Chushul County, Lhasa Municipality, were arrested by the military police. In the caves where monks and nuns engage in practice, four monks were also arrested by the military police. At present, we do not know the details.

Lhasa is creating the great prosperous prospect in Lhasa in order to welcome “May 1st” holiday, and one will see red flags and red lanterns everywhere. In the morning, the pedestrian street of Yuthog Road was filled with armed police, who were putting on a show of “severing the people.” For instance, they were cutting hairs for civilians, treating them, repairing bicycles for them. All the so-called “civilians” were Tibetan representatives chose and dispatched by the neighborhood committees, and the soldiers and civilians were putting on a show of harmony, which was enthusiastically reported by television programs and newspapers. However, all the intersections leading to the street were sealed off, and military police were waiting at these intersections to check the I.D. cards, forcing passengers to take a detour.

According to reports by the official Chinese media, the first domestic tourist group of 32 people took the train to Lhasa to realize “their trip of dream.” Lhasa Municipal government not only organized a large-scale welcome group to meet these tourists at the railway station, but also to organize bonfire and fireworks parties. The local government treated the tourist group generously and exceptionally, which politicized tourism.

Read also Tibet Update (1), Tibet Update (2), Tibet Update (3) April 15 - 27 and Tibet Update (4) April 29 - 30.

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Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is the most influential person in the world, according to Time Magazine.

His holiness was the top name in Leaders & Revolutionaries category, released Thursday on Time's Web site. The list is also divided among the categories Heroes & Pioneers, Scientists & Thinkers, Artists & Entertainers and Builders & Titans.

"To me, the most mystical thing about him is also the most ordinary: the Dalai Lama is happy. He's happy in the midst of chaos and turmoil," spiritualist Deepak Chopra wrote in an essay on his holiness. "The most inspiring thing he ever told me was to ignore all organized faiths and keep to the road of higher consciousness."

Winfrey's appearance on the list is her fifth.

The list also includes presidential contenders Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain, who are No. 3, 4 and 5 in the Leaders & Revolutionaries category, respectively. Putin is No. 2 in the category and Bush is No. 7.

Each person on the list is accompanied by an essay written by a public figure. Elizabeth Edwards writes about Lance Armstrong and Cate Blanchett writes about Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Michelle Obama writes about Winfrey, while former president Bill Clinton writes about former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

George Clooney writes about star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who fall into the Heroes & Pioneers category for their work as goodwill ambassadors worldwide.
"It is one thing to talk about the problems of the world and quite another to actually try to change things," Clooney wrote.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, filmmaker Rob Reiner and Sen. Joe Lieberman write about Obama, Clinton and McCain, respectively.

The Time 100 also lists Iraq Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Other celebrities on the list include actor-filmmaker Tyler Perry, "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, and "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" filmmaker Judd Apatow.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

{The Tibet Post International - Saturday, 3 May 2008}

{The Tibet Post International - Tuesday, 29th April 2008}

Paris. 29th April 2008, (France 24) Thirty Tibetans accused of taking part in the riots last month have been convicted today with sentences ranging from three years in jail to life imprisonment. One of our Observers has sent us the first images of the trial, made public by the state press agency Xinhua, just as the sentences were handed out.

According to the Chinese TV channel CCTV, the trial lasted all day and was open to the public. These photos show ten of the thirty Tibetans who were sentenced today in Lhasa. The second image is particularly interesting - a man sitting in the front row of the public benches sporting traditional Tibetan dress. Is he a pro-Beijing Tibetan? The image has been carefully chosen, perhaps to show that - just as the authorities insisted from the very beginning of the crisis - Tibetan people support the Chinese government and only a violent minority took part in the riots. We will try to find out more and update this post soon.

International Campaign for Tibet
April 29th, 2008

Photo of the 14th Dalai Lama at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County, Ngaba TAP, Sichuan Province, destroyed by government authorities following a raid on the monastery in early April 2008. Kirti Monastery was at the center of the wave of protests in eastern Tibet when monks were joined by laypeople and schoolchildren in a major protest on March 16, calling for a free Tibet, with pictures of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan flags on display.

