By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Instead of releasing those who were arrested without charge during the March 2008 protests in Tibet, the Chinese government is stepping up security ahead of the protests’ anniversary in the Lhasa area.

The 2008 protests was the major protest held by Tibetans against the Chinese in twenty years.  Over a span of four days, hundreds of monks peacefully protested in and around Lhasa against China’s intrusive controls over religious, cultural, and economic activities.

However, Tibetan public began protesting against the police who were preventing the monks from leaving their compounds, which lead to Tibetan rioters burning Chinese shops and government buildings.

Since then, the Chinese have kept a close eye on Tibet.  China executed two Tibetans for the involvement with the 2008 riots last year.

Special police forces have been stationed across the Lhasa region, and the police are checking identification papers and searching homes.  Those who have been to Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, and other Tibetan cities in recent days have reported that police and paramilitary forces with automatic weapons have lined the streets.

Sophie Richardson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said, “Further repression will breed precisely the kind of instability the Chinese government fears.”

“Addressing underlying grievances and allowing Tibetans to enjoy basic rights of expression, assembly and due process is the only way to ensure the ‘harmony’ Beijing so craves,” added Richardson.

Both reports conducted by Human Rights Watch and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) show that Chinese government subjected Tibetans to arbitrary arrests and that little information has been provided as to the whereabouts of the detainees.

UNHCHR said the ethnic violence in China is the result of China’s “discrimination and failure to protect minorities.”

Lastly, Richardson commented, “National security concerns do not exempt Chinese government from its obligation to respect fundamental rights and freedoms.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Heavy security in Tibet ahead of protests’ anniversary – 13 March 2010

Human Rights Watch – China: Accountability Overdue in Tibet Protests – 12 March 2010

NYT – China Increases Security in Tibet to Prevent Protests – 11 March 2010