China sentences Tibetan monk to 10 years

Tsultrim Kalsang, 25, in an undated photo. July 19: In another instance of heavy-handed ruling following the criminalisation of the self-immolation protests in Tibet, a Tibetan monk has been sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of ‘intentional homicide.’ Tsultrim Kalsang, 25, a Tibetan monk from the restive Nyatso Zilkar Monastery in Dzatoe region of Tridu, eastern Tibet was sentenced on July 12 by an Intermediate People’s Court in Siling city. Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said Tsultrim Kalsang’s charges are possibly related to the twin self-immolation protest by two Tibetan youths Ngawang Norphel, 22, and Tenzin Khedup, 24,in Dzatoe region on June 30, 2012. Both of them died in their protests. Tsultrim Kalsang was detained in a major raid on September 1, 2012 from his monastic quarters along with four other monks: Sonam Sherab, 41, Lobsang Jinpa, 31, Sonam Yignyen, 45, and Ngawang Monlam, 31. 60 vehicles full of Chinese armed police had entered the Nyatso Zilkar Monastery, searched the residences of the monks and confiscated some computers and CDs. “Since his detention, Tsultrim Kalsang spent about 10 months in uncertainty as his case was referred to various procuratorates who took time to draw up charges,” TCHRD cited local contacts as saying. “After about a month of his detention, he was briefly returned to his monastery due to failing health. However, he was called for interrogation twice in Siling city and was detained for four months at a stretch for further questioning.” Tsultrim Kalsang had taken part in a non-violent protest calling for Tibetan freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet on February 8, 2012, coinciding with the solidarity prayers called by the exile Tibetan administration. He and many other Tibetans were later detained, tortured and sentenced for taking part in the protests. Of those five arrested on September 1, Lobsang Jinpa received five years in prison for writing the lyrics of a song sung by singer Lolo, who was also sentenced to six years beginning this year. Both Sonam Sherab and Sonam Yignyen were sent to a Re-education Through Labour (Ch: laojiao) camp for two years, TCHRD said. Tsultrim Kalsang was born 1988 in Nyatso Village in Tridu to Athub and Dokar Tso, and became a monk at the age of 10. After finishing his studies at the Zilkar monastery in 2004, he joined the great Sera monastic university in Lhasa, where he further engaged in Buddhist studies for some more years. During the 2008 protests in Tibet, the Chinese police kept him in custody for around six months, and then he was forced to return to his hometown. “Among his fellow student-monks at the monastery, he had the reputation of being the brightest scholar,” TCHRD said. “In 2011, he was appointed as a lecturer of Tibetan language at Zilkar Monastery; one of his main achievements was that he composed many new Tibetan texts to be taught at the school.” China has frequently used charges of ‘intentional homicide’ to crack down on self-immolations and to persecute critics of Chinese policy in Tibet despite protests by numerous governments and international rights groups. In January this year, a Chinese court sentenced Lobsang Konchok, 40, a monk from Ngaba Kirti Monastery to death with a two-year reprieve and Lobsang Tsering, 31, to ten years in prison on similar charges of intentional homicide. On the same day, six other Tibetans were handed down heavy jail terms for their alleged roles in trying to rescue a Tibetan self-immolator from falling into the hands of Chinese security forces. Since 2009, as many as 119 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire calling for freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.

