À: TSG-L@LISTS.MCGILL.CA
General Assembly
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Twentieth session
Agenda item 3

Interactive Dialogue - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association [A/HRC/20/27 and A/HRC/20/27/Add.3]
Statement by Mr. Tenzin S. KAYTA on behalf of Society for Threatened Peoples
Thank you, Madam President
We welcome the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association's report in which he expresses utmost concern on peaceful assemblies that were either not allowed or violently dispersed in a number of countries, including China.
Madam President,
The human rights situation in all Tibetan regions of the PRC have been deteriorating following the March 2008 widespread protests by Tibetan people against Chinese repressive policies. Since March 2008, after more than 300 peaceful protests by Tibetans, it has now been documented that the Chinese authorities had sentenced over 549 Tibetans from 6 months to 20 years imprisonment, 2 executed, 12 given life sentence, 5 received suspended death sentence and many disappeared for taking part in protest.
In relation to the Special Rapporteur's intervention along with 5 other Special Procedure mandate holders on the situation at Kirti Monastery and China's violent suppression of Tibetan protests in Luhou, Seda and Rangtang, many Tibetans including monks and nuns have resorted to self-immolation protests "calling for freedom" and "return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet".
Xinhua news agency reported today that a Tibetan herder died and another one was seriously injured after self-burning on wednesday in northwest China's Qinghai Province. So far 41 Tibetan monks, nuns and laypeople set themselves on fire to protest against Chinese repressive policies and demanding their basic rights and over 30 self-immolators reportedly dead.
We support the call of the Special Rapporteur that the Chinese authorities "provide as soon as possible detailed responses to all the concerns raised in the other communications due to the grave nature of the allegations received with respect of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association."
Madame President,
A Chinese diplomat just reaffirmed that Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration of its citizen. But in practice, for the past more than five decades, the Tibetan people, like the Mongolians and Uyghurs and Chinese struggled to exercise their rights to freedom of assembly and of association. This struggle continues despite the Chinese authorities continue to bar and restrict without hesitation any form of peaceful public assembly of dissent. Last week, thousands of Tibetans gathered at the funeral of a Tibetan nomad who self-immolated on 15 June but China responded to cremation by displaying force and deployed more troops. Such action can be termed provocative and intimidating the Tibetan people.
We are grateful that the Special Rapporteur urged the Chinese authorities to refrain from using force during peaceful demonstrations and call upon the Chinese authorities to positively respond the Special Rapporteur's request for a visit made last year.
In conclusion, Madame President, after taking note of China's right of reply last evening to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights’statement, we urge the Chinese authorities that "criminalising" the predominantly peaceful protests by the Tibetan people cannot be considered as a sincere approach to solve the chronic human rights crisis in Tibet regions. We believe, a genuine adherence to "seeking truth from facts" as advocated by Deng Xiaoping is the correct approach.


I thank you, Madam President.



Date: 21 June 2012
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The International Tibet Network is a global coalition of Tibet-related non-governmental organisations. Its purpose is to maximise the effectiveness of the worldwide Tibet movement, which is dedicated to ending human rights violations in Tibet and to working actively to restore the Tibetan people's right under international law to determine their future political, economic, social, religious and Cultural status.
The Network pursues its goals by working to increase the capacity of individual Member Organisations, through the coordination of strategic campaigns and by increased cooperation among organizations, thereby strengthening the Tibet movement as a whole. See www.tibetnetwork.org for more information.
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