Exchange on views of recent events in Tibet Sub-Committe on Human Rights European Parliament Brussels, BELGIUM 1 April, 2008

The Tibetan Uprising: The Hour of International Action Ngawang Choephel, President, Tibetan UN Advocacy, Switzerland

In order to determine if the collective rights of the Tibetan people is being denied, it is necessary to examine whether Tibetans are able freely to determine their political status and economic, social and cultural developments. In other words, it must be discovered the extent to which they can participate in the political process and decide the rules whereby their society is governed without being subject to oppression by subjugation, domination or exploitation.[1] This is the crux of the matter when one reflects on the current Uprising in Tibet!

Ater latest Uprising began, His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his first formal statement said: “I believe the demonstrations and protests taking place in Tibet are a spontaneous outburst of public resentment built up by years of repression in defiance of authorities that are oblivious to the sentiments of the local populace. They mistakenly believe that further repressive measures are the way to achieve their declared aim of long-term unity and stability.”

On Sunday, news emerged from Tibetan areas of Sichuan Province where the Chinese authorities hoped political meetings would hear senior Tibetan spiritual teachers and monks would denounce the Dalai Lama. Instead one report about meetings said: “They completely rejected the Chinese allegation that the recent people’s uprising in Lhasa and many parts of Amdo and Kham Regions were masterminded by His Holiness. They pointedly told the authorities that the Chinese government’s totalitarian act of banning His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s photos in all parts of Tibet and forcing the Tibetans to criticize His Holiness are nothing but mindless acts that can only be regarded as deliberate provocation by Chinese authorities to incite trouble and cause conflict. They further declared that if these wrong policies and government repressions are continued, none of them would take the responsibility.”

A letter from Tibet which reached the outside world following the demonstrations in Lhasa had this warning to the Chinese authorities: “Instead of simply blaming the unrest on the Dalai Lama, the government should look closely at the situation with an open mind and enter into negotiations with Dalai Lama. What we are seeking is a genuine degree of autonomy (not to be confused with an independent Tibet), where Tibetans have the right to govern themselves within the Chinese system and preserve their own cultural and religious identity, while having equal economic opportunities to those afforded to the Chinese. As long as Tibetans can live happy, prosperous lives, we don't care what flag what we do it under.” But first let me share with you the concerns already expressed about the deplorable human rights situation in Tibet over the years by many entities, notable among them over 15 years by United Nations human rights experts, of both the dissolved Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council. It might even be of importance to recall the resolution adopted on Tibet by the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights of 23 August 1991 which expressed concern ………..

• The UN Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance indicated a few years back to the Chinese authorities that “Tibetans in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) suffer various forms of systematic and institutional discrimination in the fields of employment, health care, education, housing and public representation.” • In 1995, the Special Rapporteur on religious freedom following a mission to China in November 1994 which included stop in Lhasa "noted the extremely devout attitude perceptible in Tibet, the full scale and extent of which has not, perhaps, been sufficiently appreciated so far. This factor must be taken into account when analysing the religious situation in Tibet. Moreover, the question of Tibet would be less acute if it did not have an added dimension, in other words if it turned solely on religious aspects...The Special Rapporteur considered that “deep religiousness may be the source not only of great spirituality, but also of real difficulties. The latter should be dealt with through dialogue, tolerance and education. Any repression of religion can lead to greater religiousness, or even, in some cases, a form of extremism, despite the apparently non-violent nature of Buddhism in general and Tibetan Buddhism in particular, the values of which might be severely tried by changes to the demographic data of Tibet.

The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief on 9 June 2005 wrote to the Chinese authorities to express “her concern about the grave interference with the freedom of belief of the Tibetan Buddhists who have the right to determine their clergy in accordance with their own rites and who have been deprived of their religious leader." • In 2006, Ms. Hina Jilani, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, said that she "remains deeply concerned by reports of arbitrary arrests and detention, including incommunicado, torture and ill-treatment of defenders, and in particular those that deal with issues concerning the 1989 events of Tiananmen Square, religious minorities, ethnic minorities such as Uirghurs and Tibetans, and lawyers who take on human rights cases such as forced sterilization and abortions, forced evictions and labour issues."