Mass detentions of monks have continued in the past week and more monasteries have been sealed off by armed troops as a rigorous patriotic education campaign across the Tibetan plateau leads to increasing unrest. As the crackdown deepens, reports have reached ICT of the suicide of monks in different areas in protest at hardline policies or in despair due to the climate of fear and uncertainty. New images published on ICT's website show pictures of the Dalai Lama and important religious teachers that have been defaced by troops or officials, and further reports have emerged of officials or police trampling on photographs of the Tibetan religious leader.

Further news has emerged of recent protests in areas including Meldrogungkar (Chinese: Mozhu Gongka) in Lhasa Municipality on April 12, where monks from Pangsa monastery were joined by other monks and nuns and laypeople in calling for an end to detentions and killings, and in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) county in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) in Sichuan, where two nuns in their early thirties held a protest at the county market on April 23, scattering small pieces of paper with messages including "Long live the Dalai Lama".

Reports of a protest on April 21 at a monastery in Kham, in Serthar (Chinese: Seda) county, Kardze TAP, involving monks and laypeople and suppressed by armed police, could not immediately be confirmed. At the Larung Gar religious institute in the same county, there are serious concerns of possible unrest as officials are attempting to enforce the raising of the Chinese flag, according to two Tibetan sources.

New images have been received by ICT of images of the Dalai Lama and important religious teachers that have been torn or shrines that have been smashed at Kirti monastery, Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) TAP in Sichuan province (published below). Kirti Monastery was at the center of the wave of protests in eastern Tibet when monks were joined by laypeople and schoolchildren in a major protest on March 16, calling for a free Tibet, with pictures of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan flags on display. Reprisals continue at Kirti as the Chinese authorities recently closed the Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastic School, affiliated with the monastery, according to reliable Tibetan sources.

A Tibetan from Lhasa who is now in exile and who requested not to be named told ICT: "The level of unrest and continued dissent shows that these hardline policies by China in Tibet have achieved the opposite of what they were aiming for - they have united Tibetans across the plateau in their loyalty to the Dalai Lama and in preserving the integrity of their cultural identity. This has not happened before in two centuries of Tibetan history. The question now is how the Tibetans will take this forward and how it will play out politically."

Enforced condemnation of 'Dalai clique' leads to despair, suicides, detentions

A round of "Cultural Revolution-like political campaigns" are being carried out all over Tibet, according to reports from different areas across the plateau. Work teams have been dispatched to monasteries and nunneries, and within the lay community, meetings convened to condemn the "Dalai clique".

Reports have been received from various monasteries of distress due to pictures of the Dalai Lama being trampled by armed police or work teams, for instance at Shi-Tsang Gatsel monastery in Luchu (Chinese: Luqu) county, Kanlho (Chinese: Gannan) TAP in Gansu province. According to the Tibetan government in exile, armed police raided the monastery and detained around 28 monks. The monastery was raided again in the early hours of the following morning and another four monks were taken into custody. The Tibetan government in exile reported that armed forces also trampled on images of the Dalai Lama at Choephel Tashi Chokor-Ling monastery in Dukhor town, Chone (Chinese: Zhuoni) county in Kanlho TAP, and where a number of monks had been detained.

A renewed 'patriotic education' campaign was formally begun in Lhasa last week, to last two months, with the theme of 'Opposing Separatism, Safeguarding Stability and Promoting Development', according to the official newspaper Tibet Daily. The campaign appears to be aimed specifically at the lay community, as rigorous patriotic education is already ongoing in the main Lhasa monasteries. Tibetans are being required by the campaign to denounce the Dalai Lama, with the aim of "deepening the anti-separatist struggle and counter-attacking the Dalai clique's scheme to split [the country]" (Tibet Daily, April 21). The report in Tibet Daily stated that "performance" in the campaign will be used as a means of "assessing the achievements of Party members and cadres". There is evidence that since the protests began on March 10, there has been intensified distrust of Tibetan Party members and cadres.

A Tibetan source in Lhasa told a contact: "At the schools and in the offices people have to write stories about the 14th of March and they have to speak ill of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. When they write about the Dalai Lama they are only allowed to write Dalai, otherwise they have to write it again. My child already had to write such stories several times."

The patriotic education campaign has been extended beyond Lhasa to various counties in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). On April 18, Tibet Daily reported that Sangri County in Lhokha (Chinese: Shannan) Prefecture will carry out a two month long patriotic education campaign among Party members, cadres, retired people, schoolchildren, farmers, herders, and even including the armed police and military stationed in the county. A Tibetan writer and commentator said on a Chinese language blog: "We can say that nobody can escape the campaign. Judging from this, it seems that every township, every county and every prefecture will carry out the political campaign of the same scale, and this will be another 'Cultural Revolution' sweeping across the Tibetan areas and touching on the soul of Tibetans."

