DHARAMSALA, October 12 – The Chinese authorities in Lhasa have started a secret hunt for Tibetans from Nagchu. A notification issued by Lhasa police to various convenience posts in Lhasa and Nagchu uses code words to monitor the movement and activities of Tibetans.
The notification requires the police to use secret codes for Diru County, Drachen County and Sog County, when relaying information about individuals from these areas. For instance, the secret code for Diru County is “A”. It appears that each county in Nagchu Prefecture has been assigned a secret code for police surveillance.
The notification seeks to bring Nagchu Tibetans in Lhasa particularly those visiting and living in the traditional Tibetan neighborhood under 24-hour police surveillance, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
Police officers manning ‘convenience police stations’ would constantly share information in real time about the whereabouts of Nagchu Tibetans in Lhasa, making it convenient for the authorities to immediately arrest potential ‘trouble makers’.
TCHRD has translated the notification which says Nagchu men must be called “male tourists” while Nagchu women must be called “female tourists”. Likewise, secret code for Biru County is “A”; secret code for Sog County is “B”; and secret code for Bachen County is “C”.
The notification says, “for instance a convenience police station no. 89 learns that three male individuals from Diru County have entered the area under convenience police station no. 91, police station no. 89 must relay this information to station no. 91 through mobile handsets by saying: ‘Station No. 91, three male tourists from “A” have entered your area, please extend hospitality!”
