INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
WASHINGTON, D.C
For Immediate Release
January 30, 1997
Contact: John Ackerly, Bhuchung Tsering, Mary Beth Markey
202-785-1515
China "Threatening" World Leaders Who Meet Dalai Lama Say U.S. Human Rights Report
Administration Issues Tough Language on Tibet -- While Undermining Action to Seek Improvement
For the first time, a U.S. Administration has identified threats by China against world governments who meet with the Dalai Lama in their annual human rights reports, issued today in Washington.
The list of countries threatened by China included Britain, Germany and Australia, but international leaders "generally ignored" China's threats and welcomed the Tibetan leader and Nobel laureate, according to the report. "Conspicuously absent from the list of countries was the United States, which has done a poor job in the face of China's threats," said John Ackerly, Director of the International Campaign for Tibet.
While the 1996 human rights report on Tibet is relatively accurate and condemnatory, days before it was released the U.S. sought cooperation for the European Union to soft-pedal the annual campaign to pass a resolution on China at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. "This year's report clearly shows that the gap between what the U.S. says about freedom, and what it does about freedom is widening," Mr. Ackerly added.
This report was harsher than last year in a number of areas, including highlighting China's threats against world leaders who meet the Dalai Lama, discrimination against Tibetan language, and widespread persecution of Tibetans loyal to the Dalai Lama.
For the third year in a row, the Administration provided a separate section for Tibet from China, somewhat similar to the separate section provided for Taiwan, which gives distinction from China without connoting it as a separate country. The separate section on Tibet was prepared pursuant to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act which called on, but did not require, the State Department to issue a separate report on Tibet. The report reiterated the Administration's position that "Tibet is part of China." The position of the U.S. Congress is that Tibet is an occupied country.
One glaring shortcoming of the report was its distinction between which religious practices are permitted and which are suppressed. The report erroneously infers, as do Chinese propaganda materials, that only religious manifestations that advocate Tibetan independence are banned. However, countless religious practices which have no overt political content are being suppressed such as the traditional entrance exams, annual religious festivals such as the Monlam festival and many other practices.
Among the highlights of the report are:
* Kelsang Thutob, Sangye Tenphel and Tenchok Tenphel reportedly died in custody as a result of torture, mistreatment and/or neglect.;
* 90 monks openly sympathetic to the Dalai Lama protested and were detained at Lhasa's Ganden monastery;
* Monks were coerced to sign statements criticizing the Dalai Lama:
* China detained a 6 year old boy and his family who was selected by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama;
* China sentenced Ngawang Choephel, a 29-year-old ethnomusicologist and former Fulbright scholar, to 18 years in prison;
* China banned photos of the Dalai Lama in monasteries and private homes;
* All but 1 or 17 course at the Tibet University are now taught in Chinese;
* Tourists were searched, interrogated and forced to make "confessions."
