Over three months since the outbreak of protests in March, Tibet remains under media blackout with over one thousand Tibetan detainees unaccounted for and demonstrations continuing across many Tibetan areas.

With China insisting that it has restored ‘normalcy’ to Tibet, in this special report we take a look at the real situation on the ground in Tibet.

Casualties and Arrests
Working from both Tibetan and Chinese sources, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has tallied 203 deaths, around 1,000 injured and 5,175 arrests since 14 March 2008. Official Chinese reports continue to list just one Tibetan ‘insurgent’ killed.

“Many hundreds, possibly thousands, of Tibetans languish in prisons or detention centres without the government publically acknowledging their whereabouts or formally charging them with a criminal offence.

Chinese officials reported that 2566 individuals surrendered to government authorities by 9 April in Lhasa and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Another 1393 were detained by the government by that date. On the 2566 who had surrendered, 2198 were released, with 368 remaining in detention without formal charge. Of the 1393 detained by police 411 were formally arrested, although charges have not been made public. No official information was provided regarding how many of those detained by police have been released. Official information thus left over one thousand cases unaccounted for. No official updates of the number of arrests and detentions have been provided since 9 April.”

Photographic evidence of the deaths
WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGES - Viewer discretion is advised. The images of death and injury are extremely graphic and disturbing but the reality of the situation must be known. Click to view images

Ongoing Protests
By the end of March protests had spread throughout Tibetan areas. While protests in Lhasa have been successfully suppressed through a combination of mass troop deployment, arrest and detention of thousands and extensive police surveillance, demonstrations have continued in many Tibetan areas.

Certain areas have witnessed particularly frequent protests and harsh responses on the part of security forces. Aba (Chinese: Ngawa) and Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) County in Sichuan remain significant hotspots with scores of monks and nuns arrested in recent weeks.

Military Lockdown
On 12 June, three months after unrest began in Lhasa, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang stated ‘Lhasa and all of Tibet are still not open to the outside world’.

Both the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas in neighbouring Chinese provinces remain under a military lockdown. They are off-limits to foreign tourists, most journalists and other independent observers. Tibetans are living in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation and in most cases are not permitted to move more than a few miles from their home.

Media Blackout
Despite Chinese government promises of complete media freedom in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, almost all Tibetan areas remain off-limits to all but a handful of approved foreign journalists.

The Chinese government expelled journalists from Lhasa shortly after unrest began. Access to international media has been limited to three tightly controlled government-organized visits, on 27-28 March, 9 April and 6 June during which Tibetan monks defied Chinese minders to approach and talk to journalists. Most international media outlets have had no access at all to Tibet since March.

By contrast, the government initially allowed almost unfettered access to areas impacted by the devastating earthquake in Sichuan on 12 May .

According to Amnesty International, “… [p]olice and security forces have been reported by reliable sources to have confiscated mobile telephones, computers and other electronic communications equipment in hundreds of raids on monasteries, nunneries and private homes. Individuals risk arrest and imprisonment for passing any type of information to outsiders regarding the protests and crackdown.”

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has reported 40 incidents of foreign journalists facing obstruction while reporting on topics related to Tibet. In some instances Chinese authorities scrutinized, confiscated or deleted reporting materials. In addition, both Tibetans and Han Chinese have been punished and intimidated for talking to foreign journalists.

Attacks on the Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly assured the Chinese Government that he does not seek independence for Tibet but instead proposes a level of meaningful autonomy for Tibetans within the People’s Republic of China. Nonetheless, Chinese authorities have intensified verbal attacks on the Dalai Lama through the state-controlled media, prompting doubt over the sincerity of the offer to hold a seventh formal round of the Tibet-China dialogue.

The Dalai Lama has been labelled a ‘master of rhetoric’ who is attempting to ‘split the motherland’. Meanwhile the ‘Dalai Clique’ is accused of having ‘meticulously planned and organized’ the unrest in Tibet.

‘Patriotic Re-education’
At the beginning of April, Chinese authorities launched a renewed two-month ‘patriotic re-education’ campaign. While previous such campaigns have primarily targeted monastic institutions, new efforts also include government employees, security forces, farmers and nomads.

The stated aim of the new campaign is to “vehemently oppose the Dalai clique” and “to expose the true nature of the Dalai clique” and “March 14 Riot”. Special work teams are sent to monasteries, schools and other institutions to carry out the campaign. Tools include inviting ‘experts’ to give speeches, screening propaganda films and holding denunciation sessions of the Dalai Lama. Sessions are compulsory with attendees forced to accept and endorse particular versions of history and particular accounts of events that led to unrest in March this year.