HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER CHINA’S SHADOW Mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal WATCH Under China’s Shadow Mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal Copyright © 2014 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-1135 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org MARCH 2014 978-1-62313-1135 Under China’s Shadow Mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal Map of Nepal .................................................................................................................... i Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Key Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 11 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 12 I. Tibetans in Nepal ........................................................................................................ 14 Nepal’s International Legal Obligations .................................................................................. 15 II. The “Gentleman’s Agreement” ................................................................................... 18 III. Nepal’s Justifications for Imposing Restrictions on Tibetans ..................................... 20 IV. China’s Role .............................................................................................................. 23 China’s Top Priority in Nepal: Tibet.......................................................................................... 23 Chinese Aid and Investment ................................................................................................... 25 Nepal’s Commitments to China .............................................................................................. 26 Security Cooperation: “A Handshake over the Himalaya” ........................................................ 27 V. Nepal’s Forced Returns of Tibetans ............................................................................. 33 Threats of Deportation ............................................................................................................ 34 Ongoing Refoulement Concerns .............................................................................................. 35 VI. China’s Treatment of Tibetans at the China-Nepal Border ......................................... 38 China’s Refusal of Re-Entry to Some Chinese Citizen Tibetans ................................................. 38 Abuses in Custody in China .................................................................................................... 43 VII. Nepal’s Restrictions on Expression, Assembly, and Association .............................. 47 Arbitrary Curbs ....................................................................................................................... 47 Prohibitions Imposed on Political Protests ............................................................................. 48 Restrictions on Public and Private Gatherings ......................................................................... 50 Pressures on NGOs and Activists Defending Tibetans .............................................................. 53 Reaction to Self-Immolation Cases .......................................................................................... 57 VIII. Arbitrary Arrest and Detention ................................................................................ 60 Arrests ................................................................................................................................... 61 Lack of Judicial Review of the Powers of Chief District Officers ................................................. 63 Preventive Detention and Habeas Corpus Rights .................................................................... 64 Surveillance .......................................................................................................................... 69 Inadequate Police Protection from Anonymous Threats ........................................................... 72 IX. Other Restrictions on Tibetans in Nepal .................................................................... 75 Citizenship ............................................................................................................................. 76 Freedom of Movement within Nepal ........................................................................................ 77 International Travel ................................................................................................................ 79 Travel to India ........................................................................................................................ 80 Property and Employment ....................................................................................................... 81 X. Recommendations To the Government of Nepal .................................................................................................... 85 To the Government of China .................................................................................................... 87 To the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Nepal (UNHCR) ............ 87 Appendix I ..................................................................................................................... 91 Letter from Human Rights Watch to the Government of Nepal .................................................. 91 Appendix II .................................................................................................................... 95 Translation of Huanqiu Shibao Interview with Nepal’s Deputy Inspector General of Police ....... 95 Map of Nepal I HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2014 Summary We have our own values regarding the policy on refugees. [O]ur policies are guided by geopolitical sensitivities. —Deputy prime minister and foreign minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, September 2012 Tibetans who have crossed the border illegally are not refugees. —A spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu, March 2012 I thought I would be safe here. But now I realize China is telling Nepal what to do about us. —Tibetan refugee Dorje Tsering, Kathmandu, March 2013 Since the 2008 Tibetan uprising, the largest, most widespread unrest among Tibetans in decades, the Chinese government has significantly tightened its control in Tibetan areas of China. It has also pressured Nepal, which shares a long border with China and is home to a sizeable Tibetan community, to become China’s partner in restricting Tibetans’ basic rights. Nepal has signed several security and “intelligence-sharing” agreements with China since 2008; operationalized border security cooperation; partially enforced a ban on Tibetan public demonstrations; implemented close monitoring of the Tibetan community, its leaders, and real or perceived activists; and deployed intimidating numbers of Nepali armed police in Tibetan neighborhoods on politically sensitive dates, such as the anniversary of the Dalai Lama, International Human Rights Day (December 10), or high- level visits by Chinese dignitaries. The consequences are being felt across the Tibetan community. Partly as a result of this pressure, Tibetans face excessive use of force by police, preventive detention, torture and ill-treatment when detained, intrusive surveillance, and arbitrary application of vaguely formulated and overly broad definitions of security offenses. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2014 Chodak Namgyal, a former Tibetan monk in his twenties, arrived as a refugee in Nepal in January 2009. A former member of the Tongkor monastery in Amdo (Kardze prefecture, Sichuan province), he had spent several months in hiding following a clash in April 2008 in which Chinese security forces shot at a crowd of Tibetan protesters, killing up to a dozen people. Many monks and participants in the protest, fearing arrest, fled into the mountains, where they remained in hiding, living in harsh conditions for many months, to escape the large and sustained operation by the local Chinese authorities to capture fugitives, whose pictures were on wanted posters in the area. Relatives were monitored and pressured for information about their relatives. Chodak and a companion decided to flee Tibet. They made their way to the border with Nepal, first hiding in the back of trucks and then continuing on foot, walking only at night. In January 2009, a Tibetan guide on the Chinese side near Dram (Ch.