ICT Europe: Publications
Tibet Update: E-newsletter for Parliamentarians in Europe, Edition 3
Edition 3, February 2004
Welcome to the first edition of Tibet Update: E-newsletter for Parliamentarians in Europe for 2004. We have been receiving an excellent response from many European policy makers to our bi-monthly E-newsletter. Please continue to send your feedback and contributions to us at euroeditor@savetibet.org. Your parliamentary colleagues can subscribe to this E-newsletter by also emailing this address. Don't forget that previous editions of the Tibet Update can be viewed here.
- Tsering Jampa, Executive Director, Amsterdam
Contents
European Initiatives
EU and US Officials Meet on Common Approach for Tibet
The EU and U.S. should act on the opportunity presented by renewed contact between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials and join forces to help move the dialogue process forward to a mutually acceptable solution, concluded a special roundtable discussion at the European Parliament (EP) with the U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues on 21 January 2004.
Dr. Paula Dobriansky came to Brussels, at the invitation of the EP's Tibet Intergroup, to share her experiences and views as U.S. Tibet Coordinator following the European Union's Joint Budgetary Authority - the Parliament and the Council - voting for a second consecutive year that the EU should make a similar appointment. Despite this, and the EP resolutions of 1998 and 2002 that also call for the appointment of a EU Special Representative (EUSR) for Tibet, the European Commission has been reluctant to act.
The roundtable, which was also attended by the Dalai Lama's two envoys who visited China in 2002 and 2003 in an effort to ignite formal Sino-Tibetan dialogue, concluded that: the U.S. experience with appointing a high-level diplomat devoted to Tibetan issues has had a demonstrated and positive impact; a common EU-U.S. approach could benefit Chinese and Tibetan interests by moving dialogue to a point where mutual confidence in a negotiations process is established; and the appointment of a EUSR for Tibet is the practical means of working cooperatively to promote negotiations, thereby achieving both EU and U.S. objectives for human rights and genuine autonomy for Tibet within an overall China policy.
Dutch Parliament supports EU Special Representative for Tibet
The Dutch Parliament unanimously passed a resolution in December calling for the government to encourage the appointment of a EU Special Representative for Tibet. Initiated by the Democratic 66 party, MPs expressed strong support for such appointment in light of the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet, in particular the continued influx of Chinese settlers into Tibet which threatens the very survival of Tibetan identity and culture.
EP Resolution recommends EU sponsor China resolution at UNCHR
The European Parliament has passed a resolution outlining its recommendations for EU action at the 60th Session of the UNCHR in Geneva. The resolution calls on the EU to sponsor or co-sponsor a resolution on China, in particular addressing the situation in Tibet and Xinjiang. The resolution also calls for the European Commission and Council to provide the EP with a full briefing following this year's UNCHR and before the EP elections this May. It is widely believed that the United States will initiate a resolution on China at this year's Commission.
British MPs Ask Prime Minister Blair to Meet the Dalai Lama
Members of the British House of Commons, belonging to the ruling Labour Party as well as the Conservative and the Liberal Democratic Party, have urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet with the Dalai Lama when he visits London in May-June this year.
In an Early Day Motion (EDM) filed on January 15, 2004, House of Commons Member Tom Brake (LD) with Harry Cohen (Labour), Peter Bottomley (Conservative) and Norman Baker (LD) as co-sponsors, called on Blair to "schedule an engagement with His Holiness [the Dalai Lama]" and to assist in "the furtherance of dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Tibetan Government-in-exile."
The EDM commended "the Dalai Lama for his steadfast commitment to peaceful means in the struggle for Tibetan independence; notes his distinctive message of non-violence."
Take Action!
Call for the EU to Appoint a Special Representative for Tibet
The appointment of a EU Special Representative for Tibet is a practical way the EU can actively further Sino-Tibetan dialogue and achieve a permanent solution to the issue of Tibet. It would reinforce the U.S.'s high-level and institutionalized commitment to supporting the non-violent efforts of the Dalai Lama to find a negotiated solution for Tibet.
Take Action:
- Table a resolution or Early Day Motion in your National Parliament urging your government to support the appointment of a EU Special Representative for Tibet
Human Rights Abuses in Tibet Continue Unabated
The human rights situation in Tibet remains critical, making the Tibetan people in urgent need of your active support. Religious repression, political persecution, arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials and sentences continue unabated today. The mass population transfer of Han Chinese persons to Tibet is systematically marginalizing the Tibetan population in their homeland. Further, the continued detention of the 11th Panchen Lama - the second most important spiritual leader of the Tibetan people - and revered Buddhist leader, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, remain of utmost concern.
In recent months, the European Union and some of its member states have been questioning the severity of the China's human rights situation. It is erroneous and dangerous for any body within the EU to project the impression of there being a problem-free human rights situation in Tibet and China. The human rights situation in Tibet and China is critical and warrants your attention.
Take Action:
- Oppose any lifting of the EU-China Arms Embargo
- Ask the Irish Presidency to make Tibet a priority agenda item at the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue in Dublin this month
- Encourage your government to raise Tibet in their statements at the UNCHR
- Take note of the EP resolution calling for the EU to sponsor a China resolution at UNCHR
- Urge China to ratify the Convention on Civil and Political Rights
Tibet News in Brief
Brutal Treatment Reportedly Awaits Repatriated Tibetans
More details have emerged about the torture and maltreatment of 18 Tibetans who were forcibly repatriated by Nepal to Chinese authorities in May 2003. Former inmates from the prison cells in Shigatse, Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), have recounted incidents where the 18 deportees were shocked with electric batons, repeatedly kicked in the genitals and forced to stand naked outside for four to five hours at a time, three to four times a week.
EU Reconsiders Its Arms Embargo Against China
The EU is considering lifting its ban on weapon sales to China, imposed following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. ICT Europe deplores any early lifting of the ban and the erroneous belief that the human rights situation in Tibet and China has significantly improved since the embargo was first imposed. ICT Europe, as part of the International Tibet Support Network (ITSN), an alliance of more than one hundred NGOs world-wide, is calling for this EU policy to be upheld.
Location of Tibetan Buddhist Leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Timetable for Possible Death Sentence Commutation Officially Confirmed
After repeated requests the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to an official EU demarche by informing the German Foreign Ministry of the prison location of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and indicating that his sentence to death with a two-year reprieve would be calculated from the date the judgment became final and could be commuted to a lesser sentence.
Nepal Deports Three More Tibetan Refugees
Three Tibetan refugees, including one minor, were handed over to Chinese border police by Nepalese officials at the Friendship Bridge border post at Dram on 13 January, according to ICT sources in the area. The latest deportations follow at least three other reported incidents of forcible repatriation of Tibetans by Nepalese officials at the end of December.
Charismatic Tibetan Buddhist Leader Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok Passes Away
Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, the highly-respected Tibetan Buddhist teacher and founder of Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in eastern Tibet, near the town of Serthar (Ch: Seda) in present-day Sichuan Province, passed away at approximately 9:40 am on January 7, 2004, at a hospital in Chengdu. He was 70.
Non-European Action
U.S. Reports Continued Religious Suppression in Tibet; ICT Calls on U.S. to Match Reporting with Appropriate Action Towards China
In its annual Report on International Religious Freedom, released December 18, 2003, the U.S. State Department comprehensively describes continuing religious suppression by the Chinese government in Tibet.
Sino Gold Pulls Out of Tibet
Following an international campaign by human rights and environments groups for Sino Gold to cease all exploration in Tibet until Tibetans are in a position to freely express their wishes about the use of their resources, the company announced in January that it is pulling out of Jinkang in Eastern Tibet. Sino Gold's official statement implied that it is withdrawing because there is not enough gold on site to justify a mine. This is at odds with virtually all previous announcements and conference presentations - since before Sino listed in late 2002 - in which the company talked up the prospects at the site.
U.S. Congress Passes Resolution Calling on China to Release Tibetan Nun Phuntsok Nyidron and All Tibetan Prisoners of Conscience
On February 2, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.Res.157, which calls on the Chinese government to release Tibetans held as prisoners of conscience for their involvement in efforts to end the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The legislation passed with 391 votes in favor and none in opposition.
Important Dates
| 26/27 February: | EU/China Human Rights Dialogue, Dublin |
| 10 March | Tibetan National Uprising Day |
| 13 March: | Tibetan National Uprising Day demonstration in Dam Square, Amsterdam |
| 13 March: | Tibetan National Uprising Day demonstration outside Chinese Embassy, Berlin |
| 15 March - 25 April | 60th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva |
