Friday, February 27, 2009

Monge alvejado pela polícia Chinesa em Ngaba

Um monge Tibetano foi hoje alvejado pela polícia Chinesa após se ter imolado. Tal ocorreu na cidade de Ngaba, Tibete oriental.
De acordo com testemunhas, Tape, um monge com cerca de 20 anos do mosteiro Kirti, gritava slogans empunhando uma bandeira Tibetana com a imagem de S.S. Dalai Lama, quando se imolou no cruzamento situado no mercado principal. De acordo com relatos de testemunhas, a polícia Chinesa disparou três tiros sobre Tape, após ele se ter imolado. Pelo menos uma das balas atingiu-o. O seu corpo foi imediatamente removido do local.
Informações provenientes do mosteiro Kirti mostram-nos que o protesto de Tape surgiu no seguimento do protesto de 1,000 monges (incluíndo Tape) e na sequência de terem sido proibidos, pelas autoridades Chinesas, de entrar no hall de orações do mosteiro para as orações referentes ao 3º dia do Losar, Ano Novo Tibetano.
Desde as manifestações de Março do ano passado que os monges do mosteiro Kirti têm sido alvo de torturas extremas, abusos e intimidações por parte das autoridades Chinesas.

AMANHÃ 28 DE FEVEREIRO 16H00 - 20H00

SESSÃO DE FILMES TIBETANOS

NA ASSOCIAÇÃO SORRIR (BELÉM) EM LISBOA

NÃO FALTE !


Wednesday, February 25, 2009

LOSAR TASHI DELEK

O Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete saúda o primeiro dia do Ano Tibetano de 2136, o ano do Búfalo Terra, homenageando os Tibetanos que faleceram pela liberdade no Tibete.
A todos os amigos e apoiantes da causa Tibetana, desejamos um ano cheio de realizações.
Relembramos que, hoje a partir das 18h30, terá lugar uma sessão de oração na UBP Lisboa, em homenagem às vítimas Tibetanas da repressão Chinesa no Tibete.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

On the occasion of the Earth-Ox New Year of the 17th Rabjung cycle in the Tibetan Royal Year 2136, I would like to greet all Tibetans, both inside and outside of Tibet. I pray that there be peace and prosperity, and that our just cause may see gradual resolution.
Although there is no old or new phase in the continuous cycle of planetary movements, which results in the days, nights, months and years, there is a tradition throughout the world to observe the beginning of a new year upon the completion of the previous one.Likewise, in the snow land of Tibet, we have the tradition to observe the New Year in the first lunar month with elaborate celebrations incorporating both spiritual and temporal elements. However, last year in Tibet we witnessed hundreds of Tibetans losing their lives, and several thousands facing detention and torture, in response to the widespread display by Tibetans all over Tibet of their discontentmentwith the Chinese authorities' policies.
Therefore, since they faced immense difficulties and sufferings, the occasion of this New Year is certainly not a period when we can have the usual celebrations and gaiety. I admire the determined move by Tibetans, inside and outside of Tibet, not to indulge in celebratory activities during this New Year. Instead, everyone should utilize this period in abandoning non-virtuous acts and engaging in positive actions, thereby cultivating virtuous merits so that all those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet, including those who lost their lives in the tragic events of the past year, may have quick realization of Buddhahood through successive rebirth in higher realms.The dedication should also go to those currently undergoing suffering so that they may immediately be able to enjoy the happiness offreedom. Through such an accumulation of collective merits we should all strive for an early solution to the just cause of Tibet.
Just as we had suspected, the strike-hard campaign has beenre-launched in Tibet and there is a heavy presence of armed security and military forces in most of the cities all over Tibet. In all the places those who dare to come out even with a slight hint of their aspirations have to face torture and detention. In particular, special restrictions have been imposed in the monasteries, patriotic re-education has been launched, and restrictions have been imposed onthe visit of foreign tourists. Provocative orders have been passed for special celebrations of the Tibetan New Year. Looking at all these developments it becomes clear that the intention and aim behind the mare to subject the Tibetan people to such a level of cruelty and harassment that they will not be able to tolerate and thus be forced to demonstrate. When this happens the authorities can then indulge inunprecedented and unimaginable forceful clampdown. Therefore, I would like to make a strong appeal to the Tibetan people to exercise patience and not to give in to these provocations so that the precious lives of many Tibetans are not wasted, and they do not have to undergo torture and suffering.
It goes without saying how much admiration I have for the enthusiasm, determination, and sacrifice of the Tibetans in Tibet. However, it is difficult to achieve a meaningful outcome by sacrificing lives. Above all, the path of non-violence is our irrevocable commitment and it is important that there be no departure at all from this path.
Once again, I pray that the Tibetan people are freed from oppression and torture, and enjoy the happiness of freedom. May all sentientbeings enjoy happiness at all times.

The Dalai Lama

February 25, 2009(corresponding to first day of the first month in the Earth Ox Tibetan Year)

IN
http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=725&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews

Carta Euro-Deputados Portugueses

Caros Membros do Parlamento Europeu,

A 6 de Julho de 2000, o Parlamento Europeu aprovou uma resolução instando "os governos dos Estados-Membros a considerarem seriamente a possibilidade de reconhecer o Governo Tibetano no Exílio, como o legítimo representante do povo Tibetano se, dentro de três anos, as autoridades de Pequim e o Governo Tibetano no Exílio não tiverem assinado um acordo sobre um novo Estatuto para o Tibete, através de negociações organizadas sob a égide do Secretário-Geral das Nações Unidas ".

É com grande satisfação que saudamos a adopção desta resolução como um acto político da iniciativa do Parlamento Europeu e com um novo conteúdo. Comedida e, ao mesmo tempo corajosa, esta decisão claramente expressa os valores europeus e os princípios em que nós nos reconhecemos.

No entanto, após o prazo de Julho de 2003, esperava-se que o Parlamento Europeu avaliasse os objectivos e, de acordo com isso reformulasse as suas recomendações através de uma nova resolução. Isso não aconteceu.

Além da decepção generalizada entre os Tibetanos e os seus apoiantes, é a própria credibilidade do Parlamento Europeu que ficou, aqui, envolvida. Em primeiro lugar como um actor internacional, especialmente no que respeita à China. Mas também, em termos do seu compromisso no que respeita à representação de 375 milhões de cidadãos europeus, à época, representando assim os nossos próprios valores.

Ao seu próprio nível, o Intergrupo Tibete, do Parlamento Europeu, considerou não exercer mais pressão, tendo em conta o reatamento de "contactos" entre funcionários Chineses e enviados Tibetanos. Realizaram-se oito reuniões entre Abril 2002 e Novembro de 2008.

Mas durante este tempo, a política chinesa de colonização, repressão e sinização no Tibete tem continuado, reforçada por um maior sentimento de impunidade. As manifestações na Primavera de 2008 foram reprimidas com extrema brutalidade, primeiro com o mundo inteiro a assistir, e depois às escondidas do palco internacional. E acima de tudo, durante as suas duas últimas reuniões, em Julho e Novembro de 2008, quer Tibetanos, quer Chineses, reconheceram o impasse nas negociações e
manifestaram a sua desilusão.

Por isso, pedimo-vos que votem uma nova resolução, em conformidade com o compromisso do Parlamento Europeu e os termos da resolução de 6 Julho de 2000, agora solicitando explicitamente aos Estados-Membros que reconheçam o Governo Tibetano no Exílio como o representante legítimo do Povo Tibetano.

Considerando as próximas eleições europeias de Junho de 2009, e que a União Europeia está confrontada com repetidas crises de confiança, a coragem do povo Tibetano ainda nos dá uma oportunidade para apoiar concretamente a "terceira via" prometida pelos construtores da Europa. Podem contar com o nosso apoio e encorajamento quando votarem a favor desta resolução.

Obrigado pela vossa atenção,

Atentamente,

(Nome)
………………………….

