Socio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China1 Part One

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Socio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China1 Part One Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 174–200 www.brill.nl/asme Socio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China1 Part One Th eresia Hofer Abstract Th is article investigates some of the socio-economic dimensions of contemporary Tibetan heal- ing practices in the rural areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China. It sheds light on the workings and the eff ects the commodifi cation of the offi cial Chinese health care system, which started in the late 1990s, have had on Tibetan medicine and how these are related to the concurrent re-introduction of the Co-operative Medical Services (CMS) scheme throughout rural China. Th e contribution to this journal is divided into two parts. Part One predominantly deals with the medical practitioners and the practices within governmental health care in the TAR. Part Two, which will be printed in the next issue of the journal, deals with the private sector of Tibetan medicine. Both parts focus on the situation in the Tsang or Shigatse region of the west- ern and central TAR, hence enabling there to be useful comparisons with medical practices in the capital Lhasa, most of the anthropological literature has focused on so far. Both contribu- tions are based on extensive anthropological fi eldwork in Lhasa and the Tsang region of Tibet. Keywords Tibetan medicine, Sowa Rigpa, Tibet Autonomous Region, health care reforms, Co-operative Medical Services, CMS, rural China 1 Th is article is based on 16 months of ethnographic fi eld research in summer 2001, summer 2003, and from September 2006 to September 2007 in the TAR. I wish to thank the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Wellcome Trust and DDr. Mag. A. M. Hoeger for their generous fi nancial support. I also would like to thank Andrew Beattie, Hildegard Diem- berger, Andre Gingrich, Guntram Hazod and Vivienne Lo for their guidance before and during fi eldwork, Nandini Bhattacharya, Sienna Craig, Anna Lora-Wainwright, Th omas Shor and Geoff rey Samuel for comments on earlier drafts, and Dawn Collins for the many cups of tea and kind words that sustained me throughout my fi eldwork. Tibetan terms, such as names of Tibetan authors and Tibetan titles of books, have been transliterated here according to Wylie 1959. Exceptions are the often-used terms of amchi (doctor, A mchi), Mentsikhang (Medicine and Astrology Institute, sman rtsis khang), rinchen rilbu (precious pill or jewel pill, rin chen ril bu) and Sowa Rigpa (science or knowledge of healing, gso ba rig pa), which are rendered phonetically as are names of places and persons. Chinese terms are transliterated in Pinyin. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008 DOI: 10.1163/157342108X381250 Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 06:18:52AM via free access T. Hofer / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 174–200 175 Introduction Tibetan medicine, the inheritor of what in Tibetan has been traditionally referred to as Sowa Rigpa or ‘Science of Healing’, is readily available through governmental and private medical practices in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China. Th e Mentsikhang (established in 1916) is the foremost Lhasa–based institution for the practice of Tibetan medicine and astrology and provides medical care through a fl ourishing and centrally located out-patient department and a large in-patient department in the north of the city. In both locations, Sowa Rigpa practices are often combined with biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Th ere is also a part pri- vately and part government owned medical factory, the ‘Tibetan Traditional Medicine Factory of the TAR’, where over 300 diff erent kinds of Tibetan medicines are currently produced and then dispensed through governmental and private institutions in the TAR and on national and global markets.2 In Lhasa there is also the Tibetan Medical College with over 300 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses, who mostly go on to work in govern- ment positions. Additionally, there are several private Tibetan medical practi- tioners who, in some cases, have their own medical production facilities. Tibetan medical drugs and products, for example the famous ‘precious pills’ or rinchen rilbu among other more common medicinal drugs, are now also sold on a large scale as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs through various pharmacies and shops all over town, with buyers often not having had a prior clinical consultation. Th ese medicines may be produced by the TAR medical factory or in one of a growing number of private Tibetan medical factories in the country. Tibetans in the capital Lhasa use Tibetan medicine, which tends to be con- sidered fi nancially and culturally3 a more attractive health care option than Chinese biomedicine, more readily than Tibetans in the rural areas.4 On the contrary, for Tibetans in the rural areas of the TAR it is hard to have access and to be able to aff ord Tibetan medicine, which is unequally reimbursed through a governmental medical insurance scheme. 