• 2003, the Special Rapporteur on Education, Ms. Katarina Tomasevski, on an official visit that was confined to Beijing, said: "The Special Rapporteur was dismayed at the illiteracy rate in Tibet, 39.5 per cent, and asked the Ministry of Education (of PRC) whether one reason might be the fact that the literacy test was in Tibetan, while Mandarin is used in political, economic and social life. Otherwise, education is seen as assimilationist and, hence, not compatible with China's human rights obligations."

2 Now the question here is whether the international community, including the European Union took concrete measures to halt the systematic violations and fundamental freedoms Tibet, as alerted by the UN human rights experts and others, including this Committee. The answer, I am afraid, is no, if one reflects on the current human rights crisis experienced by the Tibetan people. As regards the responsibilities of the international community, including the members of the United Nations and the European Union, the current Tibetan Uprising should be seen as the failure of the Human Rights Dialogue to bring about concrete and significant changes on the grounds as it matters the most of human rights victims, in this case the Tibetan people who live under alien domination and foreign occupation by a totalitarian communist regime.

We must all remember that in order to “safeguard” its human rights dialogue with China, the European Union has since 1996 gave up upon the human rights victims of China, including the Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians at multilateral forums like that of the UN Commission on Human Rights and last month at the 7th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Many of you may wish to understand the beginning of the present Tibetan Uprising. In this respect, we must know that this time as on 27 September 1987, it was started by the brave monks of Drepung Monastery, on 10 March, the 49th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day of 1959. Ngawang Phulchung, one of the monks who led the demonstration in 1987 was released in October 2007 after spending more than 18 years of imprisonment. One of the “crimes” he and nine of colleagues were charged with was for defending human rights by promoting the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

I wanted to cite this example because we have to understand the deep grievances of the monks of this monastery who faced two recent crackdowns by the Chinese authorities. The first was in November 2005 when Mr. Nowak, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture was in Lhasa to conduct his fact-finding mission. Isn’t it ironic that while an UN human rights expert is in Lhasa, the Chinese authorities would launch a security assault on the 400 monks who led a silent-protest to oppose China “patriotic re-education campaign”. The second crackdown happened when the Drepung monks were engaged in a symbolic celebration last October as the Dalai Lama was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. As of 29 March, this Tibetan Uprising has witnessed more than 40 different protests in all Tibetan regions of present-day China with exception of Yunnan Province, with last two taking place in the Tibetan capital away from the view of the foreign diplomats. These spontaneous Tibetan demonstrations have taken place in the background of the public protest that Mr. Ronggye Adrak staged on 1 August in Lithang in eastern Tibet. The November 2007 sentencing of this Tibetan nomad and three other Tibetans to a total of 30 years for peacefully expressing their views in the defence of the aspirations of the Tibetan people is one clear example of how the Chinese authorities responded. In the past few days, the International Campaign for Tibet released a “Letter” coming out of Tibet from an educated Tibetan, dated 22 March. This letter gives us a detailed reasoning on why this Tibetan Uprising has taken place. According to this letter the main

3 reasons are:

* Most of the business opportunities are taken by Han Chinese - 70% of business are owned and operated by the Han.

* No true autonomous policy exists in Tibet…Local officials within the TAR are afraid that they will be branded as Tibet sympathizers and loose their positions if they try to instigate any such policies.

* While the government promised that the new railway to Lhasa would bring prosperity, tourism, and cheaper goods to the region, the reality is that it has brought so many new settlers to Lhasa that the demand for, and consequently the price of, everyday commodities has sharply risen…Levels of unemployment amongst Lhasa Tibetans remain high due to the increase in migration to Tibet.

* Due to policies encouraging massive immigration to Tibet, Tibetans have become a minority in their own land.

* Any person who starts a Tibetan language center or school is constantly under suspicion and surveillance by the government. Such institutions are frequently shut down ostensibly due to their association with foreign organizations. According to the law of the People's Republic of China, all 56 minorities in China are entitled with the rights to preserve their own language and culture. But, in Tibet, any efforts at doing this result in suspicion and repression from the government.

* With fast economic growth and ever increasing demands for energy, Tibet's resources have been exploited without proper rules and regulations. The beneficiaries of this environmental exploitation are all wealthy business groups from eastern China, especially Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the nomads and farmers whose land and water are destroyed receive virtually no compensation. Even worse, they do not understand the health risks of drinking contaminated water from mining sites. There have been several incidents where nomads' animals died after drinking such water.

