As the President of the United States sleeps in China tonight, one must wonder what thoughts remain in his mind for tomorrow's talks with Hu Jintao.
Human rights have been heard coming from President Obama throughout the visit, but in a vague and wire-walking way. He addressed a group of students in an open format, which is a first for a US President in China, stating the need for freedom of expression, open access to information, religious freedom and expression.
While it is hard to know exactly what will be said during the meeting between the two heads tomorrow, the abuse and stamping out of independent voices is certain. Just recently, three Tibetans were executed connected to a riot that occured during a protest in March 2008. Kunchok Tsephel was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for allegedly disclosing state secrets. The charges stemmed from Kunchok running the Tibetan cultural and literary website, www.tibetcm.com, where he made it known the abuses that were taking place in Tibet during the March 2008 riot.
According to phayul.com reports, "The Chinese government does not need to define what constitutes a ‘state secret.’ ‘State secrets’ laws and regulations are implemented through Communist Party controlled-government bodies that work together with state security, and through criminal laws, to create an opaque system that controls the classification of—and criminalizes the disclosure or possession of—state secrets."
It will be interesting to see how "freedom of information and expression" goes along with 15 years for "telling it like it is."
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
2009 Report on International Religious Freedoms-Tibet/China
2009 Report on International Religious Freedoms-Tibet/China
The Report on International Religious Freedoms was released on Oct. 26, 2009. The follwing excerts where taken from the report. The following abuses and violations of Religous freedom and human rights are just a very small fraction of the ones listed in the full report. To view the full report visit http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127268.htm.
--The Government's repression of religious freedom also remained severe in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas as well as in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) during the reporting period.
---On March 25, 2009, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), PSB personnel beat to death Phuntsok, a monk from the Drango Monastery in Kardze, after he passed out leaflets on the property of PSB headquarters
---The Government repressed the religious activities of "underground" Roman Catholic clergy in large part due to their avowed loyalty to the Vatican, which the Government accused of interfering in the country's internal affairs. The Government also continued to restrict severely the activities of groups it designated as "evil religions," including several Christian groups and Falun Gong.
---Ethnic Tibetans and Uighurs had difficulty obtaining passports from the Government, which limited their ability to travel abroad for religious purposes.
---The Government continued "patriotic education" campaigns that included requiring monks and nuns to sign statements personally denouncing the Dalai Lama. Other restrictions on religious freedom also continued.
---U.S. officials protested the imprisonment of, asked to attend the trials of, and requested further information about numerous individual religious prisoners. U.S. officials encouraged the Government to address policies that restricted Tibetan Buddhist religious practices and that contributed to tensions.
---Since 1999, the Secretary of State has assigned the "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) designation to the country under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
---Parents were prohibited from allowing minors to engage in religious activities according to Article 14 of the Xinjiang Implementing Measures of the Law on the Protection of Minors.
---According to Article 251 of the Criminal Law, officials who deny citizens their right to religious belief can be sentenced to up to two years in prison.
---The Government continued to conduct "patriotic education" campaigns in monasteries, requiring monks and nuns to sign statements personally denouncing the Dalai Lama and to study communist political texts and propaganda praising the Chinese government's management of religious affairs. Noncompliant monks and nuns faced expulsion from their monasteries. Many monks and some abbots fled their monasteries to avoid complying.
---According to a Xinhua report, on March 9, 2009, a monk named Sheldrup died after reportedly committing suicide due to "stress." In April 2008, Chinese authorities detained and severely beat Sheldrup following peaceful protests. After releasing him, authorities published his name on "wanted" signs, which indicated they would detain him again. Sheldrup left his monastery and went into hiding until his death.
---On March 14, 2008, Chinese authorities detained Tendar after he attempted to prevent police from beating a monk. Police reportedly tortured Tendar during his detention, causing serious bodily injuries that led to his death on June 19, 2008.
