http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=3D133782
Chinese forces detain thirty-two monks in Tibet
B K Upmanyu, 09 May 2008, Friday
=2E
THE CHINESE Army today (May 9) detained thirty two monks in a
monastery in Chushul. Presently, they are in the PSB detention centre,
according to the information received from Dharmshala. According to
the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), the monks
of Ratoe Monastery staged a peaceful protest in Nyethang township, in
Chushul county of Lhasa municipality, Tibet.
The protest was initially led by a group of monks of the Ratoe
Monastery. The protesters marched for about two and half kilometres on
their way to the township government head office chanting =92freedom in
Tibet=92, =92Independence for Tibet=92 and =92Long live Dalai Lama=92.
When the protesters reached near the government head office, they were
halted and blocked by the Chinese security forces. The peaceful
protest was defused and sent back. No arrests were made at that time.
However, later, the Chinese authorities came to the monastery and
stepped up intense political and =92patriotic re-education=92 campaigns
against what they describe as inroads made by the =92Dalai Clique and
separatist forces=92 in the monastery. At the same time, the monks were
repeatedly pressed by the authorities to surrender. Apparently, not a
single monk surrendered and relented to the diktat issued by the
authorities.
According to the reports, hundreds of Chinese security forces,
consisting of Public Security Bureau and People=92s Armed Police,
surrounded the monastery in the morning. Shortly afterwards, the
security forces raided the monks=92 residences to search for weapons and
other incriminating materials.
However, during the raid, no guns, weapons or other incriminating
materials were found in the monks=92 residences. The photos of the Dalai
Lama and mobile phones were confiscated by the security forces.
In the ensuing moments, the security forces arrested 50 monks of the
monastery for taking part in the peaceful protest. They were detained
in the detention centre. However, since then, 18 monks have been
released. Currently, thirty two monks are still in detention.
As per the information, most of the detainee monks are in the early
twenties. A former political prisoner Namkar, 45, was among the
detainees. He had earlier served two years imprisonment term in
Drapchi prison for taking part in pro-Independence uprising of 1989,
in Lhasa. Ironically, one of the detainees was also identified as a 38
year-old Thupchok, a prominent Democratic Management Committee (DMC)
team member of the monastery. As a DMC team members, he had been
directly responsible for implementing the controversial and much
resented =92patriotic education=92 campaign in the monastery.
The situation in Ratoe Monastery is currently said to be calm and
restricted, and is believed to be housing around 90 monks. The Chinese
authorities have denied total visitation rights to the thirty-two
detainee monks. There has been no further information about their
present condition and well being.
The Dharmshala based centre, expressed its serious concern at the
continuous detention of the monks, whose only crime had been to
express their grievances in a peaceful manner. The Chinese
Constitution and Law guarantees its citizen the right to freedom of
expression and opinion. In this context, TCHRD believes the monks of
the Ratoe Monastery have not violated the law of the land and had not
resorted to any action that undermined the Chinese Constitution.
TCHRD, therefore, has appealed to the authorities to immediately
release all the detained monks and also to ensure a speedy restoration
of normalcy in the monastery. The centre has also called upon the
intervention of the United Nations and other international bodies to
secure the release of the detained monks.
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