EP adopts resolution calling for rights of the Tibetan community to be respected in Nepal

07 April 2011, Brussels : The European Parliament on 07 April 2011 with the support of all the major political parties of the house adopted a resolution calling on the government of Nepal to respect the democratic and human rights of the Tibetan community living in the country.

The European Parliament calls on High Representative of the EU Catherine Ashton through its delegation in Kathmandu to closely monitor the treatment of the Tibetan refugees and respect for their rights in Nepal and to urge the Nepalese authorities to abide by its international human rights obligation and refrain from preventive arrests, policing restrictions on demonstrations and gatherings during festivals marked by the Tibetan community. The resolution highlights the ban on the elections of the Kalon Tripa (Chairman of the cabinet) and Members of the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration on March 20, 2011, in Kathmandu, the Nepali capital which is home to over 10,000 of the estimated 20,000 exiled Tibetans in Nepal owing to growing pressure from the government of the Peoples’ Republic of China.

Members of the Parliament expressed their concern and condemned the growing influence of China in the internal affairs of Nepal. They urged the Chinese Government and its representatives in Nepal to refrain from exerting any further pressure on the Nepalese authorities.

Furthermore, the European Parliament urges the government of Nepal to include universal human rights such as freedom of speech, movement, vote and religion in the country’s new constitution, due to be enacted by 28 May 2011.

Tibet.net