2 Th is factory in their publicity advertises their uninterrupted existence of over 300 years. It claims to date back to the medical production section at Chagpori Medical College, established in 1696 by Desi Sangye Gyatso in Lhasa, despite this institute being totally destroyed by Chinese armed forces during the 1959 Tibetan uprising against communist Chinese occupation of Tibet. 3 Janes 1999. 4 Th e practices and ideas referred to here as Chinese biomedicine are what Tibetans call ‘out- sider medicine’ (Tib.: phyi lugs sman), ‘Chinese medicine’ (Tib.: rgya sman, Chin.: zhong yi) and ‘communist medicine’ (Tib.: tang sman). I am aware that the use of the term ‘biomedicine’ in this context is problematic, since its practices are not uniform across nations and, in fact, often bear little resemblance in diff erent places. See Berg and Mol 1998. Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 06:18:52AM via free access 176 T. Hofer / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 174–200 Th is disparity in use and availability of Sowa Rigpa between the urban and the rural areas was of concern to some of the Tibetans I worked with during my stays in the TAR, and sparked off my interest to research further the ques- tion: ‘Who uses and has access to what kinds of Tibetan medical health care in the contemporary TAR?’ Th is question is part of my ongoing research, in which I consider a variety of historical, political, socio-economic and cultural forces that infl uence twentieth-century and current Tibetan medical practice in its incessant encounters with Chinese biomedicine and government poli- cies. I have narrowed my focus in this article to some of the socio-economic dimensions and pressures that infl uence contemporary Tibetan healing prac- tices in the rural areas, which have, so far, not been dealt with in its own right in the literature on Tibetan medicine.5 Anthropological research on contemporary Sowa Rigpa practices in TAR to date has largely focused on Government institutions for Tibetan medicine in Lhasa. For these, scholars describe and analyse the increasing secularisation and commercialisation of Sowa Rigpa,6 as well as shifts towards a ‘scientifi ca- tion’ of Tibetan medical ideas, practices, theory and training.7 We also have one in-depth account of the radical changes taking place in the manufacturing of Tibetan pharmaceuticals following the introduction of Good Manufactur- ing Practice (GMP) in 2003 and increasing pressures for Tibetan medicine to perform in clinical trials.8 Although the changes described and analysed in the above literature infl u- ence Tibetan medical practice outside the capital and in Government institu- tions also, in particular because of sharp increases in costs of medicines, I aim to shed light on the workings and eff ects of the commodifi cation of the offi cial Chinese health care system and the impact of the re-introduction of the Co- operative Medical Services (CMS) on Sowa Rigpa practices in the rural areas in the late 1990s. In Part One, I will predominantly deal with governmental health care in the TAR and in Part Two, which will be printed in the next issue of Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity, I consider the private sector of Tibetan medicine, in both cases with focus on the Tsang or Shigatse region of western and central TAR. Before turning to the medical fi eld of this peripheral region, a brief vignette on Tibetan medicines in the capital Lhasa will illustrate some of the larger dynamics at play in the contemporary TAR. It shows a diff erent and far wealth- ier economy into which much Tibetan medical practice is increasingly drawn. 5 Only Craig in Schrempf (ed.) 2007, Schrempf (ed.) 2007 and TIN 2004 touch on some aspects of this. 6 Adams 1998, 2001, 2007, Adams and Li 2007. 7 Adams 2002, Adams et al. 2005 and Craig in Schrempf (ed.) 2007. 8 Craig 2006. Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 06:18:52AM via free access T. Hofer / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 174–200 177 Rinchen Rilbu for the Rich? During my residence in Lhasa in the 12 months from September 2006 to September 2007, working on contemporary and twentieth-century transforma- tions of Tibetan medicine, most of my regular visits to the main branch of the China Post Offi ce on Beijing Lu passed a Chinese or a Tibetan customer packing up colourful boxes of rinchen rilbu to be sent home or abroad. In Lhasa’s spe- cialised Tibetan medical pharmacies, rinchen rilbu boxes sit on the front shelves and catch the viewers eye (Figure 1). Several companies advertise on large post- ers and on television: Mutig 70, Rinchen Drangjor and Rinchen Mangjor are the names one usually sees written in Tibetan, Chinese, and roman characters.9 Chi- nese and biomedical pharmacies-cum-souvenir shops also stock these pills, espe- cially around the tourist area of Lhasa between the Jhokhang (Lhasa’s main temple) and the Potala.
