CECC Political Prisoner Data Shows Rise in Tibetan Detentions in 2007

May 5, 2008

According to information available in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's (CECC) Political Prisoner Database (PPD) since January 30, 2008, the number of known political detentions of Tibetans in 2007 (24) is greater than the number of such known detentions in 2006 (13) and 2004 (15), is currently the same as the number in 2005, and may surpass the number of known political detentions in 2003 (33) and 2002 (36) as additional information about detentions in 2007 emerges from China.

According to information available in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's (CECC) Political Prisoner Database (PPD) since January 30, 2008, the number of known political detentions of Tibetans in 2007 (24) is greater than the number of such known detentions in 2006 (13) and 2004 (15), is currently the same as the number in 2005, and may surpass the number of known political detentions in 2003 (33) and 2002 (36) as additional information about detentions in 2007 emerges from China. (See, for example, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports on June 21, August 22, and October 29, on incidents in Sichuan province, Qinghai province, and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) for some reports of detention that are not currently included in the 24 Tibetan PPD records for 2007). Chinese authorities detain and imprison Tibetans for peaceful expression and non-violent action, charging them under China's Criminal Law with crimes such as "splittism" (Article 103) that allegedly "endanger state security."

The increase in known political detentions in 2007 is a negative development in a trend that has generally shown decreasing political imprisonment of Tibetans over recent years. Fourteen of the 24 detentions in 2007 are linked directly to making statements about the Dalai Lama or possessing printed or recorded material about him, based on NGO and news media reports referenced in the PPD. Most of the remainder of the 2007 detentions are associated in some manner with Tibetan devotion to the Dalai Lama and to the Tibetan cultural identity that he embodies, based on CECC analysis of the NGO and news media reports. Eleven of the detentions took place in Sichuan province, eight in Gansu province, four in the TAR, and one in Qinghai province.

A factor contributing to the increase of Tibetan political detention may be rising Tibetan resentment against Communist Party campaigns and policy initiatives, and against recent government-issued legal measures that increase control over and interfere with Tibetan Buddhist activity. For more information on the following examples, see the CECC 2007 Annual Report.

Concurrent with the pressures that such policies and campaigns apply to Tibetan culture, a number of public disturbances involving Tibetans have occurred since mid-2007. The CECC PPD does not record as political prisoners persons who were detained or imprisoned for violent activity such as assault and destroying property.

  • June, Daofu (Tawu) county, Ganzi (Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Sichuan province. "[H]undreds of Tibetans blocked a road and staged a hunger strike" in the Bamei (Garthar) area during a two-week long protest that began on June 5 in response to Chinese mining activity on a mountain that local Tibetans consider to be sacred, according to a June 21 RFA report. After Tibetans destroyed a number of vehicles, authorities dispatched approximately 300 security personnel to the scene. Authorities detained approximately 40 Tibetans who intended to petition government officials against the mining, and had released 13 of them by the filing date of the RFA report. A June 25 Xinhua report acknowledged the incident, saying that 300 villagers had damaged mining equipment and vehicles and seriously injured two government workers. Police had "captured" a number of villagers to protect government workers, and had released all but five of them.
  • June, Suo (Sog) county, Naqu (Nagchu) prefecture, TAR. A June 27 dispute between Tibetans and migrant Hui Muslim traders over the purchase price of cordyceps sinensis (a valuable ingredient in Chinese traditional medicine) that Tibetans had gathered resulted in a brawl and the detention of approximately 30 Tibetans, according to a July 3 Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) report. The commotion abated when a senior lama from Tsanden Monastery intervened. TCHRD reported in its September Human Rights Update that "dozens of people were seriously injured from both sides," and that the Naqu Intermediate People's Court sentenced approximately 13 Tibetans to terms of imprisonment of one to three years. The reports did not provide information about whether or not any non-Tibetans were detained or punished for involvement in the fighting.
  • July, Yajiang (Nyagchukha) county, Ganzi TAP. Hundreds of Tibetan nomads that a July 31 RFA report described as "women and youngsters" blocked a local highway on July 23 in protest of the 2002 imprisonment of a popular local religious teacher, Tenzin Deleg, after authorities forbade Tibetans from displaying his portrait during the dedication of a new building in a monastery that he had established prior to his incarceration. Authorities detained 10 Tibetans and released all of them on July 29 except two women who allegedly organized the protest. TCHRD reported on August 31 that authorities released both of the women on August 27.
  • August, Litang (Lithang) county, Ganzi TAP. An August 1 incident at a horse-racing festival resulted in the detention of Tibetan nomad Ronggyal Adrag, who mounted the speaker's platform and called for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet, the release of Gedun Choekyi Nyima (the Panchen Lama identified by the Dalai Lama), and Tibetan independence. When Tibetans gathered at the detention center to call for his release, authorities deployed People's Armed Police (PAP) forces to disperse the crowd and patrol the area. In November, the Ganzi Intermediate People's Court sentenced Ronggyal Adrag and three other Tibetans to terms of imprisonment ranging from 3 to 10 years on charges of splittism, espionage (Criminal Law, Article 110), or both. (See reports by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) on August 2, August 10, and August 24; and by RFA on August 2, August 8, and August 10.)
  • August, Maqin (Machen) county, Guoluo (Golog) TAP, Qinghai province. A violent clash developed on August 4 between Tibetans and Hui Muslims after a Tibetan claimed that he found a human tooth in a dish served at a restaurant operated by a Hui Muslim, according to an August 9 RFA report. A local Tibetan religious leader attempted to intervene and calm the situation, but hundreds of Tibetans destroyed a local mosque three days later, according to the same report. RFA reported on August 22 that authorities had detained "up to 20 people, including two senior monks" after the violent clashes, but a government official told RFA that police were conducting investigations and none of the Tibetans had been formally arrested.
  • September, Pulan (Purang) county, Ali (Ngari) prefecture, TAR. A group of approximately 20 Tibetans attempted on September 28 to form a "human shield" around an open-air Tibetan Buddhist religious statue in Darchen village to prevent authorities from demolishing it, according to a November 1 ICT report based on eyewitness accounts by foreign tourists. An estimated 80-100 armed security officials dispersed the Tibetans and destroyed the statue, located near Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred peak, Mount Kailash (Gang Rinpoche). Article 44 of China's Regulation on Religious Affairs (English translation available on the China Elections and Governance Web site), effective on March 1, 2005, requires the demolition of outdoor religious statues built in violation of the regulation, including those built without government permission (Article 24). The TAR Implementing Measures for the RRA expanded the types of Tibetan Buddhist religious structures that face demolition if they are not built in compliance with the measures (see Articles 13, 48).
  • November, Biru (Driru) county, Naqu prefecture, TAR. A quarrel on November 20 between three teenage monks and Chinese shopkeepers in Baiga (Bankar) township escalated into a confrontation that public security officials tried to break up by firing warning shots, according to a November 27 RFA report. Police detained two of the monks and beat the third one, who was wearing a Dalai Lama pendant, according to the report. Several hundred Tibetan nomads gathered to appeal for release of the two juvenile monks and became violent when officials refused, ransacking government buildings and vehicles. Security officials detained an unknown number of persons the next day, when the crowd exceeded 1,000, according to RFA. Authorities ordered hundreds of PAP to the area and instituted a "patriotic education" campaign, according to an RFA report on December 19.

For additional information about the political detention and imprisonment of Tibetans, and how the Chinese government applies the Constitution and law in a manner that restricts and represses the exercise of human rights by Tibetans, see Section IV, Tibet: Special Focus for 2007, in the CECC 2007 Annual Report; Section VIII, Tibet, in the CECC 2006 Annual Report; and Section VI, Tibet, in the CECC 2005 Annual Report.