A source close to Tibetans in Lhasa told ICT that many monks and nuns have been taken away from monasteries and nunneries in and around Lhasa. The source added that monks and nuns were being taken into custody whether or not they had demonstrated on March 10 or beyond.

At least six monks in Nechung monastery, Lhasa, were detained after apparently expressing their dissent to the patriotic education campaign, according to the Tibetan government in exile. On April 19, a monk reportedly stood up during a patriotic education class and said that the monks did not need these classes, nor did they want to participate, and others joined in (April 23, Tibetan government in exile report, www.tibet.net) According to one further source, there may only be a handful of monks still left at Nechung, a small monastery near Drepung in Lhasa which normally houses around 16 monks.

The same Tibetan source, writing in Chinese on a website, said: "When Tibetans talk about the harsh suppression of the various monasteries, they are all very indignant, but are very scared as well. Since all the monasteries have been forced to close, many Tibetans have to offer butter lamps in front of the carved statues of Buddha on the rocks of Chakpori Mountain [a hill near the Potala Palace with famous engravings of the Buddha], to pray for monks and lay people who were suppressed by the authorities."

Eight young monks from Nalanda monastery in Lhundrub (Chinese: Linzhou) county in Lhasa Municipality were detained on April 17, according to two reports. A young Tibetan man from Chukha Jang village, Nyima Tenzin, was beaten so severely that he sustained a broken spine, and he was fined 5000 yuan ($713). (April 22, Tibetan government in exile).

In Drango county (Chinese: Luhuo) in Kardze TAP, various sources report a 'signature campaign' requiring local people to vilify the Dalai Lama. After he refused to sign, a young farmer from Gephen Li-Khokma village in the county was so severely beaten he had to be hospitalized and his current condition is unknown (Tibetan government in exile report, April 25).

In many areas, Chinese authorities are attempting to enforce the raising of the Chinese flag. At Larung Gar religious institute in Serthar county, Kardze TAP, one of the most important centers for the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism on the plateau, officials are putting pressure on Tibetan lamas to raise the Chinese flag and participate in political meetings. According to reports received by ICT, the situation at the institute is tense, and local people fear possible consequences of the authorities' actions.

In Baiyu (Chinese: Payul) county also in Kardze TAP, armed police have told local people that they must fly Chinese flags over the monastery and individual houses. ICT could not confirm whether local people have followed this requirement. According to one report, local officials have told people that if they did not sign their names on a petition condemning the Dalai Lama, they would not allow them to harvest yartsa gunba (caterpillar fungus), an essential source of income for many Tibetans.

Tibetans in Meldrogungkar call for end to detentions and killings: suicides in response to crackdown

A nun in her thirties from Cholung nunnery was so traumatized by the beatings she had witnessed by armed police after a demonstration in Tashigang township, Meldrogungkar in Lhasa Municipality on April 12 that she killed herself, according to reliable reports from Tibetan sources. According to the sources, Tibetan monks from Pangsa monastery were joined by other monks and nuns and local people in a protest, shouting slogans calling for an end to arbitrary detention and the killing of Tibetan protestors, and the release of all political prisoners. They also shouted slogans rejecting official demands that they denounce the Dalai Lama. Armed police broke up the demonstration, apparently using brutal force to beat Tibetans with rifle butts and to break limbs, according to a source. Around 60 Tibetans were detained. According to more recent reports, all of the monasteries in the Meldrogungkar valley area are sealed off by police.

Two nuns who made a bold protest in Kardze TAP in Sichuan have been identified by Radio Free Asia's Tibetan Service as Bumo Lhaga, 32, and Sonam Dekyi, 30, from the Drakar nunnery in Kardze (RFA, April 27, 2008, http://www.rfa.org/english/news/nuns_detained-04282008095...). RFA reported a source as saying that on April 23, at around 1 pm, the nuns began distributing handwritten flyers calling for the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet and saying that Tibet is independent. Security police began to gather the flyers. The source said: "Later, the nuns were observed on a street-corner shouting slogans calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and for freedom for Tibetans. They were quickly detained and taken away in a police vehicle but even while they were being taken away, they continued to shout." RFA quoted the mother of one of the nuns, Sonam Dekyi, as saying: "My daughter, Sonam Dekyi, fulfilled her purpose in life. She made her own decision to protest, knowing fully the risk and danger that she would face. I am not worried at all. If she doesn't survive Chinese torture, I have no regrets... As His Holiness wished, she protested peacefully and didn't resort to any kind of violence."

A blind or partially sighted Kirti monk called Tusong, from a village nearby in Ngaba county, Sichuan, committed suicide at the age of 29 on April 16. According to one report, he told his family that just as those with eyes cannot endure what is happening: "even I, a blind person, cannot endure it."

Officials in the same county, Ngaba, are now required to lead denunciations of the Dalai Lama, and according to one report, these activities will be filmed for propaganda purposes. According to the Tibetan government in exile, many monks and laypeople arrested in the Ngaba area have been taken to detention centers or prisons in Chengdu.

Reprisals at Kirti: closure of school

Reprisals continue at Kirti, where many monks have apparently fled from the monastery, following the March 16 protest. The local government closed the Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastic School, affiliated with Kirti monastery in Dzoege (Chinese: Zoige) county in Ngaba TAP in response to students taking part in the protest. Teachers have been left to look for positions in other villages, while students were sent home, according to one source. Some of the children were beaten, according to one report. On March 24 China's official news agency, Xinhua, reported that most schools in Ngaba county had resumed classes and "life returned to normal after riots earlier this month." The Dharamsala-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported that the school was closed on April 8, 2008 (TCHRD, April 17, 2008).

Currently home to approximately 500 students, the school was founded by Dzoge Akhu Nymia in 1986 to teach young monks and children from the surrounding area in the Tibetan language. In 1993, the school was put under the care of Kirti monastery, where the abbot, Alag Lungsang Nangwa Rinpoche, oversaw the completion of the school in 1996. The local government took over official management of the school in 1998, however TCHRD reported that day to day management remained with the monastery until the school's closing on April 8 (TCHRD, April 17, 2008).

Kirti Monastery was at the center of the wave of protests in eastern Tibet when monks were joined by laypeople and called for a free Tibet on March 16, with pictures of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan flags on display. Exiled Tibetans and other sources reported several hundred arrests in and around Kirti monastery. At least eight Tibetans were killed after police opened fire on the demonstrators, and images of their bodies have been published online (www.freetibet.org and other organizations). Xinhua issued conflicting statements on March 20, first confirming four protestors had been shot dead in Ngaba TAP in Sichuan province, but then issuing a second release reporting that four 'rioters' had been wounded. Known among the dead are Lobsang Tashi, a monk from Thawo village, and Tsezen, a layperson from Thachung village.

Laypeople attempt to protect monks during crackdown

In many areas of Tibet in recent weeks, laypeople from all walks of life have joined monks to protest against Chinese policies and in support of the Dalai Lama. On April 4, local Tibetan people gathered to form "a human barricade" near their local monastery, Dring Sumdo monastery in Dzoge county in Ngaba, the same county as Kirti monastery, after armed troops arrived. The Tibetan villagers dispersed when they found out that none of the monks had been detained that day (Tibetan government in exile, April 23).

On the first day of the current wave of protests in Tibet, the most significant uprising in five decades against Chinese rule, local Tibetans in Lhasa formed "a strong, silent, peaceful circle around the police" after a group of Sera monks shouted slogans outside the Jokhang temple on March 10. Tourists, who posted their account on a blog, said that "hundreds" of Tibetans had formed a circle around the police, but that soon the police called for backup and the monks were all detained (ICT report and images, http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1209).

New dissent and detentions in Rebgong

Rongwu monastery in Rebgong (Chinese: Tongren) county, Tsolho (Chinese: Huangnan) TAP, Qinghai, is under lockdown and the whereabouts of monks detained after a protest on April 17 is unclear, according to reports from Tibetans with connections in the area. Armed police raided the monastery and confiscated pictures of the Dalai Lama after monks staged a protest, calling for the release of other monks detained following earlier demonstrations and incidents of dissent in the area in February and March. Monks were seen being taken away from the monastery with their hands tied behind their backs and being loaded onto trucks. Two days later, a number of the monks taken into custody were released after being subject to severe beating in custody, according to sources.

The former head of Rongwu monastery, Alak (an honorific title, meaning 'lama') Khaso, a highly respected local figure, had attempted to mediate between the monks and local authorities on April 17, but is believed to have been injured following the police crackdown on the protest. Sources have reported Alak Khaso was taken to hospital in either Lanzhou, Gansu or Xining, Qinghai, but his current whereabouts and condition are unconfirmed. One reliable Tibetan source said that some Tibetan women and an elderly man rushed to try to help the lama after they saw his head bleeding, but were also detained. The same Tibetan source said: "Their hands were tied with wires. At that time they arrested up to 100 people, who filled four military trucks."

Armed police raided Rongwu monastery, beating monks and taking them into detention, and searching for images of the Dalai Lama. The latest crackdown follows a protest on February 21 after authorities interrupted the annual Monlam ceremony at a local monastery in Rebgong, which was scheduled to end on February 22, and a further incident of dissent by monks on March 17. Radio Free Asia reported approximately 200 protesters, mostly monks, were detained in February after authorities used tear gas to disperse crowds gathered for the religious celebration. It is believed that most of the detained have been released, but many were reported to have suffered injuries. (See http://www.rfa.org/english/tibet/tibet_clash-20080222.html).

According to one source, protesters demonstrated at the county seat the next day, demanding that the local government release the monks and lay people who had been taken into custody. The demonstrators were later released; however, three monks and an elderly man suffered injuries after being severely beaten.

There has been a heavy police presence in Rebgong since the February protests. Police forces were reportedly transferred from nearby areas, including Xining, to Rebgong, with one local hotel hanging a banner that read 'Welcome Special Police from Zhengzhou staying at our hotel', according to one source.

Despite this repressive atmosphere, a month before the latest protest, on March 17, monks from Rongwu burned incense and shouted slogans of support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan freedom. They also called for the authorities to let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet, and to "hand back the Panchen Lama and his parents to the Tibetan people." Gendun Choekyi Nyima, recognized by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, has been in Chinese custody in an unknown location since 1995. The monks were prevented by armed police from taking the protest further. (ICT report, http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1234).

Photo of the 14th Dalai Lama at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County, Ngaba TAP, Sichuan Province, destroyed by government authorities following a raid on the monastery in early April 2008. A Tibetan from Lhasa who is now in exile and who requested not to be named told ICT: 'The level of unrest and continued dissent shows that these hardline policies by China in Tibet have achieved the opposite of what they were aiming for - they have united Tibetans across the plateau in their loyalty to the Dalai Lama and in preserving the integrity of their cultural identity. This has not happened before in two centuries of Tibetan history. The question now is how the Tibetans will take this forward and how it will play out politically.'"

An image of the 14th Dalai Lama, destroyed by government authorities at Kirti monastery in early April. Mass detentions of monks have continued in the past week and more monasteries have been sealed off by armed troops as a rigorous patriotic education campaign across the Tibetan plateau leads to increasing unrest.

A Tibetan source, writing in Chinese on a website, said: 'When Tibetans talk about the harsh suppression of the various monasteries, they are all very indignant, but are very scared as well. Since all the monasteries have been forced to close, many Tibetans have to offer butter lamps in front of the carved statues of Buddha on the rocks of Chakpori Mountain [a hill near the Potala Palace with famous engravings of the Buddha], to pray for monks and lay people who were suppressed by the authorities.'

Officials in Ngaba County are now required to lead denunciations of the Dalai Lama, and according to one report, these activities will be filmed for propaganda purposes. According to the Tibetan government in exile, many monks and laypeople arrested in the Ngaba area have been taken to detention centers or prisons in Chengdu.

A round of "Cultural Revolution-like political campaigns" are being carried out all over Tibet, according to reports from different areas across the plateau. Work teams have been dispatched to monasteries and nunneries, and within the lay community, meetings convened to condemn the 'Dalai clique'.

By Gelek Tenzin

The Kashag would like to issue this statement to the Tibetans - both lay and ecclesiastical - living here in Dharamsala, and through all of you, to the larger Tibetan population in and outside Tibet.

1) The recent peaceful uprising in Tibet is not only powerful, but also great and of historical significance. It symbolises the Tibetan people's indomitable courage and inner strength.