Recommended publications
  • 2019 International Religious Freedom Report
    CHINA (INCLUDES TIBET, XINJIANG, HONG KONG, AND MACAU) 2019 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT Executive Summary Reports on Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet, and Xinjiang are appended at the end of this report. The constitution, which cites the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, states that citizens have freedom of religious belief but limits protections for religious practice to “normal religious activities” and does not define “normal.” Despite Chairman Xi Jinping’s decree that all members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must be “unyielding Marxist atheists,” the government continued to exercise control over religion and restrict the activities and personal freedom of religious adherents that it perceived as threatening state or CCP interests, according to religious groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international media reports. The government recognizes five official religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. Only religious groups belonging to the five state- sanctioned “patriotic religious associations” representing these religions are permitted to register with the government and officially permitted to hold worship services. There continued to be reports of deaths in custody and that the government tortured, physically abused, arrested, detained, sentenced to prison, subjected to forced indoctrination in CCP ideology, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups for activities related to their religious beliefs and practices. There were several reports of individuals committing suicide in detention, or, according to sources, as a result of being threatened and surveilled. In December Pastor Wang Yi was tried in secret and sentenced to nine years in prison by a court in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in connection to his peaceful advocacy for religious freedom.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Minorities in Custody
    Ethnic Minorities In Custody Following is a list of prisoners from China's ethnic minority groups who are believed to be currently in custody for alleged political crimes. For space reasons, this list for the most part includes only those already convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment. It also does not include death sentences, which are normally carried out soon after sentencing unless an appeal is pending. The large majority of the offenses involve allegations of separatism or other state security crimes. Because of limited access to information, this list must be con- sidered incomplete and only an indication of the scale of the situation. In addition, there is conflicting information from different sources in some cases, including alternate spellings of names, and the information presented below represents a best guess on which informa- tion is more accurate. Sources: HRIC, Amnesty International, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, International Campaign for Tibet, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Tibet Information Network, Southern Mongolia Information Center, Uyghur Human Rights Project, World Uyghur Congress, East Turkistan Information Center, Radio Free Asia, Human Rights Watch. INNER MONGOLIA AUTONOMOUS REGION DATE OF NAME DETENTION BACKGROUND SENTENCE OFFENSE PRISON Hada 10-Dec-95 An owner of Mongolian Academic 6-Dec-96, 15 years inciting separatism and No. 4 Prison of Inner Bookstore, as well as the founder espionage Mongolia, Chi Feng and editor-in-chief of The Voice of Southern Mongolia, Hada was arrested for publishing an under- ground journal and for founding and leading the Southern Mongolian Democracy Alliance (SMDA). Naguunbilig 7-Jun-05 Naguunbilig, a popular Mongolian Reportedly tried on practicing an evil cult, Inner Mongolia, No.
    [Show full text]
  • 2008 UPRISING in TIBET: CHRONOLOGY and ANALYSIS © 2008, Department of Information and International Relations, CTA First Edition, 1000 Copies ISBN: 978-93-80091-15-0
    2008 UPRISING IN TIBET CHRONOLOGY AND ANALYSIS CONTENTS (Full contents here) Foreword List of Abbreviations 2008 Tibet Uprising: A Chronology 2008 Tibet Uprising: An Analysis Introduction Facts and Figures State Response to the Protests Reaction of the International Community Reaction of the Chinese People Causes Behind 2008 Tibet Uprising: Flawed Tibet Policies? Political and Cultural Protests in Tibet: 1950-1996 Conclusion Appendices Maps Glossary of Counties in Tibet 2008 UPRISING IN TIBET CHRONOLOGY AND ANALYSIS UN, EU & Human Rights Desk Department of Information and International Relations Central Tibetan Administration Dharamsala - 176215, HP, INDIA 2010 2008 UPRISING IN TIBET: CHRONOLOGY AND ANALYSIS © 2008, Department of Information and International Relations, CTA First Edition, 1000 copies ISBN: 978-93-80091-15-0 Acknowledgements: Norzin Dolma Editorial Consultants Jane Perkins (Chronology section) JoAnn Dionne (Analysis section) Other Contributions (Chronology section) Gabrielle Lafitte, Rebecca Nowark, Kunsang Dorje, Tsomo, Dhela, Pela, Freeman, Josh, Jean Cover photo courtesy Agence France-Presse (AFP) Published by: UN, EU & Human Rights Desk Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Gangchen Kyishong Dharamsala - 176215, HP, INDIA Phone: +91-1892-222457,222510 Fax: +91-1892-224957 Email: [email protected] Website: www.tibet.net; www.tibet.com Printed at: Narthang Press DIIR, CTA Gangchen Kyishong Dharamsala - 176215, HP, INDIA ... for those who lost their lives, for
    [Show full text]
  • Assaulting Identity: China's New Coercive Strategies in Tibet
    Assaulting Identity: China’s new coercive strategies in Tibet ABOUT Tibet Advocacy Coalition is a project established in 2013 by International Tibet Network, Tibet Justice Center and Students for a Free Tibet to develop coordinated strategies, monitoring tools, and reports to highlight the situation in Tibet at the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Coalition members are International Tibet Network Secretariat, Tibet Justice Center, Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Youth Association Europe and Tibet Initiative Deutschland, who work together with support and advice from Boston University’s Asylum & Human Rights Program. The Coalition also offers support to other Tibet groups engaging in UN mechanisms and strengthen the global Tibet movement’s advocacy work and lead an on-the-ground team of Tibet advocates. Cover illustration by Urgyen Wangchuk. http://www.urgyen.com 2 CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................4 2. METHODOLOGY...................................................................6 3. BACKGROUND....................................................................8 4. SHAPING A NEW GENERATION FROM INFANCY ..........................................9 4.1. Kindergartens as new hubs for cultural re‑engineering and military‑style training ............10 4.2. Eroding Tibetan language instruction in kindergartens & nurseries........................12 4.3. Residential schools and “pairing” to monitor compliance of Tibetan students................14 4.4. “Patriotic education bases”
    [Show full text]
  • Standards for Firefighters Rise As New Guidelines Take
    CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | 5 CHINA LOCAL TWO SESSIONS Region boosts profile of ancient Tibetan healing By PALDEN NYIMA cine, and we want to contribute a and DAQIONG in Lhasa little to the country’s Healthy Chi­ na plan,” he said. Doctors working in the Tibet Tenshung Drakpa said it was autonomous region’s traditional great news and auspicious that Tibetan medicine hospitals are feel­ Lum medicinal bathing had been ing more confident about their added to the UNESCO list. careers thanks to the regional gov­ In the past 20 years, he has ernment’s efforts to boost recogni­ apprenticed more than 2,000 tion of traditional healing practices. Tibetan doctors and medical stu­ The region plans to strengthen dents, and more than 700 have public health and its traditional become independent practitioners. Tibetan medical heritage, Qi Zhala, Not only has the tradition been chairman of the regional govern­ passed on in many Tibetan areas ment, said at the opening of the but it has also been introduced to region’s people’s congress last week. hospitals in coastal cities and is With a written history of more gradually becoming known in non­ than 3,800 years and oral history Tibetan communities in China. of more than 10,000 years, tradi­ In 2004, after one of Tenshung tional Tibetan medicine is consid­ Drakpa’s papers about Tibetan ered an important component of medicine became popular, a book traditional Chinese medicine. was published with the assistance Firefighters suppress a blaze at an automobile component market in Guiyang, Guizhou province, on Tuesday.
    [Show full text]
  • STP Written Statement
    United Nations A/HRC/19/NGO/114 General Assembly Distr.: General 28 February 2012 English only Human Rights Council Nineteenth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Written statement* submitted by the Society for Threatened Peoples, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31. [13 February 2012] * This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting non-governmental organization(s). GE.12-10867 A/HRC/19/NGO/114 Severe restrictions on religious freedom and freedom of expression in the Tibetan autonomous region and adjacent areas where Tibetans live The human rights situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region and adjacent areas where Tibetans live continues to remain a major concern. Spate of self-immolation protests since 2009 and demonstrations in the Tibet Autonomous Region and adjacent areas where Tibetans live defy the position of the Chinese government that the Tibetan Autonomous Region and adjacent areas where Tibetans live are stable. Arbitrary arrests, detentions and imprisonments have continued throughout the Tibetan Autonomous Region and adjacent areas where Tibetans live. Intensive patriotic re- education sessions pressuring the Buddhist monks and nuns to study communist ideologies and denounce their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama have exacerbated rather than calmed the volatile situation. Tibetans are increasingly but peacefully showing their resistance to the continued suppression by the Chinese authorities. Kirti monastery in the Sichuan province, Nyitso monastery and Mamae Dechen Chokhorling nunnery, and Karma monastery are the four places where self-immolation protests took place.
