Since its flourishing in the seventh century, Tibet’s borders have been disputable, more fluid than concrete. Between the seventh and thirteenth centuries, Tibet became a unified kingdom in control of an area far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, where they currently occupy today. In fact, under the leadership of King Srong-btsan sgam-po and his successors Tibet invaded part of neighboring China and briefly captured Xi’an. However, for much of its’ history, Tibet was a group of small independent territories, sometimes functioning on its own, sometimes as a part of both Chinese and Mongolian dynasties.
In the early 1700’s, war broke out between two Mongol dynasties, both of which were fighting to control Tibet. Finally, in 1720, Chinese forces invaded Lhasa (the official residence of the Dalai Lama). From then until 1911 (or the rest of the Manchu Dynasty) the Chinese occupied Lhasa, providing protection for the Dalai Lama, but mostly leaving Tibet on its own. During in the Manchu Dynasty, the Chinese protected Tibet from Britain honing in on their territory, but after the fall of the Manchu government in 1911, the Tibetans expelled Chinese troops from Lhasa.
In the 1950s, China sent troops into Tibet to enforce its claim to the country. However, the insurgence was not completely successful. Parts of the country became the Tibet Autonomous Region, and some were incorporated into China. In 1959, Tibetans staged an unsuccessful uprising against the Chinese troops, forcing the Dalai Lama to flee to India in exile. In the sixties and seventies, many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries were destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Finally in the 1980s, China eased its hold on Tibet introducing the “Open Door Policy,” but there has been much dispute over whether or not these polices are actually in effect.
Since China’s insurgency in the nineteen fifties, many human rights have been denied to Tibetans, particularly to Tibetan monks and nuns. Some of the most egregious include arbitrary arrest, often for things such as peaceful protests, putting up posters, flying the Tibetan flag, shouting slogans or teachings of the Dalai Lama, or teaching others about Tibetan culture. Armed forces often open fire on protests, even peaceful ones, killing innocent people. Detainees are often tortured with beatings and rape, and provided with unfair trials. Human Rights Watch estimates approximately 600 political prisoners today, most of them are monks and nuns. Human Rights Watch also gives these details about several suspected deaths in prisons: " A Tibetan arrested in Lhasa in August 1999 for trying to raise the Tibetan flag in a public square, Tashi Tsering, was brutally beaten before being taken away by Public Security officers. In March 2000, he was reported to have committed suicide in prison a month earlier. In April 2000, a further death in custody was reported, that of Sonam Rinchen, a farmer from a town near Lhasa. He had been arrested with two others in 1992 for unfurling a Tibetan flag during a protest and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Although information is difficult to obtain, a study by the Tibet Information Network suggests the incidence of deaths in detention in Lhasa's Drapchi prison among prisoners due for release in 1998-1999 averaged approximately 1 in 24. Several such deaths were reported as suicides.
In one notable incident in May 1998, political prisoners in Drapchi staged major protests to coincide with a visit from a European Union delegation. The protests were non-violent, but the authorities' reaction was severe: one monk, Lobsang Gelek, died after he was shot. His family was later told that he had committed suicide. The authorities also attributed the deaths of several others prisoners who had demonstrated to suicide, despite credible reports that they had been beaten. Four nuns who had protested all died on the same day in the same way while held in strict solitary confinement. The authorities claimed they had committed suicide, but unofficial reports said they were singled out for particularly harsh treatment as suspected ringleaders of the protests.
At least ten prisoners are believed to have died in the aftermath of the protests. Those subjected to beatings are reported to have included several nuns known to already have had their original sentences extended for continued non-violent protests in prison. Most prominent among them is Ngawang Sangdrol, one of several nuns who smuggled a recording of political protest songs out of prison in 1993, and whose sentence was increased to 18 years." (HRW.org)Many Tibetan protests and rebellions have ended in mass killings. According to the Dalai Lama, approximately 1.2 million people have been killed under Chinese rule. In the North-Eastern region of Kanlho alone, the People’s Liberation Army crushed 996 rebellions and killed over 10,000 people from 1952-1958. Said the Panchen Lama (second to the Dalai Lama) about these killings: "If there was a film made on all the atrocities perpetrated in Qinghai Province, it would shock the viewers. In Golog area, many people were killed and their dead bodies rolled down the hill into a big ditch. The soldiers told the family members and relatives of the dead people that they should celebrate since the rebels had been wiped out. They were even forced to dance on the dead bodies."
Tibetans definitely don’t have the right to protest, assemble, or express any anti-government sentiments. Nor do they have freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial, or protection from wrongful imprisonment or torture. However China is very selective about the information they release.China has denied the Dalai Lama's claims about the number of death's since 1951, and often maintains that any killings or death's in prison or during protests are provoked or from natural causes. Even in the US, it is very hard to find information about Human Rights violations in Tibet, or even any history of Tibet after 1950.
Controversy:
China's relationship with Tibet has recently garnered a significant amount of media attention due to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many activist groups organized protests and even boycotts of the Olympics on account of their being held in China. For many people, the Olympics represent countries from all over the world coming together, and felt that while China was participating in this violation of human rights, was not fit to hold the 2008 Olympic games.
bibliography
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2000/06/14/tibet-1950-silence-prison-or-exile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7411011.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/4152353.stm
No comments:
Post a Comment