an monk to 10 years

China vows to intensify crackdown on pro-Tibet materials

DHARAMSHALA, July 18: China has vowed to implement more stringent measures to crackdown on what it calls “illegal publications” and “reactionary promotional products” including text messages, audio visual products, TV and radio programmes and books in Tibet. China deems publications on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the exile Tibetan administration, Tibetan freedom struggle as well as literature on human rights such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “illegal” and “reactionary.” Announcing the measures, Li Changjiang, a senior official from the national anti-pornography and anti-illegal publications office said the crackdown will target books, newspapers, magazines, promotional pamphlets, text messages, audio and visual products, TV and radio programs, as well as electronic publications that are deemed to be illegal or reactionary. "Sharing information and investigating cases will be part of joint prevention and control efforts among multiple provincial departments," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Li as saying at a meeting on Wednesday. Li called for regional governments to take the lead in investigating such publications and asked related departments to cooperate with the local governments. Figures from the office show that more than 1.32 million “illegal publications and promotional items” have been confiscated since 2011 in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region. Last month, China strongly denied reports of any relaxation in their decades old policy in Tibet of a blanket ban on the display of portraits of the Dalai Lama after reports came of isolated instances of relaxation in the ban as “experimental” measures, came out of Tibet. The Chinese state bureau for religious affairs said there had been “no policy change” and maintained that China's policy towards the Dalai Lama, considered by Beijing a “splittist,” was "consistent and clear". "If the Dalai Lama wants to improve his relationship with the Central Government, he must really give up his stance in favour of 'Tibetan Independence' or independence in any disguised forms," the state bureau had said. Since 2009, as many as 119 Tibetans living under China’s rule have set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile. Scores of Tibetans have been arrested and disappeared for keeping portraits of the Dalai Lama in their phones or at homes, and singing songs or writing about the Tibetan spiritual leader who relinquished all his political authorities to the elected Tibetan leadership in 2011.

More Tibetans shot, savagely beaten in Tawu firings

Tibetans in Tawu region of eastern Tibet offering prayers on the occasion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 78th birthday on July 6, 2013. (Photo/TCHRD) DHARAMSHALA, July 17: Even as communication channels in Tawu, the site of Chinese police firings on unarmed Tibetans earlier this month in eastern Tibet remain erratic, more details about the tragic incident and those injured have reached exile. Hundreds of local Tibetans including monks from the Nyatso Monastery had assembled at the sacred Machen Pomra mountain on July 6 to offer prayers on the 78th birthday of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Chinese armed police stopped Tibetans from conducting prayers at Machen Pomra following which the local Tibetans moved to another nearby venue and held prayers and made offerings in front of a portrait of the Dalai Lama. Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, which has been keeping a close watch on the incident, today confirmed that Chinese armed police detained 18 Tibetans from a bridge on the foothills of the mountain. “Out of them, 14 have sustained gunshot wounds and are receiving treatment,” the group said. “There is no death reported yet although the injured are not out of danger.” TCHRD identified a few more injured Tibetans, including Yama Tsering, 72, who was “severely beaten and got four of his ribs broken.” Dekyi Gonpo aka Goleb has reportedly become deaf in one ear due to the beatings while Ngawang, a former administrative staff at Nyatso Monastery, layman Tamka Choeden, and school student Palden Wangmo have been injured in police beatings. Tashi Sonam, a monk and teacher at Nyatso Monastery, was shot in his head while Ugyen Tashi, a layman, received eight bullet shots. Both of them are reported to be in critical condition and are undergoing treatment. Gyaltsen, a Tibetan environmental activist, was also severely beaten and two of his ribs were broken and Tsewang Choephel, a senior monk and administrative staff at Nyatso Monastery was shot at multiple times on his hands and legs and remains in critical condition. Citing local sources in Tawu, TCHRD said that the armed police provoked the bloody confrontation by stoning and smashing the car windows of Nyatso monk Jangchup Dorjee, a brother of nun Palden Choetso who died of self-immolation protest on November 3, 2011. “A dispute ensued between local Tibetans and armed police over the stoning, after which armed police came down to the bridge and confronted the Tibetans,” TCHRD said. “Attempts made by the abbots and other senior monks to settle the issue peacefully failed when Tsering Gonpo, a leader of the PAP contingent gave orders to shoot, beat and teargas the Tibetans.” Later in the evening, over 3,000 local Tibetans reportedly gathered at the Nyatso Monastery and called for the immediate release of those detained earlier that day. The protesters threatened the authorities with non-violent direct actions such as withdrawal of their children from Chinese government-run schools, boycotting farming, and blocking all traffic movement in Tawu if their demands were not met. “Threatened by the specter of a county-wide movement, the Chinese authorities released the detained Tibetans at around midnight on July 7 after their detention at around 4 pm on July 6,” TCHRD said. Nyatso Monastery has borne all treatment related expenses of those injured and didn’t accept financial help from the Chinese government in keeping with the wishes of the local people. TCHRD further added that earlier reports of Chinese PAP officers kowtowing and apologising for their actions in front of local Tibetans could not be corroborated.