* Local culture, faith and lifestyles are not considered by the government when approving mining projects. Last year, the government approved a mining project on one of the nine sacred mountains, leading to a demonstration and ultimately a riot. In Chamdo, huge copper mines have dislocated nomads from their traditional pastoral lands with no compensation.

* The government is forcing over 100,000 nomads to give up their traditional way of life and move into rows of housing that the government has built. They claim they are protecting the sources of the 'Great Rivers', but this couldn't be less true. The Chinese should look for the sources of pollution further downstream, where they support the industry on which the Chinese economy is built. The nomads near the sources of these rivers have been there for thousands of years, and the rivers were always fine. Only with China's economic boom have they become so polluted as to no longer support aquatic life.

Allow me now to provide this Committee with some facts as emerging from Tibet through

4 various sources, including that of the Chinese authorities themselves. This compilation, below, was released by the US Congressional Commission on China last week:

PROTEST. As of March 27, Tibetan protests were reported in at least 42 county-level locations, as well as in Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan province), Lanzhou (the capital of Gansu province), and Beijing. Protests have occurred at multiple locations in several counties.

Locations of the 42 counties: Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), 10; Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures (TAPs) in Qinghai, 12; TAPs in Gansu, 6; TAPs in Sichuan, 12; other county-level locations in Qinghai, 2. These figures show that about three-quarters of the county-level locations are outside the TAR. It remains unclear whether the protests have or have not spread widely in the TAR, or if information about their spread is unavailable.

DEATH. The estimated number of Tibetan deaths currently reported by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) and the Tibetan government-in-exile (TGiE) differ significantly.

TCHRD reported on March 25 a total of 79 Tibetan deaths. TCHRD reported the disappearance of over 100 Tibetans.

The TGiE reported approximately 140 deaths as of March 25, and published a list of the names and details of 40 of the Tibetan deaths on March 26.

Following the Dalai Lama's March 18 statement that he would 'resign' his role in political affairs if violence continued, the CECC saw no reports of violent incidents occurring on March 19-23.

A March 24 clash between Tibetan protestors and security forces in Luhuo (Draggo) county in Ganzi (Kardze) TAP resulted in the deaths of one Tibetan and one policeman, and injuries to other Tibetans and security personnel.

On March 25, the Dalai Lama repeated his intention to resign if violence continues.

DETENTION. In response to official ultimatums, authorities reported by March 27 the surrender of a total of more than 1,000 Tibetans who engaged in "beating, smashing, looting, and burning" during riots. Such information is not available for every area where rioting occurred. Most "but not all" Tibetan protests and protestors were peaceful. As of March 25, official detention and charge information is available for fewer than 15 cases of peaceful protest (Lhasa, March 10).

Number and location of 1,044 surrenderors: Lhasa (280 by March 25); Linzhou (Lhundrub) county (94 by March 17); Gannan (Kanlho) TAP, Gansu (289 by March 23); Aba (Ngaba) county, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan (381 by March 24).

TCHRD estimated that authorities detained more than 1,200 Tibetan protestors as

5 of March 25. The figure does not include Tibetans who surrendered to authorities.

The unofficial estimate of 1,200 detainees may be low. The number of protestors whom police detain is likely to be significantly higher, perhaps by a multiple, than the number of Tibetans who surrender voluntarily for committing violent acts during a riot.

As for other sources, Woeser’s blog reporting on 16 March said: “In the morning the armed police quelled a protest in Aba County in Amdo (Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of in Sichuan province). It was said that over 30 protesters including monks, students, and herdsmen were shot to death by police. Among them was one pregnant woman, a five- year-old child and Lhundup Tso, a young girl who was a student at Zangwen middle school.” On that same day, she wrote that in this Tibetan area: “At around 4:00am, the authorities took away Tibetan intellectual Jueledawa, a teacher. At present nobody knows where he is.”

One source speaking to Radio Free Asia provided this account on 15 March: ““I am in the Lhasa area. There was shooting today. Many Tibetans who were dead and barely alive were collected at the TAR [Tibet Autonomous Region] Security Office area, and I heard from a reliable source that there were 67 bodies. Some were alive and most were dead when they were brought in... This included male and female, and I don’t have the details… But it’s confirmed that there were in total about 67 bodies collected at this place. I cannot tell you the source of my information, but 67 bodies were seen by my source. It was officially announced by TAR officials that martial law was imposed. Right now I can hear shootings. We saw many tanks. Sometimes they fire in the air to threaten the Tibetans. At some places, like the Karma Kunsel area [near Lhasa], they are firing right now.”

As to the arbitrary nature of detentions and abduction in Lhasa another source told Radio Free Asia on how Chinese security forces were raiding Tibetan dwellings: “Chinese police backed by the People's Armed Police [PAP] are raiding Tibetan houses in the Lhasa area. They are looking for residential permits, and if anyone doesn't have these permits they are taken away without explanation. Even those Tibetans who have the permits, but who are suspected for any reason, are taken away. For example, around 10 p.m. on March 15, a group of police backed by the PAP began raiding Tibetan houses. One family from Kham Tsawa Pasho was raided. The father Kalsang Gyaltsen has two sons, Lochoe and Jampa, and a daughter. The daughter had a residential permit, and the other family members had applied for permits, but these were still pending. So the Chinese police arrested the father and two sons and took them away. The daughter has no idea where they were taken. The police searched the house and found 10,000 yuan, since the family were running a small stall in the area ... The police did not listen to their pleas and took the money ... The daughter has been left in the house all alone with no money and does not know where her father and brothers are detained. She is extremely worried and concerned about their welfare.”

Of course, in the light of the total absence of any independent monitoring presence in Tibet plus the failure of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to demand access, the above facts on arrests and killed could only be considered as the tip of the iceberg. We all know that it is the Chinese authorities

6 themselves who launched the “people’s war” on the Tibetans through a military crackdown in a “life and death” struggle, an assault not experienced by the Tibetan people since the Chinese invasion. During the time of the 1987-89 Tibetan Uprising, the official Chinese line to suppress the Tibetan aspirations was “merciless repression” as declared by the then Chinese Security Minister, Qiao Shi. Even today, there is no accountability for all those Tibetans killed in and around Lhasa between 1987-1989 or during the martial period that followed:

During the past decade, the Chinese authorities attempted to be more adept at off-setting international criticism over its continued subjugation of Tibet by making various gestures, while intensifying an institutionalised system to deny human rights. Although several Tibetan political prisoners have been released since 2001, the summary execution of Lobsang Dhondup in 2003 increased international concern on China’s real attitude towards changing its human rights policy, including in Tibet.

If one considers the number human rights Treaty decorations of China, its impressive with China now coming up for review by the UN Committee against Torture in November. However, the use of torture as a means to suppress Tibetan nationalism continues in Tibet without any sign of an end to this inhuman atrocity. China fails to define torture! The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in confirming widespread use of torture in China categorized their practice as “breaking the will” of a human being.

This bring us to the issue of impunity, with China being a well established system guaranteeing the culture supported by Chinese nationalism, like-minded countries against human rights and by the lack of scrutiny from the international community despite Beijing’s human rights treaty obligations, commitments and even responsibilities as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Last Tuesday, as I told the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of 10 NGOs: “Shouldering its responsibilities and Membership commitments, and the United Nations’ 2005 World Summit Declaration, which stipulates the responsibility to protect the human rights of populations when individual states fail to do so, we urge the Council to swiftly call upon the Chinese authorities to receive a joint mission of Special Procedures mandate- holders as requested on 17 March by the 65 NGOs signatory to our letter to you, Mr. President and the Members of this Council.”

Let me now attempt to assess the current international reaction to the present urgent human rights situation in Tibet, not only in terms of the gross and systematic violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, but the threat of cultural genocide against the Tibetans, as a people. I urge members of the European Parliament to make no mistakes about this alert from the Dalai Lama as this threat is the “tsunami” for the roof of the world.

Now let us comprehend the massive international response to current situation faced by the Tibetan people who according to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have the right to self-determination as they stated in their recent statement before the UN Human Rights Council. This time we witnessed response from quarters who have not

7 spoken before, for example, the Chinese themselves when 30 scholars categorizing China’s defamation of the Dalai Lama with the Cultural Revolution language, called upon the Chinese authorities to open dialogue on Tibet. We found former-CCP leaders calling upon the China to hold direct talks with the Dalai Lama. For instance, Bao Tong, the former aide to ousted late premier Zhao Ziyang, in an essay broadcast by the Mandarin service of Radio Free Asia stated: “I do not want to see a Chechnya-style tragedy re-enacted in Tibet in pursuit of a Stalinist obsession with unity. The central Party leadership in Beijing has made “harmony” their mission. I believe that the philosopher’s stone will be revealed to those who are sincere…All the central government has to do is sit down with the Dalai Lama and talk to him; to show a little wisdom, and with vision and determination, the Lhasa incident can be resolved in an appropriate manner. A little hard work now could win us a peaceful future, heralding a new era of cooperation between the Tibetan and Han Chinese peoples.”

Ruan Ming, another former party official, stated from Taiwan that: "The Dalai Lama has always proposed a peaceful solution to Tibet issues and has won the world's recognition. With all that in mind, the CCP has framed the Dalai Lama for having 'carefully planned and stirred up the event…. This is exactly like how the CCP framed Zhao Ziyang for the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 and accused Zhao of 'splitting the Party and supporting unrest…The Dalai Lama had already said he would resign if the unrest continued. The Dalai Lama is influential globally and if he really retired, the CCP could gradually push and label the Tibetans as terrorists like the Xinjiang independence movement.” On 14 March, Ms. Louise Arbour the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called upon the Chinese authorities “to allow demonstrators to exercise their right to freedom of expression and assembly, to refrain from any excessive use of force while maintaining order, and to ensure those arrested are not ill-treated and are accorded due process in line with international standards.” Archbishop Tutu appealing for substantive dialogue on Tibet urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “to visit Tibet and be given access to assess, and report to the international community, the events which led to this international outcry for justice. The High Commissioner should be allowed to travel with journalists, and other observers, who may speak truth to power and level the playing field so that, indeed, this episode -- these decades of struggle -- may attain a peaceful resolution. This will help not only Tibet. It will help China.” The global citizens’ response has been tremendous to support the non-violent freedom struggle of the Tibetan people. For instance, avaaz.org, an online petition on current affairs now solicited more than 1.3 million people over the pass one week calling upon President Hu Jintao to open dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The petition said: “As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China's brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.”

8 Yesterday, more than 80 events took place all over the world when Tibetans and their supporters organized a Global Day of Action for Tibet to air total objection to passing of the Olympic Flame through the Tibetan Plateau. In Thailand, South Korea, Ukraine, Belarus and South America people have voiced their support to the Tibetans while in the Nepalese capital Tibetan demonstrators have been routinely beaten and arrested for staging peaceful manifestations, as we saw in various TV broadcasts on Sunday.

The People’s Republic of China states that the best to overcome differences on human rights is through dialogue and cooperation rather than “naming and shaming” countries in censure resolutions at the multilateral forums like the UN General Assembly and at the UN Human Rights Council. However, in the Sino-Tibetan conflict, China has taken a contrary position.

Since 2002, the Chinese authorities revived a strategy of direct contact with His Holiness the Dalai Lam by meeting Envoys of the Dalai Lama for six rounds of talks. After the last round of discussion between the two sides concluded on 5 July this year, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lodi Gyari, head of the Tibetan delegation said in a statement: “Our dialogue process has reached a critical stage. We conveyed our serious concerns in the strongest possible manner on the overall Tibetan issue and made some concrete proposals for implementation if our dialogue process is to go forward.”

The human rights dialogues that China is engaged with several countries, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and others are yet to produce concrete results on the ground to satisfy the victims of Beijing’s human rights policy. This is now clear when massive abductions, enforced disappearances; arrests, extrajudicial killings are taking place in Tibet with impunity. Although some may consider China’s recent announcement of constitutional protection on human rights as concrete actions, such measures do not really bring about a marked change on the ground.

Ms. Woeser the Tibetan writer who is under house-arrest in Beijing managed to provide information in Chinese on her blog about the daily development on currents crisis unfolding in Tibet. Her report on 25 March ends with this appeal: An urgent request from another Internet friend: It is extremely urgent to rescue the Tibetans in Seda, Tibet! This is the latest news from Keguo Township, Seda County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province: Between 4 and 5 p.m., March 20, the local Tibetans faced cruel suppression by over 5,000 armed police for saving the Tibetan flag! So far over 20 Tibetans have been confirmed dead. The shootings were caused by the armed police declaring to the local Tibetan people that the Chinese Central government had given them an order to shoot any protestors…When the police attempted to remove the Tibetan flag, Tibetans tried to stop the police in a peaceful manner, but the police started shooting right away! Please help Tibet! On 11 a.m., March 21, Niduo Township, Seda County will face an even crueler massacre. Please help Niduo Township! Please pass the news to every government and human rights organizations! Please find it in your heart of compassion to save the people in Tibet!]”

