ITSN News Digest: 9 March, 2009

Posted Tue, 03/10/2009 - 17:09 by Jigme

HRW Report:
China: Hundreds of Tibetan Detainees and Prisoners Unaccounted for
'Quick Arrests and Quick Sentencings' Followed Tibetan Protests
The first extensive analysis of official Chinese accounts regarding the arrests and trials of Tibetan protesters from March 2008 shows that by the Chinese government's own count, there have been thousands of arbitrary arrests, and more than 100 trials pushed through the judicial system, Human Rights Watch said today. New Human Rights Watch research and analysis point to a judicial system so highly politicized as to preclude any possibility of protesters being judged fairly.
http://www.tibetnetwork.org/hrw50th

Amnesty International:
Media briefing on 50th anniversary of Tibet uprising
http://www.tibetnetwork.org/amnesty50th

IN TIBET

Monks [from Lutsang Monastery] taken for 're-education' before Tibet uprising anniversary (Times Onlines)

Police will take away more than 100 monks for political re-education today on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising that led to the flight of the Dalai Lama. The rounding up of 109 monks from Lutsang monastery in Qinghai province, western China, is one of a series of extraordinary security measures being implemented to prevent restive Tibetans from commemorating the anniversary with protests against Chinese rule.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5870898.ece

Explosions damage police cars in China (Times Online)

A quarrel at a checkpoint escalates with angry crowds gathering and home-made explosive devices thrown.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5872570.ece

Chinese state media says blasts damage police cars (AP)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g9U5REkQ1Nrtp_asPAQfAh...

China deploys extra troops along Tibet border (AFP)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iTSu2mRhsZE6E7OMDwm-K...

'Military buildup in Tibet may lead to more repression' (Press Trust Of India)
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/D39FE7DEB44F3C3F65257574001C0...

China steps up PR blitz for Tibet anniversary (AFP)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gPw3-Onf6Uma8e4b5klpa...

Tibet lockdown as anniversary nears (Aljazeera)
Chinese authorities have imposed a security lockdown in Tibet ahead of the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that led to the Dalai Lama fleeing into exile.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/03/2009394755441871....

ICT's report: "A Great Mountain Burned by Fire:China's Crackdown in Tibet" is now available on their website
http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-press-releases/a-great-mountai...

Monks lead Tibetan "civil disobedience" in China (Feature) (Asia-Pacific Features)
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/features/article_1463...

Authorities braced for conflict in Tibet (ABC News)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/09/2510621.htm?section=world

Security tight along China-Tibet border
(UPI)
China has tightened security along its border with Tibet as Tibetans prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of its failed uprising against Beijing.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/09/Security_tight_along_China-Tibet_...

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50th ANNIVERSARY

China tells MP to avoid Tibet rally (The Sydney Morning Herald)

THE Chinese ambassador in Canberra has sent a stern letter to an Australian MP, warning him against attending a pro-Tibet protest to be held outside Parliament House today.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/china-tells-mp-to-avoid-tibet-rally-20090...

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IN EXILE

Tibetan exiles plan major protests in India (AFP) - quotes Tenzin Choeying, SFT India
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iRwZh_E2W7wpjHoGosCWg...

Dutch cities raise Tibetan flag
http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/local_news/Dutch-cities-raise-Tibetan-fl...

Prayers begin for Dalai Lama's Long Life (Hinhustan Times)
http://tinyurl.com/6w5mop

ICT report: Over 1,200 Tibetans missing after crackdown - report. Quotes Kate Saunders, ICT

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-38414820090309

Tibet turns 50, in India (Sify.com)
Photos of Tibetans in Exile
http://sify.com/news/imagegallery/galleryDetail.php?hcategory=13733686&h...

PROPAGANDA

Tibetan officials urge people to learn more about Tibet's past (Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A senior Tibetan official on Sunday urged more people to learn about Tibet's past and the changes the region has gone through over the last five decades.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/08/content_10971732.htm

China launches first website on Tibet human rights (Xinhua)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/09/content_10976671.htm

CHINA

China: We don't want Western-style democracy (AP)

China will never become a Western-style democracy, the head of the country's rubber-stamp parliament said Monday, an apparent response to renewed calls for political reform from both inside and outside the country.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jGQDE0Z2LbFGRirzDQTs81...

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END

Facts about Tibet

Tibet lies at the centre of Asia, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometres (approximately 1 million square miles).

Despite over 50 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Tibetan people refuse to be conquered and subjugated by China.

The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and biggest plateau in the world, so Tibet is referred to as “the roof of the world”.

For Tibetans, the term Tibet means the 3 provinces of U'Tsang, Kham and Amdo, the area traditionally known as Tibet before China's invasion.

The English word Tibet is derived from the Arabic word Tubbat. This word is in turn derived via Persian from the Turkic word Tobad, meaning ‘the heights’.

Tibet was occupied by China in 1949, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959.

Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese occupation since 1949.

There are six million Tibetans in Tibet and roughly 150,000 Tibetans in exile in India and other countries.

Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama to be the temporal as well as spiritual leader of Tibet.

Thousands of Tibetans cross the mighty Himalaya on foot every year into exile, risking death, injuries and arrest.

Most Tibetans are Buddhist, but there are Muslims, Christians and practitioners of Bon, the indigenous religion of Tibet.

In 1948 Tibetan government representatives traveled to the US, UK and France on Tibetan government issued passports.

The exiled Tibetan people elected their first Prime Minister in 2000

In 2008, Tibetans took part in more than 130 separate peaceful protests against the Chinese government across the Tibetan Plateau.

Displaying a photograph of the Dalai Lama in Tibet can result in arrest.

In 1995 the Chinese government abducted the 6 year old Panchen Lama, one of Tibet's most important spiritual leaders. He is still missing.

The longest epic poem in the world is the story of a legendary Tibetan king, Gesar of Ling.

The Tibetan Plateau is the Earth's "Third Pole," providing life-sustaining waters for and regulating weather across south and east Asia.

March 10 is Tibetan National Uprising day. It marks the massive uprising in Tibet in 1959 that led to the escape of the Dalai Lama into exile.

Yak is a Tibetan term for the male of the species. Its female counterpart is called Dri.

Tibetans are denied many of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to self- determination, freedom of speech and religion.

Untll 1949 Tibet had its own government that managed its own domestic and foreign affairs; Tibet had its own national flag and its own currency.

According to Amnesty International more than 1,000 Tibetans were unaccounted for after the protests of 2008.

In the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, the year 2009 corresponds to the year 2136, the Year of the Earth Ox.

Prior to the uprisings of 2008, the last major protests by Tibetans against China's occupation of Tibet took place in 1989, when martial law was declared.

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