As Chinese everywhere were celebrating the first couple of days of the Year of Dragon on January 23rd and 24th, 2012. Chinese police fired indiscriminately on hundreds of Tibetans who had gathered peacefully to claim their basic rights in Drakgo, Serthar, Ngaba, Gyarong, and other neighboring Tibetan areas. Six Tibetans were reportedly killed and around sixty injured, some critically.

Because of gruesome acts such as these and the systematic repression of Tibetans, the resentment and anger amongst Tibetans against Chinese government has only grown since the massive uprising of 2008.

Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne has urged the Chinese government to exercise restraint following reports that Chinese security forces opened fire on protesters.

Speaking today the Foreign Office Minister said:

"I am deeply concerned at reports that Chinese security forces have fired upon protesters on two occasions in Tibetan areas of Sichuan, resulting in casualties.  I urge the Chinese government to exercise restraint, to release full details of the incidents, and to work to resolve the underlying grievances.”

Foreign and Commonwealth office London

Stand in solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet. - Chinese Embasy - London
When: 25/01/2012 @ 6-8pm.
Where: Chinese Embassy (Nearest tube: Great Portland Street and Oxford street)

All Tibetan and Tibet supporters please text your friends, colleagues and relatives to be there.
People can bring their own messages of support and Tibetan Flag.

According to a reliable source inside Tibet, the Chinese police fired on peaceful Tibetan demonstrators in Kham Dag-go District and killed a layman by name Yonten today around noon Chinese time.Some other sources claim that 6 people have been killed in the indiscriminate firing and scores of others injured. The facts are being ascertained.

It all started today morning when scores of Tibetans gathered in Dag-go calling for freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet, following which the police indiscriminately fired on the peaceful demonstrators. This incident happened on the day, when whole of China is celebrating Chinese New Year.

With the self immolation of a monk, Tapey in 2009 and 17 others who set themselves on fire since March 16 this year, 12 have succumbed to their injuries. Four cases have been reported in the beginning of this year alone. Tibetans have resorted to this desperate act out of sheer frustration against the policies and programs of the Chinese authorities aimed at eradicating the Tibetan identity.

The body of Yonten is reportedly in the Dag-go Monastery and the situation continues to be very tense in the area.

The Tibetan parliament is deeply aggrieved by the incidents and condemns the Chinese authorities for resorting to such drastic acts of force and repression. We are also taken aback by the silence of the International Community when it comes to such gross violation of Human Rights in Tibet.

We call on China to respect the Tibetan people’s right to express themselves and look into the legitimate grievances of the Tibetan people. While understanding the international community’s interest in maintaining closer relationship with China, how can the international community remain mute to the sufferings of the Tibetan people. We appeal to you to rise up to the occasion and impress on China to find a lasting solution to the Issue of Tibet.

Tibetan Parliament in Exile

tibet.net

Two abbots along with seven monks of Karma Monastery (Ch: Gama) at Chamdo County in Chamdo Prefecture (Tibet Autonomous Region) were arrested around 29 October 2011, according to information received by TCHRD.

Security officials arrested the abbots, Lodoe Rabsel (40 yrs old) and Namsey Sonam (44 yrs old) after they refused to cooperate with the officials conducting patriotic reeducation campaigns at the monastery. The monks refused to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama and consider Tibet part of China as required in the patriotic re-education classes, a source told TCHRD.

One Tibetan layman, identified as Yonten, has died of gunshot after security officials clamped down on a protest in Drango County (Ch: Luhuo County) in Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to information received by TCHRD today.

The body of Yonten, a resident of Drango County, is being kept at Drango Monastery.

Lobsang Jamyang, a 21-yr-old Tibetan layman died of self-immolation on 14 January 2012 in Ngaba county (Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province).
According to information received by TCHRD, Lobsang Jamyang stood adjacent to Kirti Monastery and shouted slogans such as ''May His Holiness the Dalai Lama live thousands of years'' while still engulfed in flames. Eyewitnesses say he paced up and down the street unsteadily as he continued to shout slogans.
The Public Security Bureau and People's Armed Police then surrounded Lobsang Jamyang and used iron rods and chains to intimidate and beat other Tibetans who had gathered around Lobsang Jamyang's burning body.

[16 January 2012] Following the self-immolation of a Tibetan in Ngaba on 14 January, Chinese police fired into a crowd of Tibetans who had gathered in an impromptu demonstration. The Tibetan who set fire to himself is understood to have died and reports indicate at least one person was shot dead.

In the morning of 14 January a Tibetan layman (name not yet known) set himself on fire in Ngaba town (Sichuan province). According to reports received by exiled sources, the police beat the man severely as they extinguished the flames. It is understood the Tibetan died at the scene.

According to emerging reports, a crowd of up to 700 Tibetans gathered at the local police station following the immolation and demanded the body was handed over. Armed police opened fire on the crowd and used tear gas. One elderly Tibetan woman was reportedly shot dead. Some reports indicate two Tibetans were shot and several seriously injured.

In response to this latest incident the Tibetan government in exile issued a statement saying, "The People’s Republic of China’s government must take full responsibility for these cases of self-immolation. It is within its power to end these unfortunate incidents by adopting liberal policies for Tibet and Tibetan people."

There are serious concerns for repercussions for Tibetans in the area and a further escalation of tensions. Tibet Society calls upon the British government to press the Chinese government to use restraint in Ngaba and withdraw its troops to ease mounting tensions.

This self-immolation is the 16th in Tibet since March 2011 and the 11th to have taken place in Ngaba. The yet unnamed layman is the 12th Tibetan known to have died.

tibet.net

SONEPAT, Haryana: “Only democracy can resolve the issue of Tibet” said Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay at ‘Democracy in Exile: The case of Tibet’, a public lecture organised by the Jindal School of International Affairs on Thursday in Sonepat.
 

Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay

BEIJING — Three Tibetan monks in central China set themselves on fire this weekend, raising to 15 the number of suicides in the last year by Buddhist clergy members protesting aspects of Beijing’s rule in Tibet.

The deaths suggest that self-immolation is gaining favor as a form of political protest for Tibetan clergy. And they underscore the challenges the Chinese authorities face in controlling more than five million ethnic Tibetans living in what China calls the Tibet autonomous region and adjacent Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces.

China’s central government has cracked down hard on religious activism in Tibet since ethnic riots in 2008 killed 19 people, many of them Han Chinese migrants, severely embarrassing rulers in the months leading to the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Human-rights activists say that hundreds of Tibetans were arrested afterward, and that some of them died in custody.