    [Show full text]
  • Tibet's “Intolerable” Monasteries
    Tibet’s “Intolerable” Monasteries | Tibet Watch 2016 Tibet’s “Intolerable” Monasteries: The role of monasteries in Tibetan resistance since 1950 Thematic Report April 2016 -1- Tibet’s “Intolerable” Monasteries: The role of monasteries in Tibetan resistance since 1950 Copyright © 2016 Tibet Watch All rights reserved. Cover photo by Reuters Tibet Watch works to promote the human rights of the Tibetan people through monitoring, research and advocacy. We are a UK registered charity (no. 1114404) with an office in London and a field office in Dharamsala, India. We believe in the power of bearing witness, the power of truth. www.tibetwatch.org Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Background ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Role of monasteries in Tibetan society ......................................................................................................... 4 China and Tibetan Buddhism since 1950 ...................................................................................................... 5 Current situation ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Labrang Tashikyil Monastery ..........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Special Topic Paper: Tibet 2008-2009
    Congressional-Executive Commission on China Special Topic Paper: Tibet 2008-2009 October 22, 2009 This Commission topic paper adds to and further develops information and analysis provided in Section V—Tibet of the Commission’s 2009 Annual Report, and incorporates the information and analysis contained therein. Congressional-Executive Commission on China Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman Representative Sander M. Levin, Cochairman 243 Ford House Office Building | Washington, DC 20515 | 202-226-3766 | 202-226-3804 (FAX) www.cecc.gov Congressional-Executive Commission on China Special Topic Paper: Tibet 2008-2009 Table of Contents Findings ........................................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction: Tibetans Persist With Protest, Government Strengthens Unpopular Policies ...............................3 Government Shifts Toward More Aggressive International Policy on Tibet Issue ...............................................5 Beijing Think Tank Finds Chinese Government Policy Principally Responsible for the “3.14 Incident” ...................................................8 Status of Negotiations Between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama or His Representatives............13 The China-Dalai Lama Dialogue Stalls ..............................................................................................................................................................14 The Eighth Round of Dialogue, Handing Over
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix III: Tibetan Political Detainees, 2013-2015
    Appendix III: Tibetan Political Detainees, 2013-2015 Name Occupation County Prefecture Province Detention Sentence Sentence Date (yrs.) date Ade (m) Monk Sog (Suo) Nagchu (Naqu) Tibet AR 2014/03/28 On April 4, 2014, the March 28 detention of a Drilda monk, Ade, was reported in connection with the case of detained monks Lobsang Dargye and Lungtog Gyaltsen.1 Asang (m) Layperson Sog (Suo) Nagchu (Naqu) Tibet AR 2014/02/03 On February 2 or 3, 2014, authorities in Sog county reportedly took into custody seven Tibetan males ranging in age from 15 to 20: Tsesum Dorje (or Sisum Dorje), Lhagpa, Jamyang Gyatso, Dorje, Asang, Margong, and Jigme. They had used sand to spell out, “Tibet is an independent country,” or “May Tibet gain independence.” The detainees were reportedly held at the Suo County PSB Detention Center.2 Asong [Asung], 22 (m) Monk Barkham Ngaba (Aba) Tibetan Sichuan 2012/08/16 2.5 01/2013 (Ma’erkang) & Qiang AP Province On August 16, security officials detained Tsodun monks Thubwang Tenzin and Asong. Police may have suspected them of links to self-immolations by Tsodun monks Tenpa Dargyal and Chime Palden on March 30, 2012. In mid-January 2013, the Aba T&QAP Intermediate People’s Court reportedly sentenced on unknown charges monk Asong to 2 years and 6 months. Information is unavailable on the monks’ status or location.3 Atse (m) Monk, Chant Sog (Suo) Nagchu (Naqu) Tibet AR 2014/03/17 master On March 17, 2014, public security officials detained monks Tsangyang Gyatso, Tsewang, Atse, and Gyaltsen of Drilda Monastery, located near Chiduo (Trido) township, Suo (Sog) county, Naqu (Nagchu) county, Tibet Autonomous Region.
