100 Protesters Still Remain in Detention

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Over 100 Tibetan protestors remain in custody after fleeing from gunshots last week.

Tibetan protester who was injured during the shooting on January 23, 2012 (Photo Courtesy of Radio Free Asia).

 

The shooting sparked a series of protects against the Chinese government and to push for Tibetan rights. Rights groups believe that at least six people were killed and sixty injured during these protests.

Witnesses have reported that government authorities have been randomly searching homes for dissidents have taken to interrogating people on the streets. One resident stated, “…I dare not to look around in a casual manner, dare not move around freely…Armed personnel are everywhere, police are in every corner.”
Other residents have reported that security personnel have warned them not to discuss politics in during phone calls outside Tibet and have been warned that these personnel are mysteriously aware that they have called relatives living outside the country.
Following the shooting, Chinese officials cut off internet and phone connection to all areas within thirty miles where the shooting occurred.
The government has claimed that “[r]ioters continued to attack and tried to grab the guns from police…[officers] first shot in the air as a warning, but it was completely ignored, so we had no other choice but to open fire.”
Following the shooting, Chinese officials cut off internet and phone connection to all areas within thirty miles where the shooting occurred.

Despite official government reporting that only two Tibetans were killed after a mob attacked local police with knives and stones, witnesses have described the protests as peaceful.

The protest began when government authorities insisted that Tibetans celebrate the Lunar New Year despite the wishes of residents still grieving from earlier protest deaths and desiring to celebrate the Tibetan New Year on February 22.

According to Kalsang, a monk based in India, the police immediately began to use photographs to help identify the protestors and even “…schoolchildren who were identified in the photos have bee detained.”

The most recent conflict follows a string of at least sixteen self-immolations by monks and other Tibetans over the past year. Adding the tension felt in the region is also the recent crackdown on Tibetans and the release of a monk who was left paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the beatings he endured in prison.

China and Tibet have had a tumultuous relationship full of unrest and violence since China’s rule over Tibet began in 1950 with the sending of troops to assume control over the region.

Many Tibetan feel that the Chinese authorities mistreat them and that they are denied the ability to freely exercise their culture and religious preferences. One well-known example is the forced exile of the Dalai Lama and attempt to replace him with a communist-approved alternative.

 

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – China Cut Off Internet in Area of Tibetan Unrest – 3 February 2012

Fox News – Tensions Rise in Tibet as Chinese Security Forces Bring Fear to the Streets – 1 February 2012

Radio Free Asia – 100 Tibetan Protesters Held – 1 February 2012

The Guardian – Tibetan Unrest Spreads as Two Reported Killed by Chinese Troops – 25 January 2012

BBC – Q&A: China and the Tibetans – 15 August 2011

 

Author: Impunity Watch Archive