Contactos disponíveis:

luismanuel.capoulassantos@europarl.europa.eu, paulo.casaca@europarl.europa.eu,

carlos.coelho@europarl.europa.eu, assuncao.esteves@europarl.europa.eu,

edite.estrela@europarl.europa.eu,

elisa.ferreira@europarl.europa.eu,

ilda.figueiredo@europarl.europa.eu,

armando.franca@europarl.europa.eu,

duarte.freitas@europarl.europa.eu,

elisa.ferreira@europarl.europa.eu,

vasco.gracamoura@europarl.europa.eu,

joel.hasseferreira@europarl.europa.eu,

joao.pinheiro@europarl.europa.eu,

jose.ribeiroecastro@europarl.europa.eu,

manuel.dossantos@europarl.europa.eu,

jose.silvapeneda@europarl.europa.eu

sergio.sousapinto@europarl.europa.eu

CONTACTOS ADICIONAIS:

luis.queiro@europarl.europa.eu,
sergio.marques@europarl.europa.eu,
francisco.assis@europarl.europa.eu,
francisco.assis-assistant@europarl.europa.eu,
anamaria.gomes@europarl.europa.eu,
jamila.madeira@europarl.europa.eu

Carta ao Presidente do PE

Dear Mr. President,


On 6 July 2000, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on "the governments of the Member States to give serious consideration to the possibility of recognizing the Tibetan Government in exile as the legitimate representative of the Tibetan people if, within three years, the Beijing authorities and the Tibetan government in exile have not signed an agreement on a new Statute for Tibet, through negotiations organized under the aegis of the Secretary-General of the United Nations".

After the deadline of July 2003, it was expected that the European Parliament assess the objectives and reformulate its recommendations accordingly through a new resolution. This did not occur. However, the implementation of this resolution is now more than ever justified.

From April 2002 until November 2008, eight meetings were held between Tibetan envoys and Chinese officials, without any result. On the contrary, each side has acknowledged the impasse in talks and expressed their disillusionment. In addition, the Chinese policy of colonisation, repression and sinisation in Tibet has not stopped.

Therefore, Mr. President, I ask you to put on the agenda a bill on a new resolution, in accordance with the commitments of the European Parliament and the terms of the resolution of 6 July 2000, explicitly calling on Member States to recognize the Tibetan government in exile as legitimate representative of the Tibetan people.

Thank you for your attention,

Yours sincerely

(Nome e morada)
.......................................

CONTACTO:
hans-gert.poettering@europarl.europa.eu


Carta ao Presidente do Inter Grupo Tibete

Dear Mr. Thomas Mann,

On 6 July 2000, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on "the governments of the Member States to give serious consideration to the possibility of recognizing the Tibetan Government in exile as the legitimate representative of the Tibetan people if, within three years, the Beijing authorities and the Tibetan government in exile have not signed an agreement on a new Statute for Tibet, through negotiations organized under the aegis of the Secretary-General of the United Nations".

After the deadline of July 2003, it was expected that the European Parliament assess the objectives and reformulate its recommendations accordingly through a new resolution. This did not occur. However, the implementation of this resolution is now more than ever justified.

From April 2002 until November 2008, eight meetings were held between Tibetan envoys and Chinese officials, without any result. On the contrary, each side has acknowledged the impasse in talks and expressed their disillusionment. In addition, the Chinese policy of colonisation, repression and sinisation in Tibet has not stopped.

Therefore, I ask you to submit and vote on a draft resolution, in accordance with the commitments of the European Parliament and the terms of the resolution of 6 July 2000, explicitly calling on Member States to recognize the Tibetan government in exile as legitimate representative of the Tibetan people.

Thank you for your attention,

Yours sincerely

(Nome e morada)
...........................................

CONTACTO:

CAMPANHA EUROPEIA

http://www.tibet-europe.eu/EN_home.htm

Campanha Europeia pela implementação da resolução do Parlamento Europeu de 6 Julho 2000 :
Pelo reconhecimento do Governo Tibetano no exílio.

A 6 de Julho de 2000, o Parlamento Europeu adoptou uma resolução apelando "aos governos dos Estados Membros para que ponderassem a possibilidade de reconhecimento do Governo Tibetano no exílio como um representante legítimo do povo Tibetano se, no prazo de três anos, as autoridades Chinesas e o governo Tibetano não assinassem um acordo relativo a um novo Estatuto para o Tibete, no âmbito de negociações organizadas sob a égide do Secretário-Geral das Nações Unidas".

Como tal de facto não aconteceu, a implementação desta resolução é nesta altura mais do que justificada.
Neste âmbito o Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete já enviou cartas ao Presidente do Inter Grupo Tibete, assim como ao Presidente do PE.
Relativamente ao Inter Grupo Tibete, foi solicitado que apresentasse e votasse a referida resolução.
Ao Presidente do PE solicitámos que esta resolução fosse colocada na agenda do PE.
Esta acção foi realizada pela maioria dos Grupos e Associações de Apoio ao Tibete.
PF NÃO DEIXEM DE FAZER O MESMO !
Para tal colocaremos à V/ disposição não só os textos das cartas enviadas, como também os necessários contactos email dos respectivos destinatários.
Hoje, véspera do Losar, contactaremos também os Euro-Deputados Portugueses no PE, solicitando o seu voto na referida resolução.
Juntem-se a nós realizando também tal acção !

Durante os dois próximos eventos organizados pelo GAT, colocaremos à V/ disposição petições endereçadas ao Presidente do Inter Grupo Tibete e ao Presidente do PE.

Não deixem de as assinar !

Monday, February 23, 2009

Carta ao PM José Sócrates

Caros Amigos,

Vimos por este meio informar que o Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete enviou hoje a carta seguinte ao PM José Sócrates.

A partir de 4ªfeira colocaremos à V/ disposição postais FREE TIBET já selados e endereçados aos Senhores Deputados da Assembleia da República. Pretendemos alertá-los para a gravidade da situação no Tibete e apelar a uma activa tomada de acção. Participem !

...

Lisboa, 24 de Fevereiro de 2009


Exmo. Senhor Primeiro – Ministro
Eng.º José Sócrates,

50 Anos de Opressão no Tibete: É Tempo de Mudança!

Estamos a escrever-lhe na véspera do Losar, o Ano Novo Tibetano. Este próximo ano, o 50.º desde que o Dalai Lama fugiu para o exílio e os Tibetanos se ergueram contra a governação Chinesa no Tibete, pedimos ao governo de V. Exa. para fazer esforços, incluindo multilateralmente, para trazer o fim à situação insustentável que o povo Tibetano tem suportado há meio século.
Este Losar, num acto de resistência passiva que garantidamente trará represálias por parte do governo Chinês, um vasto número de Tibetanos no Tibete decidiu não realizar as tradicionais celebrações do seu novo ano. Em vez disso, eles irão assinalar a passagem de ano com algumas orações como sinal de respeito por aqueles que perderam as suas vidas, durante a repressão Chinesa à onda de protestos pacíficos no plateau Tibetano desde o dia 10 de Março de 2008. O movimento “Losar Não” parece ter-se espalhado por todo o Tibete, e os Tibetanos no exílio irão apoiar os seus conterrâneos de uma forma similar.
Mesmo não existindo motivo de celebração, a segurança no Tibete mantém-se em estado alerta após os protestos do último ano e, com um novo 10 de Março a aproximar-se rapidamente, a China instituiu novas medidas para intimidar Tibetanos e negar a sua identidade cultural e religiosa.
Para além disto, após a última ronda de conversações entre os enviados de S.S. o Dalai Lama e representantes do governo Chinês, a China desprezadamente rejeitou o próprio documento que havia solicitado, o “Memorando sobre a Autonomia Genuína para o Povo Tibetano”. A China embarcou em acrescidas provocações com o anúncio que o dia 28 de Março seria celebrado como o “Dia da Emancipação dos Escravos”, para comemorar a conquista do Tibete depois da elevação popular de 1959. Assim, enquanto os Tibetanos estão de luto no aniversário do que eles consideram ser o início da destruição da sua cultura e da sua nação, serão forçados – sob a pena de multas ou detenção – a “celebrar” com mostras de alegria e gratidão.
No último ano, enquanto Tibetanos mais uma vez manifestavam a sua insatisfação com a governação Chinesa, muitos líderes de governos expressaram a sua preocupação face à resposta violenta da China aos protestos, e pediram ao governo Chinês para se encontrar com o Dalai Lama. Embora os apoiantes do Tibete em todo o mundo estejam profundamente satisfeitos com os anteriores apoios verbais e auxílios materiais para o povo Tibetano de muitos governos, a verdade é que a situação no Tibete está a piorar.
As acções do governo de V. Exa. infelizmente ainda não convenceram a China a travar o sofrimento que inflige ao povo Tibetano e a solucionar a situação do Tibete através do diálogo com os seus líderes pelo que, sem alteração, o sofrimento dos Tibetanos irá seguramente perdurar.
Apesar dos conflitos e problemas económicos no mundo, e apesar do facto dos ocupantes do Tibete serem uma das nações mais poderosas na Terra, simplesmente não se pode permitir que esta situação continue. O movimento global de apoio ao Tibete prometeu renovar e redobrar os seus esforços com o intuito de assegurar o apoio dos governos que o povo Tibetano merece na sua luta pacífica.
Nós, os abaixo-assinados, requeremos ao governo de V. Exa. que aumente o compromisso para auxiliar a chegar a uma resolução da situação do Tibete.
Em particular, requeremos-lhe que inicie esforços pessoais e multilaterais para unir a liderança Chinesa com o Dalai Lama ou os seus representantes, em negociações sérias de forma a chegar a uma resolução para a questão Tibetana.
Mais lhe pedimos que pressione a China a aceder ao recente apelo das Nações Unidas (Comité Contra a Tortura, Genebra, Nov. 2008) para um “inquérito completo e independente” relativamente ao uso excessivo da força por parte da China, como resposta aos protestos Tibetanos no passado ano. Assim como apoie o recente apelo do Governo Tibetano no Exílio impelindo as autoridades Chinesas a cancelar a sua provocativa campanha “Strike Hard” e finalizar as suas políticas inflexíveis no Tibete.
Finalmente, pedimos ao governo de V. Exa. para tomar duas simples acções que irão demonstrar construtivamente a sua preocupação acerca do Tibete. Pedimos-lhe que faça um anúncio público sobre a sua preocupação, no dia 10 de Março, reconhecendo o meio século de exílio do Dalai Lama, e dê os passos para instituir um secretariado do Tibete na nossa embaixada em Pequim, de forma a que assim de possa monitorizar mais de perto a situação em todas nas áreas Tibetanas.
Atentamente,


Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete

Celebrem, ou então...



À medida que o Ano Novo Tibetano se aproxima, aumenta consideravelmente o clima de tensão no Tibete, numa altura em que não só a Região Autónoma Tibetana mas também as províncias adjacentes se encontram completamente fechadas ao exterior.


A táctica Tibetana de não celebrar o Losar está a irritar as autoridades Chinesas, que respondem através da sua campanha "Forçar a celebração do Losar", assim como mediante a organização de concertos, concursos, corridas de cavalo e etc.


As autoridades Chinesas declararam uma semana de feriado, a partir de hoje, assim como a admissão gratuita em museus e parques.


O Partido Comunista no Tibete distribuiu vouchers no valor de $12o a famílias com baixos rendimentos de forma a que realizassem as compras para o Losar.


De acordo com o historiador Tibetano Tsering Shakya "Eles querem mostrar que os Tibetanos estão contentes e que tudo está bem. Mas ao intervirem, estão de facto a entristecer os Tibetanos."

In
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=23886&article=China+expects+Tibet+to+celebrate%2c+or+else

Demonstrações por Tibetanos no exílio



Tibetanos em Dharamsala manifestaram-se contra a ocupação Chinesa do Tibete no contexto do movimento global "Losar Não".


Tradicionalmente, no 29º dia do último mês Tibetano, é realizada uma cerimónia religiosa conhecida como "Gutor" que visa afastar as influências maléficas do ano transacto., através da queima de efígies.


Assim os Tibetanos queimaram imagens de Mao Tsedong e do actual presidente Chinês Hu Jintao.


Centenas de pessoas estiveram presentes na manifestação, entoando slogans tais como "Free Tibet", "Vitória aos Mártires Tibetanos" e "Longa Vida a S.S. Dalai Lama."


A organização foi da responsabilidade do Tibetan Youth Congress, que havia já declarado o ano de 2009 como um "Ano Negro" para o Tibete.


In

Sunday, February 22, 2009


UPDATE

Detenções no Tibete em resposta a "Losar Não"

Ao longo das últimas semanas foi, custosamente, recebida informação do Tibete de que muitos Tibetanos, senão a maioria, planeam não celebrar o Losar (Ano Novo Tibetano) que tem início a 25 de Fevereiro.


Tal é não só a demonstração de um acto de resistência, como também uma forma de homenagear todos os Tibetanos que faleceram, na sequência da repressão Chinesa sobre os protestos ocorridos em todo o Tibete, a partir de 10 Março 2008.


Entretanto é intensa a presença militar no Tibete, tendo as autoridades Chinesas mobilizado centenas de veículos e pessoal militar para a capital Tibetana. Milhares de pessoas foram questionadas e algumas detidas devido à posse de canções "reacionárias" nos seus telemóveis.


Acções semelhantes decorreram também noutras regiões Tibetanas levando o Governo Tibetano no exílio, a 29 de Janeiro, a apelar aos governos e indíviduos em todo o mundo para que activamente intervenham, de forma a que "Março 2008 não seja repetido".


Enquanto que no editorial do jornal diário Tibetano Tibet Daily de 18 Fevereiro, se podia ler um apelo ao povo Tibetano... que este "firmemente esmague a agressão selvagem da clique do Dalai, que derrote o separatismo e colectivamente guerreie com o intuito de manter a estabilidade." (?!?)


Detenções:
À medida que o Losar se aproxima, a situação continua a deteriorar-se e várias organizações de apoio ao Tibete relataram já protestos e detenções no Tibete.


O Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy afirma conhecer os nomes dos 21 Tibetanos que foram detidos, a 16 Fevereiro, após um protesto pacífico no Lithang, Kham (região Tibetana apelidada de Província Sichuan pela China).


Os manifestantes - monges, nómadas e locais - demonstraram o seu apoio a um manifestante solitário, Lobsang Lhondup de 39 anos, que na véspera e de acordo com a organização Free Tibet, apelou a que os Tibetanos não celebrassem o Losar.


A 19 Fevereiro, a International Campaign for Tibet relatou um incidente no condado de Nagchu, na Região Autónoma Tibetana. A Polícia Armada do Povo interveio com armas de fogo, após uma discussão entre um Tibetano e um condutor de táxi Chinês se ter transformado numa luta. Alguns Tibetanos presentes no local gritaram slogans tais como "Devolvam-nos a nossa terra".

Faça algo pelo Tibete !
Participe nas actividades e campanhas desenvolvidas pelo Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete, divulgando-as por amigos e familiares.


EVENTOS

25 Fev - A partir das 18h30 na UBP em Lisboa
Sessão de Oração pelas vítimas Tibetanas

28 Fev - A partir das 16h00 em Lisboa (Associação Sorrir)
Exibição de 3 filmes Tibetanos e apresentação da Campanha pela libertação de Dhondup Wangchen (realizador do filme "Leaving Fear Behind") e outros prisioneiros políticos.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Links - Notícias - LOSAR

- Kashag to Mark Tibetan New Year with Only Religious Programmes
http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=701&articletype=flash

- Tibetans cancel New Year Celebrations to Mark "Black Year"
http://www.tibetanwomen.org/press/2009/2009.01.27-no_losar.html

- Tibetans "in mourning" as Chinese New Year begins
http://savetibet.org/media-center/inside-tibet-reports/tibetans-mourning-chinese-new-year-begins

- No New Year movement gains momentum
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=23681&t=1&c=1

- More Tibet unrest cannot be ruled out
http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKPEK258667

- Situation very tense: unrest in Tibet: Dalai Lama
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=23806

- Police round up dozens in Tibet as New year boycott looms
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5653221.ece

Thursday, February 19, 2009

China closes Tibet to foreigners

Tourist agencies were contacted on Wednesday by officials and told to cancel all trips for the foreseeable future.
"We had a meeting with the tourist bureau and were asked to stop all groups from entering Tibet for at least the next couple of months," said Wan Feng, at Tibet Yak Travel.
Foreigners require a permit to enter Tibet, but Youth Travel Service, one of the largest travel agencies, said few, if any, permits were being issued."It is very very difficult to get a permit at the moment. We will have to wait and see when they become available again," said a spokesman.
Another company, Tsedang China Travel, said it was unsure whether travel would even be possible in April. Mr Wan said the ban on foreigners was for "sensitive, political, reasons".The ban extends into some parts of the three provinces surrounding Tibet where ethnic Tibetans live.
Officials in Gansu confirmed that tourists are now being turned away from Tibetan areas until further notice, while officials in Sichuan said tourists travelling along the road to Tibet were being stopped. In Qinghai, officials said foreigners have always been banned from areas where Tibetans live, including Qilian mountain, one of China's most beautiful landmarks.
China has tightened its grip on Tibet ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile on March 10. Last year, a peaceful protest by around 200 monks to mark the anniversary spiralled into violent riots. The Chinese government says 22 people died during the protests, but human rights activists believe many more were killed by police.
Tensions this year are already high. Chinese security forces have already allegedly beaten and arrested up to 24 Tibetans for protesting in Lithang County, a Tibetan area of Sichuan. The protests started last Sunday when Lobsang Lhundup, 39, a monk from Nekhor monastery, held up a picture of the Dalai Lama in the main market and shouted "Free Tibet!"
Many Tibetans also refused to take part in Chinese New Year celebrations this year, adding to the tension with the Han Chinese living in Tibet. There have also been several reports of Chinese soldiers being posted to monasteries and one witness said snipers had been placed on the roofs of important temples in Lhasa.Previously, the Chinese government said that foreign journalists would be welcome in Tibet in March in order to cover the event that it has dubbed "Serf Liberation Day". The government said the exile of the Dalai Lama marked the moment when Tibet entered the modern era, abolishing feudalism and leading to millions of slaves being freed. However, attempts by journalists to arrange trips to Tibet over the anniversary period were firmly rebuffed.
IN

Poema de um Tibetano

"Last year was washed by blood,
In Lhasa, countless compatriots
Were fallen under a piercing arrow,
This year, no Losar for us,
In Sichuan, countless people
Buried under the earth,
This year, no Losar for us,
There is only the word "no" on your lips.
We are speechless,
You are filled with anger
We have no bitterness
For the sake of the deceased valiant heroes
Let us offer our regrets.
For the deceased people,
Let is make offerings."
In

Contamos convosco !


Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Campanha S.T.A.M.P.S. Tibete
"Time to Show Flag"

A S.T.A.M.P.S. lançou a campanha “Time to show flag”, um gesto de solidariedade para com o Tibete.
Assim, será comercializado um mostrador S.T.A.M.P.S. com a bandeira tibetana, uma edição limitada, e, por cada relógio vendido será feita uma doação de 5 Euros a uma instituição alemã de apoio ao Tibete
– Tibethlife – e. V.
Preço: 18,95€
IN

Monday, February 16, 2009

Um blogger Tibetano deixou o comentário seguinte, num website Tibetano em língua Chinesa, a 25 de Janeiro:
"The 2009 Losar was always going to be unusual because so many people have been killed.
In our family, our father can never come back, our mother has visibly aged, uncles and brothers have been detained - some of whom we still don't know whether they're dead or alive.
Last night, the eldest brother in the neighbour's family was taken away.
There's a guy from a village nearby, who used to roam all over the place doing business, who was locked up for a few months and recently released. But his body is so fragile now that he has to stay in bed with his wife and children looking after him.
When you go out, although the police on the streets aren't as evident as they were a few months ago, there are still a lot. There are armed PAP (People's Armed Police) guys on the roofs "maintaining social stability".
Leaders on television are going round paying their respects and urging people to have a good year... I myself will not be celebrating the new year because those who died were my compatriots, and I knew several of those who died - they were shot dead. I haven't dared call home since March of last year because i don't want to cause them any trouble. And so i don't know how they are. I've had no informatiion on them, and just hope they're okay."
Fonte:
Relatório fornecido por International Campaign for Tibet
"This year, we honor the sacrifice of countless Tibetans who rose up to show China and the world that even after 50 years of brutal occupation, Tibetans are determined to regain our freedom."
"We mourn our brothers and sisters who were killed in China's violent crackdown while we stand in solidarity with those who continue to suffer under China's totalitarian rule."
Dr. B. Tsering, presidente
Tibetan Women's Association
"By not celebrating Losar, we are honoring all those Tibetanas who have died in the past year for the freedom of our homeland."
Ven. Ngawang Woebar, presidente
Gu-Chu-Sum Ex-Political Prisoners' Movement


Caros Amigos,

Este ano, não nos reuniremos para festejar o Losar ("Lo" significa "ano" e "Sar" "novo"), ou Ano Novo Tibetano, tal como aconteceu o ano passado na União Budista Portuguesa.

O Losar, que este ano tem início a 25 de Fevereiro, é o mais esperado dos festivais Tibetanos, sendo geralmente celebrado durante três dias.

É uma época de festejos vários, danças, jogos. É uma altura de encontros e reencontros, de risos e gargalhadas.

Este ano não festejaremos o Losar mas... comemoraremos a Resistência Tibetana:

- Homenagearemos os 219 Tibetanos mortos pela autoridades Chinesas, ao longo de 2008, vítimas da repressão com que o governo Chinês respondeu às manifestações pacíficas de Tibetanos, em todo o plateau Tibetano.


- Expressaremos a nossa solidariedade para com os Tibetanos no Tibete, que não celebrando o Losar, demonstram assim um corajoso acto de resistência passiva.

Contamos convosco !!!

No dia 25 de Fevereiro (quarta-feira), a partir das 18h30, numa sessão de oração solidária com o povo Tibetano.

Esta sessão decorrerá na União Budista Portuguesa em Lisboa (Calçada da Ajuda, 246- 1ºD).

Colocaremos à V/ disposição, para assinatura, cartas a endereçar aos partidos políticos com assento parlamentar, MNE, PM e PR.

Assim como vos facultaremos mais informações acerca das futuras actividades a realizar.

Ao longo da semana enviar-vos-emos artigos vários versando sobre a não celebração festiva do Losar.

Até breve !

Sunday, February 15, 2009

China rejects UN call to improve human rights

China has rejected all of the most serious proposals suggested by the United Nations Human Rights Council to clean up its human rights record.
After submitting to a peer review on Monday, it has now turned thumbs down on most of its specific recommendations, namely that it abolish capital punishment, adopt international norms against torture, abolish illegal detention and respect religious and minority rights.
This was China's first appearance before a UN Universal Periodic Review panel and Sharon Hom, executive director of the advocacy group Human Rights in China, called the 30-month old process "a failure."She said the review "has given China a 'cover' for impunity."Although Canada, India and Nigeria presided over the review, all of the 47 states that are members of the Human Rights Council could submit recommendations for the report. China accepted several that talked broadly of respecting and promoting human rights and quite happily agreed to fellow Communist state Cuba's recommendation that it take action against "people who are qualifying themselves as human rights defenders with the objective of attacking the interests of state and the people of China."
China's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Li Baodong, received the report and told the council that his country "is witnessing the emancipation of thought, enlightenment in politics, development in economy, harmony of society, progress in sciences and blossoming in art," according to Xinhua, China's official news agency.
Xinhua managed to ignore all the criticism levelled at China and said: "During the review many countries praised China's tremendous achievements in the promotion and protection of human rights in the past 60 years, and particularly since its launching of reform and opening up in 1978."
Canadian recommendations on capital punishment, torture, legislative and judicial reforms, extra-judicial detention, legal rights and freedom of religion were all rejected by China.
Several states, including New Zealand and the United Kingdom recommended China respect fundamental rights in Tibet and allow UN observers, diplomats and the international media to travel freely in the region.It is a particularly delicate topic in China now and the recommendations were rejected.
The 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's forced exile to India is on March 10 and last year demonstrations in Lhasa to mark the day turned violent and police and troops cracked down heavily in the region.Officials admitted to killing only one Tibetan and blamed the death of 21 more on "rioters."Tibetan groups say that more than 200 were killed in clashes with the security forces.Since that time, and despite new rules adopted for the Beijing Olympics, journalists have not been allowed to travel freely anywhere on the Tibetan plateau.
In

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Tibetan areas closed to foreigners

China is tightening its grip on Tibetan areas in the western part of the country by banning foreigners from the region ahead of the politically sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising.
Large swathes of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces — home to large ethnic Tibetan communities — are now off limits to foreign travelers, local officials confirmed Thursday.
Last year, protests to mark the anniversary spun out of control, with deadly riots breaking out in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
An official at the tourism office of northwestern Gansu province's Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, home to a major monastery and large Tibetan communities, said the region was closed to foreigners and would not be open until late March. The official, who did not identify himself as is customary in China, did not say when the restrictions were put in place.
In Sichuan province, many areas open just two weeks ago are now closed to foreign tourists until April, according to officials at the Ganzi prefecture tourist bureau. Only three counties in that prefecture will remain open to foreigners. Qinghai province's tourism bureau also said that many areas remain closed to foreigners.
The travel restrictions reflect Beijing's concerns about potential unrest as the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising approaches on March 10. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, was forced to flee into exile in India after the rebellion was crushed.
The Chinese government says 22 people died in last year's rioting, but Tibetan advocates say many times that number were killed in the protests and subsequent military crackdown.
Sympathy protests quickly spread outside Tibet to the neighboring provinces of Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. The wave of demonstrations were among the largest anti-government protests among Tibetans in decades, but they were soon quelled by a huge military presence installed in the area.
China claims Tibet has always been part of its territory, while many Tibetans assert the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries.
Foreign reporters are not allowed into Tibet without special permission. Entry to Tibetan-populated areas, however, had been permitted in the past. But after last year's riots, many areas were closed off and remain inaccessible.
Chinese officials did lead a rare and tightly controlled tour of Tibet this week for some foreign reporters. Several organizations, including The Associated Press, were excluded.
On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu described the current situation in Tibet as "stable" but acknowledged that foreign reporters have had difficulty accessing the area.
"Since the March 14 incident, it's true that foreign journalists find it harder to go to Tibet. I think you all know the reasons. The government has taken some measures," she said. "The purpose is to safeguard stability in Tibet."
Several foreign journalists have reported being expelled from Tibetan-populated areas in China in the past week.
Wary of potential unrest, China last month launched a security sweep in Tibet, with state media saying at least 81 people were detained during raids on residential areas, Internet cafes, bars, rented rooms, hotels and guesthouses.
Though they normally focus on criminals, the "strike hard" campaigns have also targeted people suspected of anti-government activities in places like Tibet and the restive, largely Muslim region of Xinjiang.
In

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Invisible Tibet: keep on blogging to the free world

Catching up with Tibet's most popular blogger isn't simple. Tsering Woeser is under constant surveillance, so we agree to meet on a street corner in Beijing. The subterfuge seems pointless: Woeser is easy to spot. Her slightly hippy style sets her apart - for our meeting she has chosen dangling earrings and a glass pendant in Buddhist colours, bought on her last visit to the Tibetan plateau. Its blues, reds and yellows remind her of the colours of the banned Tibetan Snow Lion flag. “I mentioned it to the shopkeeper as a joke,” she says. “He was shocked. Of course, I bought it.”

By birth, upbringing and education, Woeser should be a Tibetan at ease in the Chinese system, a successful member of the Tibetan elite. But this vivacious woman, who looks much younger than her 44 years, is the most outspoken Tibetan voice in China, a fierce critic of Beijing rule in the deeply Buddhist Himalayan region. Her views have won her widespread fame among Tibetans in exile - and, not surprisingly, the attention of the Chinese security apparatus. These days, her books are banned and her movements are monitored. She was detained by police last year during a trip to her birthplace to see her mother. None of this deters her. “If it happens, it happens. I write what I write.”

What she writes is not only poetry but a blog that openly criticises Chinese rule in Tibet. It is already in its fifth incarnation. After it was closed down repeatedly by the authorities in 2006 and 2007, she posted it on an overseas server. Then, after the riots a year ago in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, in which 22 people were killed - mostly ethnic Han Chinese - and unrest spread across Tibetan regions, the overseas blog was hacked and closed down twice. Undaunted, she resumed writing about “Invisible Tibet” on woeser.middle-way.net.

Figures compiled overseas show more than three million hits on her blog in the past year, mostly after the March unrest, when it was the main source of information for Tibetans looking for an alternative to propaganda. Now her account of the unrest, with photographs, is to be published in Taiwan to coincide with the first anniversary of the riots. “It seems that people look to me,” she says, humbly.

Robert Barnett, a Tibet expert at Columbia University in the US, says that Woeser has entered unknown territory: “No Tibetan has spoken out so openly in print or in the media. She has never faltered, and the risks she took were off the chart.”

She is now the best-known Tibetan after religious figures such as the Dalai Lama, whose photograph smiles from a shrine in her home. “She is something very rare - a deeply feeling, caring person and a poet who forgot to be afraid ,” says Barnett.

Woeser seems surprised by her fame. “I'm a very ordinary person,” she says, “but not many Tibetans have the means to get around the censors.”
She was born in Lhasa to a father who was a half-Tibetan, half-Han Chinese officer in the People's Liberation Army and a mother who was the daughter of a minor aristocratic Tibetan family. Her parents were young and idealistic converts to the Communist cause, although some in the military were opposed to her father's decision to wed a Tibetan woman.

Woeser was born in 1966, the first year of the ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution. Within four years the family left for her father's native Sichuan province, to escape the worst excesses of revolutionary fervour.
It was the start of a new life for Woeser. Her parents switched to speaking Chinese rather than Tibetan. Her schooling was also in Chinese - the language by which Woeser could rise in society but also the only way for Tibetans, with so many dialects, to communicate with each other. “My parents spoke Tibetan together but Mandarin with us,” Woeser says.

She did well at school and won entry to a high school in the provincial capital, Chengdu, for ethnic minority children. But while she and her classmates used the same textbooks as Chinese children, the exams were simpler because Tibetans were seen as less able. Although she wanted to go on to the prestigious Sichuan University to study Chinese, she was only offered a place at the Southwest Nationalities School.

Woeser began to write poetry and planned to become a journalist. She dreamt of returning to Lhasa and when, at the age of 24, a novel that she wrote was published by the Tibetan Literary Association, the publishers fulfilled her dream by offering her an editing job there.
Her father decided that the whole family should return.Within a year, though, he was dead. His blood pressure failed in the rarefied air of Lhasa, 12,000ft above sea level. Woeser was devastated. “He always felt that my ideas were out of line, too dangerous, and he worried about me,” she says. “But it was after he died that I really began to feel that I was a Tibetan. ”

Shortly before her father's death she had come across a translation of a book available only to government officials. It was a banned work, In Exile in the Land of Snows by John Avedon, describing the 1959 flight into exile of the Dalai Lama and Chinese repression of the abortive uprising that triggered his escape. She had been taught to regard Tibet's god-king as a bad man; now she wondered. She asked her father, and “he told me that 70 per cent of the book was true”. Then an aunt, also in the Army, told her that 90 per cent of it was correct.

