Friday, April 5, 2013

Week Ending April 5, 2013


International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 5 April 2013

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Tibetan Woman Self-Immolates Over Eviction - Radio Free Asia
4 April | A Tibetan woman reportedly set herself on fire in Yulshul as Chinese bulldozers approached to demolish her home. Her condition was “not life-threatening”.

Tibetan Students Questioned Over Observance - Radio Free Asia
4 April | Students from Northwest University of Nationalities in the provincial capital Lanzhou marked the fifth anniversary of the March 14, 2008 riot by “mourning” the crackdown by Chinese authorities on Tibetans by lighting butter lamps and writing on their class board.

News
Political prisoner’s early release seen as attempt to avoid detention-related death - TCHRD
4 April | Dawa Gyaltsen was released in critical condition. The former bank accountant was first detained for distributing and pasting Tibetan independence leaflets.

One of Tibet’s longest-serving political prisoners released after 17 years - ICT
3 April | Jigme Gyatso has been released after serving 17 years in prison. Tibetans were waiting with khatas in hand for his arrival in Sangchu, where he had been a monk.

China Frees Frail Tibetan in Prison for Activism - New York Times
2 April | Jigme Gyatso’s 18 year prison sentence was commuted to 17 years and he was released in very poor condition, suffering greatly from torture endured during imprisonment.

Fatal Landslide Draws Attention to the Toll of Mining on Tibet - New York Times
2 April | A collapse at the Gyama mine near Lhasa killed 83 workers, including 2 Tibetans. Mining activity in Tibet is highly contentious due to environmental destruction, lack of respect for sacred places, and economic benefits going to state companies and Han Chinese.

Opinions and Analysis
Interview with Tenzin Tsundue - Powder Magazine
4 April | Activist and writer Tenzin Tsundue discusses his writing, the power of art and its potential in revolution, and Tibetan independence and self-immolations.

Jimmy Carter says China pressuring Nepal on Tibetans - Reuters
1 April | China is putting pressure on Nepal to interrupt the flow of Tibetan refugees into the Himalayan nation, former United States President Jimmy Carter said on Monday.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/04/01/nepal-tibet-carter-china-idINDEE93009520130401

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Week Ending April 1, 2013


International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 1 April 2013

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Breaking: A Monk Sets Self Ablaze in Tibet - Phayul
29 March | 28 year old monk Kunchok Tenzin self-immolated and died on 26 March; due to severe communications blackouts, news did not reach exile until 2 days after.

Dismay over hasty secret cremation of Tibetan monk who self-immolated in Nepal - ICT
29 March | The body of Tibetan monk Drupchen Tsering (Drupche), who self-immolated on 13 February, has been cremated late at night by Nepali authorities without any religious rituals, despite diplomatic and direct actions by Tibetans in Nepal and around the world asking for the proper Buddhist rituals to be performed.

Self-Immolations of a Tibetan forest guard and mother of four in eastern Tibet - ICT
26 March | Forest guard Lhamo Kyab (43) set fire to himself on a wooden pyre and died on 25 March, and Kalkyi (30) a mother of four young children under 15 years old, self-immolated and died on 24 March.

News
China jails 20 on terror charges in Xinjiang - BBC
27 March | 20 Uighur men were jailed for terms up to life imprisonment for reportedly sending video clips abroad and listening to foreign radio broadcasts. They were charged with a variety of crimes including separatism and religious extremism.

Burning Protests Hinge On ‘Motivation’ -- Dalai Lama - BBC
26 March | In South Sikkim, the Dalai Lama addressed self-immolations by saying that the motivation of the self-immolators determines whether their actions are ‘good or bad’.

Opinion and Analysis
Moving Past The Wreckage of China’s Tibet Policy - The Diplomat
29 March | The time is ripe for Beijing to consider a dramatic re-orientation of their Tibet policies, and engage the Dalai Lama in productive dialogue instead of villifying him.

Is apartheid alive and well in Tibet? - News 24
27 March | Alistair Currie of Free Tibet writes about Chinese occupation of Tibet, and the racism and repression Tibetans face on a daily basis, on the occasion of Xi Jinping’s first visit to South Africa for the BRICS conference in Durban.

Will the Tibetan Parliament’s March 10 Statement Chill Free Speech? - TPR
25 March | TPR’s editorial board questions whether or not the TPiE’s 10 March statement will have a negative effect on exile Tibetans using their free speech to voice dissenting opinions.

“I am like an isolated patient with an infectious disease” by Woeser - High Peaks Pure Earth
21 March | Woeser describes her everyday experiences as a Tibetan in Lhasa: detainments, friends refusing to meet her out of fear, being surrounded by hostile Chinese propaganda.
http://highpeakspureearth.com/2013/i-am-like-an-isolated-patient-with-an-infectious-disease-by-woeser/