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Hundreds missing in Tibet: rights groups
Washington (AFP) March 9, 2009 Hundreds of Tibetans remain unaccounted for a year after China cracked down on mass protests, rights groups charged Monday, accusing Beijing of covering up torture and other abuses. The findings come as Tibet marks Tuesday the sensitive 50th anniversary of a major uprising in 1959 that led the Himalayan region's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to flee into exile. Last year's anniversary sparked the largest protests in the region in two decades, throwing a spotlight on Tibet just months before China held the Olympic Games. The International Campaign for Tibet, conducting research based on official statistics, estimated that 1,200 Tibetans were unaccounted for in connection with the demonstrations. It listed names and details for 600 of them. "The Chinese government has engaged in a comprehensive cover-up of the torture, disappearances and killings," the group said in a report. "The Chinese authorities have sought to represent the unprecedented unrest across the Tibetan plateau over the past year as one 'violent riot,'" it said. "The reality is that more than 130 overwhelmingly peaceful protests have occurred across Tibetan areas." The group said that Tibetans in detention have been treated with "extreme brutality," with some unable to walk or speak after their release and some of them beaten to death. It said that Chinese authorities used a new railway -- hailed by Beijing as a sign of progress -- to herd prisoners to prisons in adjacent Qinghai province. "Every prisoner seemed to be hurt badly and some had blood on their faces. Most were not wearing shoes. There was an old lady in the group with heavy shackles on her feet, and no shoes. She was being beaten by police," the group quoted a Tibetan as saying. In a separate report, Human Rights Watch said that authorities have held more than 100 trials of Tibetan protesters but charged that the courts were so politicized that fair trials were impossible. "Both the arrests and the releases seem to have been arbitrary, and we still know next to nothing about those who are still detained or have been imprisoned," said Sophie Richardson, the group's Asia advocacy director. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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China deploys extra troops along Tibet border
Beijing (AFP) March 9, 2009China said Monday it had deployed extra soldiers along Tibet's international border as part of ramped-up security measures ahead of the 50th anniversary of a failed anti-Chinese uprising. |
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