Authorities in Lhasa parade 'repentant rioters' on TVDetainees face
severe punishment as deterrent Dalai Lama again blamed for organising
unrest
Tania Branigan in Beijing and Randeep Ramesh in Dharamshala
The Guardian,
Thursday March 20 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/20/tibet.china2
The Chinese crackdown in Tibet was fully under way last night as
authorities paraded alleged rioters on television and claimed 156
offenders had surrendered themselves to police.
They also issued a "wanted" list of 12 faces seen on security cameras
during Friday's disturbances in the capital Lhasa, which followed four
days of peaceful demonstrations. Chinese officials had promised to be
lenient to protesters who handed themselves in by midnight on Monday,
and harsh to those who did not.
Last night state-controlled Tibet TV said those in detention should be
"seriously punished" to ensure others respected the law, as it
screened footage of several line-ups and the confessions of two men.
Three of those held appeared to be monks.
In one sequence, paramilitary police marched suspects in handcuffs,
forcing one man's head to a table as he signed and fingerprinted an
unidentified do***ent at the prosecutors' office.
Tibet TV blamed the Dalai Lama for organising the unrest. It said
detainees faced charges ranging from arson and criminal damage to
harming national security. In one sequence, a man identified as Pobo
Tseringma said: "We believed other people's rumours ... I did things I
regret." Another man, Dorje Tseringma, said a crowd threatened to set
his house on fire if he did not take part in the riots.
The commentary added that detainees were remorseful, would help police
to find other miscreants, and had promised to educate their children
to follow the rules. The authorities have not said whether they have
arrested anyone. Witnesses in Lhasa have re****ted house-to-house
searches and mass arrests.
Exile groups claim that almost 100 people have died since unrest broke
out, mainly at the hands of the authorities, while officials say that
13 "innocent civilians" were killed in the Lhasa unrest and three
rioters died accidentally. Independent witnesses re****ted vicious
ethnic attacks on Han Chinese and Hui Muslims in the Tibetan capital
last Friday, as well as arson and criminal damage to businesses, homes
and government property.
Rights groups are concerned that the authorities are also targeting
peaceful protesters and warn that those charged will not receive a
fair trial. "Given the long and well-do***ented history of torture of
political activists by China's security forces there is every reason
to fear for the safety of those recently detained," said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch, based in New York.
The Pope said yesterday he was following events with "trepidation",
and called for dialogue: "Violence does not solve problems, but only
aggravates them." Benedict has sought to improve relations with
Beijing since his accession and last year said he sought to restore
full diplomatic ties with Beijing, severed shortly after the
Communists took power in 1949.
The Chinese authorities stepped up attacks on the Dalai Lama, with
Tibet's Communist party chief, Zhang Qingli, telling officials they
faced "a life-and-death battle" with his sup****ters: "The Dalai is a
wolf in monk's robes, a devil with a human face but the heart of a
beast."
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has denied inciting unrest and
said he would quit if it got out of control. Yesterday he urged
activists to end a "confrontational" march to Tibet from India,
fearing a clash with Chinese troops at the border. "He made it clear
he cannot order them, but he appealed to them to stop," said Tenzin
Taklha, his personal secretary.
He urged the Chinese government hold talks with the Dalai Lama. "The
problem cannot be resolved by force. Therefore we have to come
face-to-face and talk to each other." There have been six rounds of
largely fruitless talks between Beijing and members of the Dalai
Lama's government-in-exile, based in the based in the north Indian
town of Dharamshala since 1979. The most recent were last summer.
The streets of Dharamshala were yesterday lined with posters,
apparently showing protesters shot by the Chinese army. Crowds at
demonstrations shouted "Death to Hu Jintao", China's president who had
been the head of the Tibetan Communist party when soldiers shot dead
protesters in Lhasa in 1989.
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