Thus began a loss of innocence and of trust in the Communist Party that had nurtured her. Her writing began to change. She devoted herself to studying Tibetan, although she still writes in Chinese, and began to take classes in Buddhism.
She produced a volume of prose essays, Notes from Tibet. “I expected the publishers to censor mentions of the Dalai Lama,” she says, “but they left almost everything.” Its publication, in 2003, marked the start of her internal exile.

Recalled to to Lhasa from a visit to Beijing, Woeser was ordered to make a self-criticism for Notes from Tibet. She refused. She parted ways with the Tibetan Literary Association, losing her salary, pension, flat and all the other perks of a government employee. But she had found her vocation.
Encouraged by the Chinese author Wang Lixiong, whom she later married, she sifted through a collection of photographs taken by her father during the Cultural Revolution in Tibet. A book of these searing images of persecution, accompanied by her interviews with survivors, was published in Taiwan, and her fame spread.

The rebellious spirit that once angered her father now irks the Chinese authorities, who have refused to give her a passport. She has vowed to take them to court.
After the March riot, police confined her to her flat - but with no proof that she had broken the law, their only options were to cut off her internet connection or detain her, both methods of last resort for a Government keen to avoid bad publicity.

Woeser says modestly that Tibet's monks are the real heroes, and admits fearing arrest. “But it would give me time to study the Buddhist scriptures,” she laughs. “My main worry is whether they will let me wear my contact lenses in prison.”

Other brave bloggers
Gaza-sderot.blogspot.com is is a blog by an Israeli, “Peace Man”, and a Palestinian, “Hope Man”, living on either side of the Gaza border. Both offered first-hand accounts of Israel's 22-day military offensive.
Zimupdate.blogspot.com is written by a British woman who manages to tackle Zimbabwe's many woes with insight, humanity and humour.
Iranian-girl.blogspot.com is one of a huge number of Iranian blogs written in English, despite government censorship. This one stands out for its fluent writing and thoughtful analysis.
Astarfrommosul.blogspot.com is by 20-year-old “Najma” in Mosul, northern Iraq. It reads like a daily diary: pensive, personal and littered with the mundane as well as the realities of war.

In
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article5703536.ece

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

UN human rights 'peer review' turns into Beijing love-in

UNITED NATIONS — A number of countries attending a United Nations review of China’s human rights record Monday lauded Beijing for maintaining the death penalty, encouraged it to tighten Internet controls, and described it as “ethical and moral.”

Canada was among Western countries that took an opposite view, and China was so perplexed by what Australia said about Tibet its ambassador complained about Canberra’s “politicized statement.”

The gap between those praising Beijing and its critics illustrates the extent to which UN member states are split over the way they view human rights. That in turn, raises questions about the utility of sessions such as Monday’s, which was part of a new “peer review” process the Geneva-based Human Rights Council now presents as its flagship monitoring mechanism.

“While the UN promised to reform itself with a procedure that would hold all countries to account on an objective and equal basis, and help human rights victims worldwide, instead the council has turned into a mutual praise society, giving a free pass to the world’s worst abusers,” said Montreal native Hillel Neuer, executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch.

Canada’s leading concerns included China’s widespread use of the death penalty, a “re-education” through labour program, and arbitrary detention of minorities such as Tibetans, Mongols and Muslim separatist Uyghur people.

Australia highlighted reports of Chinese harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention and punishment of religious minorities — specifically mentioning Tibetans.

“There were a few countries like Australia, which made some ill-founded comments on the question of Tibet,” said LI Baodong, China’s ambassador in Geneva.
He and other Chinese delegates insisted China is guided by the “rule of law,” denying Western charges it uses torture or jails dissidents. (!!!!)

Iran said at the “peer review” of Canada’s human rights record last week that it “noted the growing discriminatory treatment against indigenous people, aboriginal women, migrants, Muslims, Arabs and Afro-Canadians,” said a UN-issued summary of the hearing.

Other non-Western countries added Canada was not doing enough in areas like aboriginal rights, violence against women, poverty and racism.

Commenting on China Monday, Iran’s Farhad Mamdouhi commended China on its “overall strong commitment to human rights.” He highlighted the “negative effects” of the Internet, and said China should press ahead with a crackdown in a bid to combat racial hatred, defamation of religions and pornography.

Many human rights advocates have long said that such statements are code used on the international stage for cracking down on ethnic and religious minorities, and free speech.

Egypt’s Hisham Badr said China had “demonstrated its commitment to protecting human rights despite facing the “challenges” of a nation of 1.3 billion people.

“We understand the need of China to keep the death penalty,” he said after noting Egypt too, retains capital punishment.
Praising China’s “controls” on death penalty usage, Badr highlighted Beijing does not execute those under 18 “or any pregnant woman.”

Cuba’s Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios described China as a “exceptional country” adding — in an apparent dig at Western countries — its “millennium-long history and hard work have put to shame all those who have tried to criticize” it.

Speaking for Canada, Louis-Martin Aumais opened and closed in Mandarin — but criticisms were delivered in English.
“Canada recommends China reduce the number of crimes carrying the death penalty and regularly publish detailed statistics on death-penalty use,” he said.
“Canada recommends China abolish all forms of administrative detention, including re-education through labour. Canada recommends China eliminate abuse of psychiatric committal.”

While China has avoided seeing its human rights practices discussed in any detail by any previous UN body, the new “peer review” process involves reviewing every country in turn. Observers said Beijing’s strong reaction showed deep sensitivity on the issues involved.

“This was a display of very low tolerance of critical comments,” Sharon Hom, a Hong Kong-born lawyer who heads the U.S.-based Human Rights in China, told a news conference.

In
http://www.canada.com/news/human+rights+peer+review+turns+into+Beijing+love/1271072/story.html

China angered by Italian award for Dalai Lama



China on Tuesday expressed its anger at an Italian award for exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and warned of unspecified consequences in relations, according to a media report.



The Nobel Peace Prize winning Tibetan leader was made an honorary citizen of Rome on Monday for “his international efforts to find a peaceful solution for Tibet and for having affirmed the principles of human rights and peaceful conflict-resolution between nations."





Beijing abruptly cancelled a China-EU summit last year, angry over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama."This seriously hurts the feelings of the Chinese people," Reuters reported Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu as saying at a regular news briefing. "We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” she added."We hope Italy pays attention to China's deep concerns and takes immediate, effective measures to remove the negative impact and maintain the healthy, stable development of bilateral ties," Jian said, without saying what steps Italy should take, Reuters reported.





China routinely brands the Dalai Lama as a "splittist", or separatist, seeking separation cession of Tibet from “mainland” China. The Dalai Lama denies the charge, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy, not outright independence for the Himalayan region."Tibet is an inseparable part of China. The Tibet issue is a purely internal one," Jiang reportedly said."He is not a simple religious figure," she added, referring to the Dalai Lama. "He wears a religious signboard, and has for a long time been a political exile engaging in splittist political activities.





"In making the Tibetan leader an honorary citizen of Rome, Mayor Gianni Alemanno said: "We stand by you and strongly demand the full recognition of the autonomy of the Tibetan nation."Rome is not alone in honouring the Dalai Lama during his four-day tour of Europe, which began Sunday. After attending the ceremony at the Rome city hall, Dalai Lama on Monday left for the Italian city of Venice, which will also bestow him with its honorary Citizenship.





On Tuesday, the Nobel peace laureate will be bestowed with the Deutsche Medienpreis (the German Media Prize) in Baden-Baden, for representing "the non-violent struggle for the rights of the Tibetan people."Relations between China and Germany also hit a low after German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the Tibetan leader at the Chancellery in 2007. It took months for China to forgive Merkel.


In

Monday, February 9, 2009

7 monks arrested, abbot missing in Chamdo

Seven monks of Den Choekhor monastery in Jomda county, Chamdo prefecture, were arrested on January 24 and are currently held at Jomda county detention center, a monk of Drepung monastery in India with contacts in the area told phayul.
The seven monks are Chant leader Nima Tsering, disciplinarian Lhundup, Nyichey, Tsering Palden, Ngawang Tashi, Tado and Tashi Dawa. The abbot of the monastery, Tenzin Gyalsten, has also gone missing. Tenzin studied from 1995 to 2003 at Drepung Loseling monastery in south India. He returned to Tibet and taught dialectics at Denchoekhor monastery before being appointed the abbot in November 2008.
Around 300 people including monks of Den Choekhor monastery in Jomda County took part in a protest demonstration at the government administrative office on January 10, 2009. The source told phayul that the protest was carried out to stop the local authorities from taking a Tibetan dance troupe to Lhasa to participate in the celebration of the “Serf Emancipation day” on March 28.
“It is a deliberate attempt to humiliate the Tibetans who are not completely recovered from last year’s military crackdown. The Chinese are intentionally hurting the Tibetan people’s sentiments.”The same source said two explosions had occurred near the government administrative building in Choekhor Township on January 5, 2009 causing heavy damage to property but no casualties were reported.
The authorities investigating into the matter have not been able to arrest anyone in connection with the explosions. According to the source, there has been strong military presence in the area beginning January 12 and heavy restrictions have been placed on the movement of Tibetans.
“The authorities, who accused monks of Den Choekhor monastery of the explosion of January 5, forcefully took several monks to the local government office for interrogation, and asked the monks to sign a document that, among others, renounced His Holiness the Dalai Lama. No one, however, signed the document.”
On January 16, a senior chant leader Gen Jamshey of Den Choekhor monastery was detained, the source said. “Fearing public agitation, the authorities told them Gen. Jamshey had to attend a meeting in Jomda County. The authorities then took him to Dege county where he was put in another vehicle and driven away.”
It is not known where Gen Jamshey is currently held. The dance troupe refused to travel to Lhasa but was forced off on January 15. Some members of the troupe, says our source, fled on the night of January 14. Two monks, Tsetan Sonam and Choekyong, were beaten up severely, the source said.
Names of people and places have been spelled as they are pronounced in Tibetan, and may not be correct
In

Kashag to Mark Tibetan New Year with Only Religious Programmes

The Central Tibetan Administration announced Saturday that only the customary religious programmes will held to mark theTibetan New Year, taking into consideration of the continuing repression in Tibet and the ruthless crackdown last year which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tibetans and thousands imprisoned.

The Kashag has appealed to all the concerned departments and offices of the administration not to organise any lavish and pompous celebrations such as hosting feasts, dance parties and lighting firecrackers.

Similarly, the Kashag also directs all the officials of the administration to refrain from taking part in such gatherings.

The direction has been given to all the staff working in Tibetan settlements, offices of Tibet, schools and healthcare centres.

Last year in March, the Tibetan people across the traditional provinces of Tibet expressed their deep-seated resentment against the wrong policies of the Chinese government in Tibet. Subsequent brutal crackdown by the Chinese military left more than 219 Tibetans dead and 1294 injured.
Around 5,600 people are still underarrest or detention and more than 1000 missing.

Friday, February 6, 2009

6 Tibetans Sentenced in Kardze

Reports have emerged of 6 Tibetans having been sentenced recently to various prison terms in connection with last year’s nationwide protests.
According to the Trehor Association based here, Loongloong Sonam from Thamey village of Kardze was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for his role in the protests at Kardze County on May 17, 2008.
Three nuns of Yarteng nunnery, Poewang; 27, Yangzom; 31, and Lhamo; 29, who had protested on June 18 last year in Kardze, have been sentenced around January 15 to two and a half years in prison.
The three are said to be held currently at a prison near Chengdu. In yet another incident of sentencing, Ngawang Phuntsok; 32, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for participating in the protest on June 18.
He was detained for six months at county jail in Kardze before the verdict, and currently believed to be held at a prison 70 Kilometres away from Chengdu.
A 28-year-old nun named Yankey of Drakkar nunnery has been sentenced to one year and nine months in jail. She, along with other nuns of the nunnery, has participated in a protest in Kardze on May 17 last year. The verdicts, sources say, were passed by the Kardze Intermediate People’s Court.
In

Tuesday, February 3, 2009



Tibetan demonstrators protest against the visit of the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on January 30, 2009 in front of European headquarters in Brussels.


It is the first European trip by a senior Chinese official since Beijing postponed a summit with the EU in December to protest French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. (AFP/Getty Images)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Chinese PM greeted by protesters

Several people vaulted barriers as he arrived outside the Chinese Embassy in London amid a noisy demonstration.
Supporters had greeted Mr Wen with dragon dancers and firecrackers as he visited as part of his UK tour.The Chinese Prime Minister had earlier met Tory leader David Cameron and shadow foreign secretary William Hague.
The focus of the meeting had been on the global financial downturn, with the UK and China both keen to boost their economic ties. But Mr Hague had said the talks would not gloss over China's human rights record, adding: "We always in our meetings with Chinese leaders raise issues of human rights and Tibet."
After the meeting, Mr Wen travelled to the Chinese Embassy where a group of around 100 were chanting pro-Tibetan slogans.From behind barriers, they brandished placards reading "Stop Killing in Tibet" and posters featuring Mr Wen underneath a "Wanted" sign.BBC correspondent Barnie Choudhury said Mr Wen took no notice of the protest as he made his way into the building."
A dozen or so protesters vaulted over the barriers and made their way across the road," he said."Police decided they had to go in and began trying to hold the protesters back as they tried to breach the barriers." Officers were filmed taking several people away in handcuffs, although our correspondent said they were later allowed to rejoin the protesting crowd.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed five men had been arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace.One protester told the BBC: "We are here to support our people in Tibet.
In recent months, thousands of Tibetan people have been killed and imprisoned."Tibetan Ugyan Norbu, who has lived in Britain for 30 years, said: "Tibet is caged and has been for 50 years. Tibetan people cannot go in or out. They live in terror of the Chinese authorities."We have to come here and demonstrate."
Mr Wen's European tour, which includes three days in Britain, takes in Germany and Spain.He has also visited the EU headquarters in Brussels and the World Economic Forum in Davos.He will also make a speech at the University of Cambridge, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
'Troubled times'BBC News correspondent Jill McGivering said Mr Wen is expected to promote China's economic prospects and push for more investment from the UK.
She said: "These are troubled times - and Britain and China are sticking together."Gordon Brown sees China as a powerful ally as he presses for reform of international financial bodies."And China's economy - expected to grow at about 7% this year - is very attractive to British investors."She added that Mr Wen would be seeking reassurance that the UK will join China's fight against global protectionism.
This is when governments restrict import quotas in a bid to protect domestic industries from global competition - but China says this is damaging to its export trade.The visit follows an announcement earlier this month by Foreign Secretary David Miliband that improving relations with China is to be a "major priority" for the UK in the years ahead.
'Candid'In a 20-page framework document Mr Miliband said the UK will be "candid" when it disagrees with China, but will build a relationship based on co-operationHe also stressed the importance of economic ties between the two countries and emphasised China's growing role in international affairs.
The document represents a sort of stock-taking of ties between London and Beijing and sets out aspirations for the way in which Sino-UK ties should develop over the next four years.Mr Wen has snubbed France during his European tour, reportedly because of a meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama late last year.China reacted at the time by cancelling a scheduled summit with the EU.
In

Two monks arrested in Tsawa Pashoe

Two Tibetan monks from Tsawa Pashoe Mera monastery in Chamdo prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Regionhave been arrested by Chinese authorities on the evening of January 29, Voice of Tibet radio service reported citing sources with contacts in the area.
Tenzin Choephel, 16, and Lobsang Gyaltsen, 20, protested in front of the Pashoe county administrative office on Thursday evening, a monk of Sera monastery in south India told VOT.
The two monks chanted slogans like “independence for Tibet” and “wake up Tibetan brothers and sisters”. The source also said that Anam, the head of monastery, has also been reportedly detained.
“The situation in Tsawa Pashoe County is very tense, and there appears to be a strong restriction on the movement of people in the area.”It is, however, not known where the monks have been held currently. The source says they might have been taken to the county prison. “It is difficult to attain a detailed information on happenings there as everything is being monitored by the authorities.”
As the Tibetans all over pledge to skip the Tibetan New Year in mourning of the victims of last year's March unrest in Tibet, Chinese authorities are said to be deliberately encouraging Tibetans to celebrate the coming Tibetan New Year with pomp and festivity, in some cases even giving out gifts and special presents to encourage celebrations.
Earlier in Tsawa Dzogang, a Tibetan youth named Pema Tsepak died after succumbing to injuries sustained during beatings and torture. Pema was among seven Tibetans arrested this month in two separate incidents of protests in Tsawa Dzogang. Three were later released. They were calling for boycott of the Tibetan New Year, independence for Tibet, and return of the Dalai Lama.
China is gearing up its security in the restive Tibetan plateau ahead of the region’s most politically sensitive anniversaries in years, with state media saying at least 81 people have been detained just last week in the Tibetan capital under "Strike Hard" campaign.
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Tibetans Report Kardze Shooting

A protest by Tibetan monks in China’s Sichuan province was crushed by police on Tuesday amid reports of gunfire and detentions, according to Tibetan sources.
The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests by Tibetans reported in the Kardze [in Chinese, Ganzi] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture since widespread protests against Chinese rule swept Tibet and Tibetan areas of China beginning in March.
“It appears that five monks staged a protest near a monastery in Derge [in Chinese, Dege] county and were calling for Tibetan independence,” Jampa Monlam, assistant director of the India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said, citing reports from the region.
“According to witnesses, there were a lot of armed police in the area at the time. The monks were immediately detained,” he said.“Witnesses reported hearing gunshots at the time,” he added.
Sonam Dagpo, general secretary for international relations for the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile, confirmed the shooting had taken place near Gonchen monastery in Derge.“There was gunfire,” he said. “But we don’t know any details about injuries or how many were detained.”
An officer at the Derge County Public Security Bureau referred questions to the head of the county government.“If the head of the county government says this happened, then it happened,” he said. “If he says it didn’t happen, then it didn’t.”‘No problems’
An employee who answered the phone at the township government office would not confirm or deny the incident had occurred.“[The foreign media] are sure to be stirring up trouble and muddying the waters,” she said. “We have a good government here. There aren’t any problems. Who was protesting? We didn’t see it.”
Asked if the incident had taken place, a Tibetan resident of the town first said “Yes,” then added “I don’t know.” Another resident was unwilling to respond to enquiries.
Meanwhile, protests against Chinese rule were reported in Serthar [in Chinese, Seda] county, also in Sichuan.“On Jan. 27 and 28, posters calling for Tibetan independence were posted on county buildings in Serthar,” Serthar Tsultrim, a member of the Tibetan exile parliament and native of Serthar, said.“Chinese flags were hauled down in the nearby towns of Khekor and Nyitoe on those same days,” he said.
Sichuan’s Kardze [in Chinese, Ganzi] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has seen repeated protests against Chinese policies in the region, which include requiring Tibetans to renounce Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Portraits and media recordings of the exiled leader are banned.

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http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/protest-01302009162957.html

TYC declares 2009 a “Black Year” for Tibet

The largest pro-independence group in the exile Tibetan community today sent a radical signal to Tibetans worldwide to forgo this year’s Losar (Tibetan New Year) celebrations and to observe 2009 as a “Black Year” to stand in solidarity with fellow brethrens in Tibet.
Tibetan Youth Congress today announced that it will instead organize a series of protest and signature campaigns during and around Losar time to highlight China’s “illegal occupation of Tibet” and the plight of Tibetan people under its decades of repressive rule.


“To recognize and honor the sacrifices of our martyrs and to express our solidarity with the brave men and women of Tibet who continue to withstand unimaginable hardships to uphold the sovereignty of our nation, the identity of our people and for the truth to prevail, TYC declares that it will not celebrate the Tibetan New Year,” organization president Tsewang Rigzin said at a press conference here today.
For Tibetans, Losar is the most auspicious and special occasion for mass celebration in a year. The celebrations usually last no less than three days.“As the 2009 also marks 60 years of China’s invasion and 50 years of occupation of Tibet, TYC declares the year 2009 as black year,” Tsewang added.China sent military troops to occupy Tibet in late 1949. An abortive uprising by Tibetans in capital Lhasa in 1959 forced their leader the Dalai Lama and hundreds of Tibetans to flee into exile for the first time in their long history.
Several other Tibetan NGOs have also signed calls to skip this year’s Losar, first time that such an unprecedented move has been made in the course of their freedom struggle. The move has been largely sparked off by initial calls from inside Tibet to skip celebrations this year in response to last year’s deadly military crackdown on Tibetan unrest, which observers say has resulted in deaths and detention, and numerous cases of enforced and involuntary disappearance of Tibetans across Tibet.
However, inside Tibet, Chinese authorities are said to be deliberately encouraging Tibetans to celebrate the New Year with pomp and festivity, in some cases even giving out gifts and special presents to encourage celebrations.This year, Losar (2136 Earth Ox Year) falls on 25th February, just over two weeks before the 50th commemoration of the March 10th Tibetan National Uprising of 1959.
March 10 will also mark one year since protests by Tibetan monks in Lhasa last year erupted into biggest protests among Tibetans in decades. The pro-independence youth organization today announced that its members under its worldwide regional chapters will take part in hunger strikes, peace rallies and prayer vigils to observe the forthcoming New Year.
The organization president also said its members will throw two huge effigies of Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China, and Current Chinese President Hu Jintao, both of whom are despised by Tibetans for their repressive measures in Tibet, on the 29th day of the 12th month, a day before Tibetan New Year eve, when Tibetans participate in a religious ceremony to exorcise evil spirits from the previous year.
For Tibetans year end is also of special significance and they set-off a fierce demon effigy on fireworks to drive away personal obstacles and to avoid misfortunes. The organization also urged all Tibetans to do the same as a symbolic protest.
China has been preparing for the possibility of more unrest in Tibet this year. Chinese authorities have already begun a security sweep in Tibet ahead of the region’s most sensitive anniversary in years, with state media saying at least 81 people have been detained.
The Public Security Bureau of Lhasa began a “strike hard” campaign against crime on Jan. 18, with raids on residential areas, Internet cafes, bars and rented rooms, the state-run Tibetan Daily said in a Sunday report posted on the China Tibet News, a state news Web portal. Among them were two people who had “reactionary music” on their cellphones, the report said.
The operation, announced as part of a campaign against crime, is seen by Tibet independence advocates as a move aimed at intimidating Tibetans ahead of the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that forced the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader, and hundreds of fellow Tibetans to flee into exile.“Yet in these most difficult times our brethrens have steadfastly upheld the truth of our history in its most pristine form and committed in securing the future of our nation by standing firm in our rightful fight for independence,” Tsewang said. At the press conference, Tsewang reiterated TYC’s call on China to “end the illegal occupation of Tibet and to immediately release all the political prisoners of Tibet languishing in Chinese gulags”.“
TYC also appeals to the world community at large, the UN, EU, respective governments and individuals to lend their invaluable support so as to bring forth constructive developments in the Tibetan struggle,” Tsewang said.The Tibetan Youth Congress, which claims some 30,000 active members under its worldwide regional chapters, does not support the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way policy that seeks “real and meaningful autonomy” instead of outright independence for Tibet.
China has lately tried to denounce the Tibetan pro-independence group by condemning it as a "violent terrorist" outfit and equating it with Al-Qaeda.The youth organisation rubbishes the allegations as “baseless” and “unfounded” saying it is a non-governmental organization seeking to restore Tibet’s once independent status with "non-violence and peace" as its core founding principles.

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http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=23704&article=TYC+declares+2009+a+%e2%80%9cBlack+Year%e2%80%9d+for+Tibet