By Pamela Taylor
Several hundred Tibetan exiles living in Switzerland and Liechtenstein came to Geneva Monday (June2) to stage a rally on the Place des Nations on the opening day of the 8th session of the Human Rights Council.
They urged the UN community to consider six basic and urgent needs, from sending a fact-finding mission to Tibet to extending immediate medical assistance for those injured in Tibet.
One of the organizers, Phuntsok Gangshontsang, told HRT that Chinese doctors are not allowed to care for Tibetans even inside hospitals and that this has created a very serious problem.
“We are praying for our victims but also for the earthquake victims in China,” he said.
The chanting and shouting could be heard nearly as far as the Council chamber itself and increased by mid-afternoon when 55 Tibetans arrived from a five day march from Berne. A quieter prayer vigil with fewer people will continue into the middle of next week.
Group leaders also met with members of High Commissioner Louise Arbour’s staff and were assured that their concerns would not be forgotten despite the fact that Tibet continues not to be an item on the agenda of the Human Rights Council or any other UN agency.
Following is the Memorandum handed over to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
H. E. Mrs. Louise Arbour
OHCHR, Palais Wilson
Avenue de la Paix 8-14
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Observing three months of China’s brutal crackdown on Tibetans in Tibet
Yours Excellency
The situation in Tibet (Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures and Counties attached to Sichuan, Gansu and Yunan provinces) continues to be of grave concern. With Chinese Government’s outright refusal to allow free access to international media, foreign tourists and international monitoring agencies coupled by tight restrictions on the flow of information, the actual ground situation inside Tibet is yet difficult to know.
Since 10 March, there have been over 90 spontaneous uprisings against Chinese rule over all Tibet. The brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors resulted in 207 killed, 5700 arrested and thousands of injured Tibetans.
Instead of creating a climate of calm, China started the “patriotic education campaign”. Buddhist monks, nuns, civil servants, school students and lay people are forced to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Those who refuse to speak against His Holiness are arrested. On 3 April, the Chinese security forces killed eight Tibetans for protesting against the “patriotic education campaign” in Tongkor Monastery, Kardze, in Eastern Tibet.
In view of the ongoing tragic situation inside Tibet, we urge the United Nations, the international community and organizations to the following urgent needs:
- To immediately send an independent international fact-finding mission into Tibet
- To exert pressure on the PRC government to allow unfettered access to free press in whole of Tibet
- To pressure the PRC to end the brutal killings in the whole of Tibet
- To immediately release all the arrested and imprisoned Tibetans
- To extend immediate medical assistance to those injured Tibetans
- To allow free movement of people and provide access to daily needs
Yours Excellency, we Tibetans were deeply disappointed to hear about China’s refusal to let you enter Tibet. We strongly urge you to insist on this important fact-finding mission.
With compliments,
Tibetan Community in Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Karma L. Pangring, President
Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile
Sonam P. Monkhar, Member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile
