Source: TGiE

Details: C; D; F?; L; V;

Police opened fire into a crowd of people protesting construction of a hydropower station on the border between Tawu (Chinese: Daofu) and Nyagchu (Chinese: Yajiang) counties in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) prefecture on May 24, 2009, seriously injuring six women, according to TGiE’s sources.

Communities in both counties had long been protesting against construction of the dam, which is going to lead to large numbers of people being relocated out of the area. Protests were reportedly led by a 70-year old woman called Lhamo, who removed markers on the land which had been placed ahead of construction of the dam. Police were reportedly deployed to the area on May 5, 2009 to begin the work of demolishing homes.

Large numbers of people from local communities gathered at the construction site on May 24 to continue their protests when police opened fire on them. The injured women were named by TGiE’s sources as Tsering Lhamo; Rigzin Lhama; Dolma; Kelsang; Dolkar and Khaying.

The nature and extent of their injuries was not known at the time of reporting.