Human Rights Worsening in Tibet under New Chinese Leadership: Freedom House Report ************************************** The front cover of the Freedom house report entitled The Politburos Predicament, which was released on 13 January 2015. Freedom House, a prominent US-based advocacy group that conducts research on democracy, political freedom and human rights, has published its latest report on China, documenting an increase in repression and suppression of human rights under the new leadership of President Xi Jinping in Tibet and other parts of China. In the report entitled ‘The Politburo’s Predicament’ released on Tuesday, the rights group highlights the huge resources that China concentrates on the subject of Tibet and Xinjiang. “The suppression of antigovernment protests and ethnic clashes in Tibet and Xinjiang beginning in 2008 and 2009 included new rounds of abductions, imprisonment, torture, and executions, in some instances affecting hundreds or thousands of people at a time,” the report said. “Official statistics gathered by the Duihua Foundation illustrate a dramatic rise in the number of trials and indictments for “endangering state security” beginning in 2008, with many of those punished believed to be Tibetans and Uighurs.” The report also noted the Chinese government’s harsh response to the wave of Tibetan self-immolation protests that has swept Tibet since 2009. “As self-immolations reached their peak in November 2012 and then continued periodically, official reprisals for those involved intensified. In a form of collective punishment, a regulation allowed those found to have assisted a self-immolator to be charged with homicide.” “A late 2013 crackdown in one county alone led to at least 58 detentions and 15 prison sentences of up to 18 years. At least two monks, including a popular religious leader, were beaten to death in custody in 2013 within weeks of their detention,” Freedom House said in their report. However, despite the Chinese government’s intensified repression, the rights group argues that resistance from the Tibetan people towards government efforts to exert control has intensified. “For persecuted religious and ethnic groups, the risks of even quiet resistance are significant given the harsh repression they face. Yet such resistance is widespread. Large numbers of Tibetans continue to keep an image of the Dalai Lama in their possession despite the threat of punishment and “patriotic education” campaigns that urge them to denounce their revered spiritual leader,” the report said. Some of the prominent topics targeted for censorship in China include a contingent of long-standing taboos, noted the Freedom House report. Taboo topics included the writings of prominent dissidents, unfavorable coverage of CCP leaders, calls for greater autonomy in Tibet and Xinjiang, Taiwanese independence and democracy, and the Falun Gong spiritual group. The situation inside Tibet continued to remain tense with no respite in clampdown on restrictions by the Chinese authorities. At least 11 Tibetans set themselves on fire this year, taking the total self-immolation toll to 135 since 2009. The last three self-immolators were Sangye Khar, 34, Tsephe Kyi, 19, and Ven. Kelsang Yeshi, 32. The last three Tibetans who set themselves on fire in protest against the Chinese government’s repression. From left: Sangye Khar, 34, Tsephe Kyi, 19, and Ven. Kelsang Yeshi, 32.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 10:19:32 +0000
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