TIBET UPDATE

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The Tibet Update eNewsletter is a bimonthly summary of news and governmental actions related to Tibet. Past issues in PDF format are located at http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/tibet-weekly-updates/.

NEPAL:

ICT Report: Nepal police forcibly return three Tibetan refugees across border

Nepal has violated the well-established "Gentlemen's Agreement" with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and contravened its obligations under international law by forcibly returning three Tibetan refugees to Chinese border police in early June. Two of the Tibetans who were returned, a young woman and a monk, are now in prison in Tibet. While it is the first confirmed case of refoulement since May 2003 when Chinese officials seized 18 Tibetan refugees from a Kathmandu jail, it is certainly possible that other incidents have happened unobserved in remote border areas. Read the full report . . .

INSIDE TIBET:

HRW Report: 'I saw it with my own eyes': Abuses by Security Forces in Tibet, 2008-2010

Human Rights Watch released a 73-page reporton on July 22, "I Saw it with My Own Eyes": Abuses by Security Forces in Tibet, 2008-2010. Based on official Chinese sources and eyewitness accounts, the report confirms the use of disproportional force and actions with deliberate brutality by Chinese security forces during and after the unprecedented Tibetan protests beginning on March 10, 2008. It finds that the scale of human rights violations related to suppressing the protests was far greater than previously believed, and that Chinese forces broke international law - including prohibitions against disproportionate use of force, torture and arbitrary detention, as well as the right to peaceful assembly - despite government claims to the contrary. Read the full report . . .

China's money and migrants pour into Tibet

Edward Wong of the New York Times writes that China sees development and an enhanced security presence as key to stability, but the large influx of Chinese migrants has deepened resentment among many Tibetans. He writes that the central government invested $3 billion in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) last year, a 31 percent increase over 2008 and Han Chinese workers, investors, teachers and soldiers are pouring into Tibet. Tibet's gross domestic product is growing at a 12 percent annual rate, faster than the robust Chinese national average, but migrant Han entrepreneurs elbow out Tibetan rivals. Read the full article . . .

Is development killing Tibetan way of life?

On a rare Chinese government controlled trip to Tibet, Damian Grammaticas, a BBC journalist, writes about Tibetans' fears that their unique way of life is being eroded. He says that while their schedule and movement was almost entirely controlled by official minders, in snatched conversations with Tibetans, it was clear the sheer number of Han Chinese flowing in to Tibet was a cause of resentment and he says, "It is clear China's drive for development is transforming Tibet, improving incomes and changing lives. But it seems that is not always being welcomed." Read the full article . . .

Production begins at China's largest mining project in Tibet Autonomous Region

On July 19, China's state owned media reported that the first phase of the "Gyama polymetallic mine" in Lhasa began production. Located in the Meldro Gungkar County of Lhasa municipality, the Gyama mining project is one of the eight priority construction projects in Tibet and it is owned by Tibet Huatailong Mining Development Co, a subsidiary of China National Gold Group Corp (CNGG), China's second largest gold producer. Last year, local Tibetan residents from Gyama township had reportedly petitioned the local government to put an immediate halt to the mining project and in June 2009, protests by local Tibetans against a water diversion project at the site had lead to skirmishes between residents and miners that were followed by police crackdown, leaving at least three Tibetans seriously wounded. Read the full article . . .

THE DALAI LAMA:

The Dalai Lama tweets to Chinese

The Dalai Lama reached out directly to the Chinese people on July 19, taking questions from Chinese netizens on the micro blogging service Twitter for the second time this year. The Dalai Lama's personal aide for Chinese-language events said that the dialogue is helping Chinese netizens learn more about the Dalai Lama. Among others, the Dalai Lama addressed questions about "Tibetan autonomy" and also concerns of Chinese netizens on the matter of his succession. As of July 21, this new exchange had remained unblocked and uncensored unlike his previous exchange on May 21. Read the full article . . .

The Dalai Lama optimistic about Tibet's future

In an hour long interview with Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency, the Dalai Lama spoke with optimism about the Middle Way approach. He said, "I believe middle path will come true. Last 60 years, the same one party system has changed, the obvious big change today is Chinese communist has changed to Capitalist communist." He asserted that Tibet under his leadership is not seeking independence from China but genuine autonomy, "Tibet is not an issue of the Dalai Lama institution. It's about the well-being of six million Tibetan people and their rights. So long as these rights do not materialize, then this movement will remain, whether I am alive or not. Important is Buddhism and Tibetan culture, not the institution of the Dalai Lama." Read the full article . . .

EUROPE:

UK to ask China to have substantive dialogue with Tibetans

British Prime Minister David Cameron assured Tibetans that his government would continue to impress upon China the importance of substantive dialogue with leaders of the community for a lasting solution to their problems. A release from the Tibetan Government in Exile said that the Prime Minister told the Tibetan Parliament in exile, "We will continue to impress upon the Chinese the importance of substantive dialogue with the Tibetan representatives in good faith as this is the only ways to bring about a lasting and peaceful solution to the problems in Tibet .... Our interest is in long term stability, which can only be achieved through respect for human rights and greater autonomy for the Tibetans."

FROM THE ICT BLOG:

A Special Tribute on the Occasion of His Holiness's 75th Birthday from Golog, Amdo - July 16, 2010