Striving Under Surveillance - 1


Striving Under Surveillance - 1 A report on the human rights situation in Tibet

Published by
Human Rights Desk
Department of Information and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala, India


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Tibetan government-in-exile, Tibetan non-governmental organisations and Tibet support groups from all around the world, have been monitoring and documenting the human rights situation in Tibet. This report aims, by presenting the evidence collected in 1994, to establish the violations, by the Chinese authorities in Tibet, of the human rights which are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Conventions that China has ratified. It also aims to provide a response to Chinese statements that routinely claim that the human rights of Tibetans in Tibet are protected by law.

The rights specifically targeted in this report are by no means a complete list of the rights violated in Tibet, by the Chinese authorities. Other rights such as the right to employment and the right to an adequate standard of living, have not been dealt with. This report is also limited, in that it relies solely on the information received from various sources inside Tibet which in itself is incomplete due to the violation of the right to receive and impart information by the Chinese authorities.

Overall, 1994 was a year of increasing controls and tight security in Tibet. The Third Work Forum on Tibet, held in July 1994, represented a significant shift in Chinese policy towards the Tibetan people, on all fronts. The policy documents emanating from the Third Work Forum on Tibet, advocated for a tightening of control over the lives of Tibetans so as to control the wave of so called "splittism" in Tibet. This policy, which targeted Tibetans in a more systematic and organised manner, permeated all of the rights violated in 1994.

Immigration of Chinese settlers from China, in 1994, increased and restrictions on freedom of religion continued to be implemented. The campaign to restrict freedom of religion was extended to an attack on His Holiness, the Dalai Lama himself . Freedom of expression and association were severely curtailed as the arrests of so called "splittists", who dared to demonstrate against Chinese occupation, continued. Illegal detentions and torture also continued to be reported throughout 1994. Tibetan children particularly suffered in 1994 as their right to education was restricted through the closure of Tibetan schools in the TAR and also with the launch of the CCP patriotic education campaign, which aimed to suppress Tibetan culture in favour of Chinese Communist ideology. Tibetan children were also subjected to arrests and detained for demonstrating against Chinese occupation, despite legal protections in place which prohibit such arrests from taking place. Tibetan women also continued to be the victims of a harsh and discriminatory Chinese birth control policy and were also subjected to imprisonment for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression.

It will therefore be clearly established in this report that the Chinese government is violating the fundamental rights to religion; association and expression; freedom from arbitrary arrest & detention; freedom from torture; education and the rights of women and children in Tibet.

September 1995


Contents

PART A
International Human Rights: Fundamental Human Rights Violated

A. Population Transfer: The Final Solution?
1. Legal Framework.
2. The Boundaries of Tibet
3. Overview of the Situation in 1994
4. Chinese Immigration Policy in Tibet in 1994 and Economic Development.
5. The Increased Presence of Troops.
6. Economic Discrimination Caused by Population Transfer

B. The Right to Freedom of Religion Violated
1. Overview of the Situation in 1994
2. The Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance Visited Tibet in November 1994
3. The Development of Religious Policy in the TAR for 1994
4. Operation of the Work Teams in 1994
5. Interference in the Activities and Selection of Religious Leaders Continued

C. The Right to Freedom of Association & Expression Violated
1. Overview of the Situation in 1994
2. Prisoners of Conscience - Peaceful Demonstrations and Defiance Against Chinese occupation
3. Poster Campaign in Eastern Tibet
4. Amdo Political Organisation Members Arrested
5. The Right to Impart and Receive Information Denied

D. The Right to be Free from Arbitrary Arrest, Detention or Exile Violated
1. Overview of the Situation in 1994

E. The Right to be Free from Torture Violated
1. Reported Cases of Torture and Maltreatment for 1994
(i) Deaths in Custody and Deaths Occurring after Release caused by Neglect and Maltreatment in Police Custody

F. The Right to Education Violated
1. Overview of the Situation in 1994
2. The Rights of Parents to Choose the Kind of Education
That Shall Be Given to Their Children, Violated
3. Discrimination against Tibetans inside Tibet in Access to Higher Education
4. The Forced Closure of Tibetan Schools
5. CCP Patriotic Education Campaign in Tibet

G. Women's Rights Violated
1. Overview of the Situation in 1994
2. Birth Control in Tibet
3. The Medical Abuse of Pregnant Women
4. Women Prisoners of Conscience
5. Tibetan Girl Prisoners of Conscience Detained in Chinese Prisons for 1994

H. The Rights of the Child Violated
1. Young prisoners of Conscience Detained in Chinese prisons in Tibet
2. The Rights of Tibetan Children to Universal and Free Education

PART B - International Monitoring for 1994

Abbreviations

End Notes

Bibliography

Appendix

A. Table of 1994 Demonstrations in Tibet compiled by the Human Rights desk, Department of Information and International Relations, Tibetan Government In Exile, Dharamsala, India.

B. Amnesty International - List of known political prisoners in Tibet in December 1994. Appendix to Amnesty International s' May 1995 report, " People's Republic of China: Persistent human rights violations in Tibet". London.

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