The recent attempts by China to bring the media and foreign diplomats for supervised

9 visits to Lhasa should only be regarded as the first steps towards providing access to others, especially to UN human rights mechanisms to conduct fact-finding missions. But let us not forget that when the members of the European Union was visiting Lahsa in May 1998, the Chinese authorities were torturing and killing Tibetan political prisoners at Drapchi Prison. The culture of impunity spared no one since the Chinese regime’s policy implementation only aimed to ensure that communist ideology is protected and the system of gun-power prevails. Terrorise the people and no one will dare speak up is the atmosphere under which human rights and fundamental freedoms are silenced by China. As regards, victims in Tibet, Eastern Turkestan and Inner Mongolia, this culture of impunity is strengthened by Chinese nationalism which believes no persecution ever took place against Tibetan, Mongolians and Uyghurs. We came to help them, will be the immediate reaction of many Chinese nationals whenever confronted with criticism of their government’s human rights record. Of course, the Tiananmen Square massacre did open the eyes of many Chinese!

To give one example here is what the 2005 fact-finding report on China by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture said about the registration of complaints. The report said that the Special Rapporteur was informed that “in Prison No. 4 in Urumqi, the procurators have not received a single torture complaint during the last decade. In the Tibetan Autonomous Region, he was told that no complaint had been received since 2003 and in the Beijing No. 2 Municipal Detention Centre, none were received since its establishment in June 2004. In the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, two cases of torture were established by the courts since 2000, and in the Tibet Autonomous Region one such case had been confirmed.” To end this culture of impunity in China, this Committee of the European Parliament must recommend to its political leadership to urge China:

* To accept a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss the human rights crisis in the “Tibetan Autonomous Region” and Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

* Or, to accept a consensus resolution of the Council at its 8th session in June and receive relevant Special Procedure mandate-holders of the Council to conduct a joint fact-finding mission to all Tibetan areas.

*To urge as many have done, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to seek an urgent visit to the affected Tibetan areas of present-day China.

Additionally, the European Union should consider the following recommendations:

* A Full assessment on whether the human rights dialogue with China is now workable given the systematic human rights violations being inflicted upon the Tibetan people.

* Place the Tibetan Issue as one of the regular agenda in future EU-China Summit.

* To hold a hearing on the human rights situation in Tibet.

10 * To immediately seeks its own fact-finding mission to monitor the situation faced by the Tibetan people.

We welcome that the international community, including the European Union has remained ceased of the situation in Tibet through quite diplomacy with China for all these years and remain appreciative that the European Community took the lead to able the first resolution on Tibet at the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1992. Since then the unending standard statements of concern, without condemnation, have not ended the suffering of the Tibetan people. Instead, the failure of Western Nations, including the European Union, to utter the word Tibet at the UN Human Rights Council, with exception of last Tuesday, only strengthened the culture of impunity in China. It is because of such total lack of international scrutiny of China’s human rights behaviour that gave Beijing a clean slate with deal with the Tibetans in mistrust, discrimination and merciless repression.

We acknowledge that Parliaments around the world, including the European Parliament have adopted many resolutions urging China to reverse change its policies in Tibet. NGOs and Civil Society Organisation have made similar calls. But now the time has come for the world to recognize that the ground realities in Tibet signal a form cultural genocide threatening the very survival of the religious, cultural and national identity of the Tibetans.

"If the present situation is the same in 15 years then I think Tibet is finished," the Dalai Lama cautioned in a speech during last month’s visit to Australia.[6]

I thank you!

[1] Tibet: The Position in International Law – Report of the Conference of International Lawyers on Issues relating to Self-Determination and Independence for Tibet, Edition Hansjorg Mayer & Serindia Publications, 1994

[2] E/CN.4/2004/60/Add.1 - http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/e746e77d9202c4eec1256e54002c7384?Opendo cument

[3] http://www.tibet.ca/wtnarchive/2002/8/9_4.html

[4] 1.5 million passengers take train to Tibet: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=17038&article=1.5+million+passengers+take+train+to+Tib et&t=1&c=1[5] http://en.tibet.cn/news/tin/t20070711_269988.htm

[6] Dalai Lama: Tibet Culture Could Soon End: http://www.dalailama.com/news.133.htm

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