2) The uprising is not just confined to Lhasa and its neighbouring areas. It has spread to all regions where Tibetans reside, including the three traditional provinces of Tibet: U-tsang, Amdo and Kham. What does this indicate? Firstly, it clearly shows that all Tibetans have the same aspirations and are united under the great leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Secondly, it has brought before the world the reality inside Tibet by exposing the Chinese propaganda that "apart from the few upper strata followers of the reactionary Dalai, all Tibetans in Tibet are loyal to the ideology and polity of the People's Republic of China (PRC)" and that "Tibet has entered into a period of great stability, with its people being fully satisfied with the economic and social progress it has achieved".

3) It further shows that His Holiness' viewpoint that all Tibetans, including those living in the three traditional provinces of Tibet, should be brought under a single autonomous governance is in tune with the reality.

4) The leaders of the People's Republic of China have said that they will wage a "life and death" struggle against, or resolutely crush, the on-going demonstrations in Tibet. This statement has brought to the fore the internal matter that the Chinese leaders view the Tibetans as enemies, rather than being a part of the big family of the Chinese nation.

5) The recent heroic uprising, which has spread to virtually all parts of Tibet, is larger in scale than all the uprisings that have taken place during the past 49 years. Whether we look at it from the perspective of an international issue or a domestic issue, these demonstrations have brought our struggle to a point where a decision has to be made concerning the survival of the Tibetan people. Moreover the principal force behind these activities are the fourth generation Tibetans - those Tibetans who are born after the Chinese assumed rule over our country. These are a clear indication that our movement will continue for generations.

6) The recent incidents have made it amply clear how much determination and sincerity the Tibetan people have and the great sacrifices they made. While expressing our immense pride in and appreciation for this, the Kashag would like to state that it does not have the faintest doubt that their sacrifices will be etched on the annals of the Tibetan people in golden ink.

7) Needless to mention that the Tibetan exiles should recognise the great courage displayed by our brethren in Tibet and initiate solidarity actions, which will go a long way in promoting the short- and long-term benefits of the cause of the Tibetan people. Therefore a high-level committee has been set up under the leadership of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE), which has - instead of letting the Tibetans to carry out individual activities - tried to combine all the initiatives of the Tibetan Diasporic community to give it a collective force. This is, in the history of the Tibetan Diaspora, a new approach to deal with a crisis situation. We are hopeful that the Tibetan NGOs, autonomous bodies and welfare organisations, as well as the local people will all follow the direction of this committee.

8) Since the repression began in Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has continued to make his best efforts, despite his slight indisposition, to reach out to as many people as possible. As well as writing to many like-minded (political) world leaders, fellow Nobel laureates and other eminent persons, His Holiness has given frequent interviews to the media and appealed to the governments and peoples across the globe. In addition to this, His Holiness has advised us to recite the prayers of Dolma and Sher-nying, as well as the Tadrin mantra to avert the present crisis situation and to work towards the enhancement of the Tibetan people's collective merit. Moreover, His Holiness has graciously presided over the prayer congregation held at the main temple of the Thekchen Choeling monastery for the Tibetans in Tibet.

As for the Tibetan administration, we have been performing our duties properly by providing timely information to the governmental and non-governmental organisations as well as the Tibet support groups and requesting them for their support through the offices of Tibet abroad. Apart from expressing our heart-felt thanks to high-ranking leaders of many eastern and western countries, including the US and the EU countries; the United Nations Secretary General; political parties; social service organisations; Tibet support groups and the spiritual heads of various religious denominations for issuing their statements of support, the Kashag has also been emphatically urging them to continue to give their effective support to us until the eventual resolution of the issue of Tibet.

9) Currently, our urgent appeal to the international community comprises of the following main items:

a) Stop immediately the repression taking place all over Tibet, as well as the killings and beatings accompanying it;

b) Release immediately all those arrested and imprisoned during such instances of protest demonstrations;

c) All those injured should be provided medical care. Lift the imposition of restrictions on all travellers who are held up in different places and adequate food supplies should be provided to them;

d) An independent international fact-find delegation and impartial reporters should be allowed to go all over Tibet without any restriction.

To channel our collective energies to put forward these demands is the need of the hour.

10) The People's Republic of China (PRC) has planted a large number of spies within the Tibetan communities in and outside Tibet, who have been undertaking massive campaigns to drive a wedge between the Tibetan pe