Statement by Canada Tibet Committee President,Thubten Samdup

February 19, 1998

NGO CONSULTATIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA In preparation for the 54th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

The Government of Canada's failure to co-sponsor a mildly worded resolution on China at the 53rd session of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), its failure to mention Tibet in oral statements to the 53rd CHR, and its continued retreat from the promotion of human rights for Tibetans generally, has removed any confidence which the Canada Tibet Committee (CTC) retained either in this consultation process or in Canada's good faith in supporting a solution in Tibet. We are saddened that while Canada pursues commercial ties and soft policy dialogue with Beijing, it backsteps from condemnation of China's Tibet policy in the multilateral body most appropriate - the UN's Commission on Human Rights.

Moreover, reference in this year's briefing book to Tibetans as a "minority" group of China is deeply wounding and without precident. We have repeatedly objected to this terminology when recommending CHR resolution wording, and never imagined that the Government of Canada would suddenly adopt it in its own documentation. Incredibly its usage misrepresents Canada's official policy, which is that it takes no position on the political status of Tibet. We can only conclude that the lobbying efforts of the Chinese Government are having more effect on Canadian human rights policy than are those of the Canadian people.

Canadian Ambassador to China, Howard Balloch, wrote in a letter to the Canada Tibet Committee that the decision to replace sponsorship of the China resolution with a bilateral deal, was based on the belief that Canada can "positively influence the human rights situation in China by working within China". But evidence of any such positive influence is hard to see. In fact the entire bilateral process has been something less than transparent. How does the government intend to measure progress on the bilateral deal and at what point will it make an assessment as to whether this approach of secret dialogue and closed conferences will ever yield any concrete results?

It is sadly apparent to the Canada Tibet Committee that Canada's bilateral deal with China has not yielded results inside Tibet. Next month the 8 year old Panchen Lama will enter his fourth year of detention and the government's dialogue with the Chinese has not produced any information whatsoever regarding his whereabouts or safety. What is the point of continued assistance to China's judicial reform program when this small child has been detained three years in an undisclosed location, without trial and with no proof of his safety? Surely it has become obvious that what is needed in China is political accountability, respect for human rights and transparent democratic process. Only then will the rule of law be respected and the justice system function with fairness and equity.

While debating the China resolution at the CHR last year, the head of Canada's delegation, Ross Hynes, said that "Canada would rely on the good will of China" to improve its human rights situation. Yet, when a Canadian delegation visited Tibet in May, Chinese authorities would not even allow a Tibetan translator to assist it. None of our extensive sources inside Tibet could confirm that the visit had taken place at all, so minimal was the delegation's exposure to the local population. In fact, the US State Department report on Tibet lists several countries which sent delegations to Tibet during 1997, but also seems to have missed Canada's pilgrimage. Moreover, the promised visit report never materialized and we were obliged to submit an access to information request which resulted in a sanitized report 6 months after the visit had taken place. The promised report of Canada Fund projects in Tibet has never been provided.

Nevertheless, we were pleased to learn that for the first time, the Government of Canada is advocating a dialogue between Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama, with a view to the Dalai Lama's eventual return to his homeland. We would like to request specific information on how the Government plans to encourage such dialogue, especially in light of Minister Axworthy's inability to meet with a representative of the Tibetan government on the grounds that Canada does not recognize that government.

In this context, the Canada Tibet Committee makes the following recommendations to the Government of Canada for action at the 54th session of the Commission on Human Rights:

1.) That Canada co-sponsor an item 10 resolution condemning China's human rights practices and that co-sponsorship of this resolution be viewed as a compliment to Canada's bilateral dialogue, not an alternate to it.

2.) That Canada take steps to ensure specific mention of the situation in Tibet within the China resolution.

3.) That Canada mention the situation in Tibet and the continued detention of the Panchen Lama in its oral statements to the Commission,

specifically under item 10, Country Situations.

4.) That the continued crackdown on the practice of religion in Tibet

be raised under agenda item 18, Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

5.) That the case of 8 year old Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, be raised under agenda item 20, Rights of the Child, and wherever appropriate within working groups, bilateral meetings or in hallway discussions.

6.) In accordance with Ambassador Balloch's recommendation that Canada encourage a dialogue between Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama, we ask that the government actively pursue this strategy in its bilateral meetings with Chinese representatives either in at the CHR in Geneva or at the Vancouver Plurilateral Symposium.

7.) In accordance with the recommendation of the International Commission of Jurists in its report released December 22, 1997, the

Government of Canada should encourage the CHR to appoint a Special

Rapporteur to investigate the situation of human rights inside Tibet.

Concurrently, the Government of Canada should support a call for the

Secretary General to appoint a Special Envoy to Tibet.

8.) That the Government of Canada support the key recommendation of the International Commission of Jurists and under agenda item 7, the Right of Peoples to Self-determination, call for a UN-supervised referendum inside Tibet to ascertain the wishes of the Tibetan people.

9.) In order to avoid weakening the CHR's ability to censure human rights abuse by states and to maintain the strength and credibility of the UN system itself, the Government of Canada should employ all measures necessary to resist efforts by China and its allies to narrow the mandate of special rapporteurs or to move the Commission towards working solely on the basis of consensus rather than vote.