For Immediate Release
May 3, 2008

 Secretly Held Trials Reports

According to a confirmed report, six nuns of Ngangong Nunnery in Drago county (Ch: Dari) under Karze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) and laity were secretly tried by the local Chinese authorities. The nuns are identified as 1) Khando Lhamo, 2) Wamo, 3) Dolma Yangtso, 4)Yebuk, 5) Sonam Choedon, 6) Deyang and the layman as 7) Kelsang Dorje. The first three have been sentenced to seven years, whereas the later four sentenced to three years. In another similar incident of a secretly held trial, three monks from Dowa township in Rebkong (Ch: Tongren) have been sentenced.

Since the beginning of May, officials from Chakri township in Drago county (Ch: Dari) Karze TAP (Ch: Ganzi) pronounced to the local Tibetans that the higher authorities are willing to listen to the opinions of the general public over the recent protests in Tibet and its causes and solutions. The officials informed them they were free to share their opinion or suggestions to this effect. The officials continued to persuade that Tibetans will be neither incriminated for their opinions nor will their opinions be treated as an offense.

The Tibetans grew skeptical of the officials’ announcement. Except the former abbot of Chokri monastery, Geshe Namgyal Tsering, no one else came forward. In the former abbot’s remark, he stated the recent protests, according to him, were a manifestation of an enduring discontent and frustration of Tibetan people against the ill-devised policy of the Chinese government. The only solution out of this impasse, in his opinion, rests on direct talks between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Hu Jintao to resolve the Sino-Tibet problem. He continued that the situation will only exacerbate in the future if the government resorted to brutality and torture to suppress the Tibetan people. The Chinese authorities in the area have also acquiesced to the displaying of photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Tibetans in the area are perplexed and confused over such a Chinese attitude and are growing suspicious to the real agenda behind such a move of the authorities.

There have been numerous instances of arrested Tibetans subjected to harsh beatings and torture, to the point of being maimed. Above all, numbers of them have died, dilapidated and disabled, gone insane following and upon their release.

In view of the ongoing critical situation inside Tibet, we urge the United Nations and the International community and organizations to the following urgent needs:

  1. To immediately send an independent international fact-finding mission into Tibet
  2. To exert pressure on the PRC government to allow unfettered access to free press in whole of Tibet
  3. To pressure the PRC to end the brutal killings in the whole of Tibet
  4. To immediately release all the arrested and imprisoned Tibetans
  5. To extend immediate medical assistance to those injured Tibetans
  6. To allow free movement of people and provide access to daily needs

 - Tibetan Solidarity Committee