Ethnic Minority Rights

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on September 20 called for the Chinese government "to allow an independent body to verify the current status" of Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the boy the Dalai Lama recognized in 1995 as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. During meetings in Geneva, UNCRC Chairman Jacob Doek said the boy "has been taken against his and his parents' will from Tibet to China," and told the Chinese representative that Chinese authorities could "clear the air" by allowing a visit, according to a report the following day by the exiled Tibetan government. The Chinese official reportedly replied that he would forward the request, and advised Chairman Doek that the Chinese government has not permitted "foreigners" to visit the boy and his parents because "too much interference creates too many problems," and the family does not want "to be disturbed due to security reasons." The U.S.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has recommended that the Chinese government "allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the well-being" of Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the boy the Dalai Lama recognized as the Panchen Lama in 1995, in Concluding Observations of a report published on September 30. The UNCRC, a part of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, also urges Chinese authorities to "take all necessary measures to ensure the full implementation" of its Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, and to respect the religious freedom of Tibetan children by allowing them to choose to receive a religious education, to participate in religious festivals, and to choose whether or not to attend classes on atheism.

Monks at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), found 28-year-old monk Ngawang Jangchub dead in his room in early October, the day after he argued with instructors teaching “patriotic education” classes at the monastery, according to a November 8 report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Ngawang Jangchub apparently refused to comply with a requirement to denounce the Dalai Lama as a "splittist" and pledge loyalty to the Chinese government, requirements under patriotic education, and defended the Dalai Lama's role as a Buddhist leader. In addition, he said that Tibet is not a historical part of China. Ngawang Jangchub reportedly told instructors that he knew he could face expulsion from the monastery for making the remarks, but that he did not regret his words.

Police in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), interrupted a July prayer session at one of Lhasa's principle monasteries, "fired" the presiding monastic official, and subjected him to one year of surveillance (see Criminal Procedure Law, Chapter VI), according to a November 18 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report. Jangchub Gyaltsen, a "disciplinarian" at Sera Monastery who was responsible for ensuring that monks adhere to monastic rules, was reading aloud a prayer request that a Tibetan worshipper asked another Sera monk, Tsering Dondrub, to write. Public security officials heard Jangchub Gyaltsen read a reference to the Dalai Lama and seized the paper slip from him, according to an RFA source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), detained five monks from the Drepung monastery, the urban area's largest, on November 23, according to November 29 reports by Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). The monks refused instructions from officials conducting "patriotic education" at Drepung to sign a document denouncing the Dalai Lama as a separatist, pledging loyalty to the Chinese government, and agreeing that Tibet is part of China, according to TCHRD. Drepung officials, who probably were members of the monastery’s Democratic Management Committee, expelled the monks from the monastery and handed them over to the PSB.

The Xinjiang Chemical Engineering Technical School (XCETS) garnered praise from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Propaganda Department for placing 60 minority graduates in jobs in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, in an April 20 "hot topics" article in Tianshan. According to the article, this group of 60 will be the largest group of minority students that the autonomous region has ever sent at one time to other Chinese provinces for employment. The XCETS graduates heading to Shenzhen are trained in chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, and "other technical fields." The group represents over 10 percent of the school's graduating class. Lu Guohui, the XCETS party secretary and headmaster, said that the school may send three or four more groups of students by the end of 2005.

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region have detained a Uighur religious instructor and 37 of her students, according to the German-based World Uighur Congress and as reported by Agence-France Presse on August 15. Aminan Momixi, 56, was teaching the Koran to students between the ages of 7 and 20 in her home on August 1, when police detained the group. Police accused Momixi of "illegally possessing religious materials and subversive historical information" and reportedly denied her access to a lawyer. Although central government officials assured the foreign press in March 2005 that minors are allowed to worship freely in China, the Xinjiang government prohibits children under 18 years of age from entering mosques or receiving religious instruction even in their own homes.

On March 17, Chinese authorities released Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent Uighur businesswoman and civic leader, on medical parole. She gained her freedom some 17 months before her sentence was to end and shortly before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to visit Beijing. U.S. diplomats accompanied Kadeer on a flight to the United States, where she will join her family and receive medical treatment.

Rebiya Kadeer’s case has long been a significant irritant in U.S.-China bilateral diplomatic relations. The Chinese government had promised several times in the past to release Ms. Kadeer, but informed sources say that internal conflict between Xinjiang government and Communist Party authorities and central government officials prevented her release.