Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy
In the Department of Information and International Relations Larry and I met with the Executive Director of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Lobsang Nyandak. His office has been very busy preparing for the South East Asia NGO Human Rights Seminar on Tibet. This seminar aims to educate South East Asian NGOs about the Tibetan situation in hopes of fostering support through out the region. Countries represented include: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam.
ITIM: What is the mission of Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) and some of the projects the center is working on?
NYANDAK: TCHRD was established in January 1996 as a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) under the Indian government. The main purpose of this center is to effectively monitor all of the aspects of human rights abuses taking place in Tibet, and document this information and disseminate it to a larger public including UN agencies, all governments of the world and international NGOs. Another objective is to build awareness in our own community about the values of human rights and democracy. We also organize campaign programs for the release of political prisoners and involve the international community in this process. These are the three main activities that we have been focusing on. In terms of publishing and research we have available the Human Rights Update and our half yearly report and an annual report. We also have some subject specific research books like our most recent report on religious persecution in Tibet with detailed facts and figures like how many monks and nuns have been expelled from monasteries and nunneries, how many have died and been arrested due to the Strike Hard campaign. There is also a report on the state of education in Tibet. We interviewed about 50 Tibetan children who arrived from Tibet and this gave us a strong first hand report about why they were not given educational opportunities or how they have been discriminated or neglected. Upcoming issues for publication will be a report on torture and prison conditions in Tibet and also on socio-economical situation in Tibet. This is also an area of human rights and something very important to us because the Chinese officials normally do not deny that the civil and political rights of Tibetan people are being violated. They try to balance this by saying that Tibet has developed over the past many years, so we are trying to come up with a report which will contradict the Chinese government's claim of improvements in the lives of Tibetans in Tibet. We have done 70 interviews with Tibetan refugees in regards to this and aim to cover all three provinces of Tibet. We are also planning to come up with educational materials for school children focusing on human rights and democracy.
ITIM: How would you describe the current state of human rights in Tibet?
NYANDAK: It's very grave to be perfectly honest. The difference between human rights violations in China and violations in Tibet is completely different. Tibetan people are targeted as a people not as individuals. In that way, the Tibetan people are facing more repression than the Chinese people. For example we have hardly heard of the cattle prod being used on Chinese prisoners. There isn't a case that I know about, but for the Tibetans it is so common and it is used in such a degrading manner. Why I have been saying that the human rights situation in Tibet is getting worse and worse is because of the Strike Hard Campaign launched in China in 1996. The motive behind launching the Strike Hard Campaign in China is to eradicate the widespread corruption in China and to end the criminal practices in China, but in Tibet the whole motive is different. The work teams are being sent to all the Tibetan monasteries and nunneries with the objective to reeducate the monks and nuns to renounce His Holiness, to oppose those who support the independence of Tibet, to recognize the China appointed Panchen Lama and to work for the unity of the Chinese motherland. We have learned that over 4000 monks and nuns have been expelled from their monasteries, and so far, we have counted over 200 arrested because they do not comply with the Chinese authorities. Once expelled and having renounced their religious practices they then face the psychological problems of having lost their identity.
ITIM: What else has confirmed your view that human rights violations are getting worse in Tibet?
NYANDAK: The very recent incidents of May 1 and 4 at Drapchi Prison. It's confirmed that on these dates Tibetan political prisoners and non-political prisoners staged a protest against the Chinese officials there. As a result a shooting incident occurred. Our information says that two people were killed on the spot, four were shot and around two hundred were injured. So, you see with the brutality as such, they are not at all concerned about the international community. It's very clear that the Chinese are not concerned about human rights. Another story I have heard recently is from a prisoner whose hands were tied behind a hot chimney and he was made to stand there all day. His whole body was covered in blisters. This sort of thing is being done to the Tibetan prisoners despite the Chinese government is coming out to the international community and signing international conventions.
ITIM: It's been quite surprising to many of us that some of the most influential human rights organizations in the world have been unable to enter Tibet and do objective data gathering. Do you have a perspective of why they have not been able to do this?
NYANDAK: My individual thinking is that groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Asia, who want to monitor human rights abuses either by going to Tibet or coming to India, the problem is that they can't get visas. Recently, we invited Amnesty International to come to the Seminar. The person concerned confirmed everything and agreed to speak and do interviews with people here in Dharamsala, and finally, the Indian government didn't issue a visa. So, it's not only China, but many governments. On the part of the governments, China for example, does not want groups like Amnesty International (AI) to take up issues of human rights in Tibet and blast it to the world. India does not want AI to come, leaving aside their own problems with human rights, but concerning Tibet they do not want to jeopardize or embarrass the Chinese government by allowing them to participate in our seminar. On the part of AI, they should change their policy that says AI will only visit places as an official of AI and must clearly mention the purpose of their visit. If they really are interested in deeply monitoring these situations they could disguise themselves as any person. Policy is not important. Their work is more important.
ITIM: Do you have any ideas about how to actively involve children in the case of The Panchen Lama?
NYANDAK: TCHRD has proposed in our Panchen Lama campaign that on His birthday let's invite children from different schools to a birthday party and make it a really big event. Invite one child who has the same birthday as The Panchen Lama to cut the cake on behalf of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima and then let every individual sign a card and then form a delegation of the children to visit the Chinese Embassy to deliver the card.
ITIM: Turning to the issue of democracy, what are your thoughts about where the Tibetan community in exile is in terms of moving towards a democratic system?
NYANDAK: If you talk about since the 1960's it has really improved, but still, if you say that Tibetan democracy is ideal and all the factors are included, in that sense we are greatly lacking. Fortunately, however, during our forty years in exile, thousands of Tibetan youths have been educated in the modern sense and many are aware of what democracy is. Going forward is not too difficult for us, but giving our position of refugees our priorities will definitely be split between struggling for independence and democratization.
For more information about the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy and/or how to receive their publications contact:
Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy
Narthang Building
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala, H.P.
176215 INDIA
phone: +91 1892 23363/22457
fax: 23363/24957
Email: tchrd@dsala.tibet.net
TCHRD website
PO Box 194 Fishers, Indiana 46038-0194 United States
e-mail: rangzen@aol.com