The Report on International Religious Freedoms was released on Oct. 26, 2009. The follwing excerts where taken from the report. The following abuses and violations of Religous freedom and human rights are just a very small fraction of the ones listed in the full report. To view the full report visit http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127268.htm.
--The Government's repression of religious freedom also remained severe in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas as well as in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) during the reporting period.
---On March 25, 2009, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), PSB personnel beat to death Phuntsok, a monk from the Drango Monastery in Kardze, after he passed out leaflets on the property of PSB headquarters
---The Government repressed the religious activities of "underground" Roman Catholic clergy in large part due to their avowed loyalty to the Vatican, which the Government accused of interfering in the country's internal affairs. The Government also continued to restrict severely the activities of groups it designated as "evil religions," including several Christian groups and Falun Gong.
---Ethnic Tibetans and Uighurs had difficulty obtaining passports from the Government, which limited their ability to travel abroad for religious purposes.
---The Government continued "patriotic education" campaigns that included requiring monks and nuns to sign statements personally denouncing the Dalai Lama. Other restrictions on religious freedom also continued.
---U.S. officials protested the imprisonment of, asked to attend the trials of, and requested further information about numerous individual religious prisoners. U.S. officials encouraged the Government to address policies that restricted Tibetan Buddhist religious practices and that contributed to tensions.
---Since 1999, the Secretary of State has assigned the "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) designation to the country under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
---Parents were prohibited from allowing minors to engage in religious activities according to Article 14 of the Xinjiang Implementing Measures of the Law on the Protection of Minors.
---According to Article 251 of the Criminal Law, officials who deny citizens their right to religious belief can be sentenced to up to two years in prison.
---The Government continued to conduct "patriotic education" campaigns in monasteries, requiring monks and nuns to sign statements personally denouncing the Dalai Lama and to study communist political texts and propaganda praising the Chinese government's management of religious affairs. Noncompliant monks and nuns faced expulsion from their monasteries. Many monks and some abbots fled their monasteries to avoid complying.
---According to a Xinhua report, on March 9, 2009, a monk named Sheldrup died after reportedly committing suicide due to "stress." In April 2008, Chinese authorities detained and severely beat Sheldrup following peaceful protests. After releasing him, authorities published his name on "wanted" signs, which indicated they would detain him again. Sheldrup left his monastery and went into hiding until his death.
---On March 14, 2008, Chinese authorities detained Tendar after he attempted to prevent police from beating a monk. Police reportedly tortured Tendar during his detention, causing serious bodily injuries that led to his death on June 19, 2008.
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Snow Lion Weeps Again
Above: 25 year old Loyak before execution You would think that eventually people would become accustomed to the murder of their fellow beings for political maneuvering. You may believe that "killing is a necessary evil," as one of my former army chaplains dictated to me, angrily. But thankfully, there still exists beings that disagree with these thoughts. Maybe you are one of them.
On October 20th, 2009 four Tibetans were executed by the Chinese government. Lobsang Gyaltsen, 27, Loyak, 25, Penkyi, 21, and an unidentified Tibetan were sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a mass demonstration more than a year ago in the Tibetan capital. The Chinese press made no known mention of the sentencing or the execution according to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
Some 200 beings recently protested in Minnesota carrying four black coffins to signify the loss of their loved human family. Jigme Ugen, President of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of Minnesota, denounced the executions and called upon the US and President Obama to make a stand against such violations of Human Rights as he is currently about to make his first tour of China since becoming the US President.
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota sent a representative to show his support and Amy Klobuchar sent a message stating that she was, " deeply saddened by the news of the executions
of the four young Tibetans by the Lhasan Municipality Intermediate People's Court, just weeks before President Obama is set to visit Beijing. These sorts of politically motivated executions violate internationally recognised human rights standards and should not be tolerated wherever they occur."
Some say that it is not an American problem. Not to long ago minorities in this country were tortured, murdered, raped and jailed with no protection or aid. Then a nation rose up, above themselves, for the good of the Human race, the Human brotherhood and tried to set things right. These borders are fictional....it's time to rise above ourselves.
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