    [Show full text]
  • October 2013 Rs
    VOL. XXV No. 10 October 2013 Rs. 20.00 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during a welcome ceremony for Singh before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 23, 2013. Mr. Cai Mingzhao, Minister of the State Council Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Wei Wei and the Union Information Office of China, was in the Ceremony of Minister for New and Renewable Energy of India Presenting Books by China to the University of Mumbai Dr. Farooq Abdullah were on the Ceremony of the on Sept. 17, 2013. sixty-fourth Chinese National Day held in New Delhi on Sept, 29, 2013. Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Wei Wei was celebrating Indian friends were watching the “Beautiful China China’s National Day with some friends of India-China Exhibition” held in New Delhi by the Chinese Embassy in Friendship Association in New Delhi on Sept, 26, 2013. India and China National Tourism on Sept. 28, 2013. Artists were performing at the cultural evening named as China won the Best Destination Award on the 9th China-India Cultural Extravaganza 2013 which was Hospitality India and Explore the World Annual organised by Chinese Embassy and India China International Awards Ceremony which was held in New Economic and Cultural Council in New Delhi on Sept. 28, Delhi on Oct, 11, 2013. 2013. CONTENTS CHINA-INDIA RELATIONS 1. Chinese President Says World Needs China-India Common Development 4 2. Chinese Premier Holds Talks with Indian PM 6 3. Chinese Premier Hails Singh's Visit as "Landmark" Event 6 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Violations by the People's Republic of China Against the People of Tibet
    Racial Discrimination in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas in the People’s Republic of China A Report Submitted to the UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION On Violations by the People’s Republic of China against the People of Tibet Submitted By Society for Threatened Peoples P.O.Box 2024 D-37010 Göttingen Tel.: +49-551-49906-0 Fax: +49-551-58028 Email: [email protected] June 2009 09292\1953823.1 09292\1953823.1 2 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Report evaluates the Peoples Republic of China’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”)1 with respect to the Tibetan people in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas in PRC. This Report will address those issues relevant to Tibet in light of China’s Tenth-Thirteenth Periodic Report and evidence regarding the actual situation in TAR and other Tibetan areas. The breadth of the Committee’s concerns and approach to the causes and consequences of racial discrimination are appropriate and consistent with the experience of the Tibetan people. This Report demonstrates that discrimination by the Chinese government and people against the Tibetan people still is persisting. The report highlights the continuing population transfer of Chinese settlers into Tibet; efforts to exploit Tibet’s natural resources for the benefit of China; and the perceived need to assimilate Tibetans culturally in order to control them politically. China’s conduct in Tibet not only violates key provisions of the CERD, it has also failed to respond to or make substantial progress in the areas of concern expressed by this Committee in its 2001 Concluding Observations.
    [Show full text]
  • ICT Prisoner File
    ICT Prisoner File This document accompanies the list of prisoners detailed in ICT’s latest prisoner list, which is updated regularly. The prisoner list at http://www.savetibet.org/files/documents/2009-03- 08_Prisoner_list_FULL.pdf includes only Tibetans detained after March 2008, but the document below includes cases of Tibetans sentenced before then. ICT has been able to identify more than 600 people who have been detained since protests began across the Tibetan plateau on March 10, 2008. We believe that some of those Tibetans have since been released, usually after undergoing extremely brutal treatment while in detention. The list below provides more detail on individuals named on the full prisoner list. There are many hundreds of names we have not been able to confirm due to the Chinese authorities’ efforts to block information flow. ICT’s prisoner list includes names in Chinese and will be updated to include Tibetan names and further information as it becomes available. Prisoners serving sentences imposed after March 2008 Sangye Lhamo (F), nun, 26 Chinese Characters: !"#$ (%) Pinyin Name: Sangjie Lamu Tsewang Kando (F), nun, 38 Chinese Characters: &'() (%) Pinyin Name: Ciwang Kangzhuo Yeshi Lhadon (F), nun, 24 Chinese Characters: *+#, (%) Pinyin Name: Yixi Lazhen - All from a related case in Kardze county Details: Sangye Lhamo, a 26-year-old nun from Serchuteng township, Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) county, Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Sichuan province, was detained on May 28, 2008 along with two other nuns from Dragkar nunnery in Kardze, Tsewang Kando, 38, also from Serchuteng township, and Yeshi Lhadon, 24, from Tsozhi village, Kardze county.
    [Show full text]