Among the latest headlines:
- China Orders Sweeping Purge of Tibet’s “Splittist” Monasteries
- China ‘Betrayed’ Values of Olympics by Failing to Improve Human Rights
- Free Tibet, Say Australian Olympians
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind: China’s Plan to Contain Olympic Protests

China Orders Sweeping Purge Of Tibet’s “Splittist” Monasteries

The Chinese government has drawn up plans for a purge of Tibetan monasteries deemed to be subversive in the Kardze region of Tibet (Chinese province: Sichuan) according to an official document posted on a Chinese government website. The posting has been translated by Free Tibet Campaign and verified for accuracy by Tsering Topgyal, an academic at the London School of Economics.

The measures were posted in Tibetan only on the government’s Tibet information website on July 18 and were based on an earlier article that appeared in the official Tibet Daily newspaper.

According to the translated document, monks or nuns “charged with quite serious [medium] crimes will undergo serious re-education and will remain in custody until he/she co-operates by telling the truth, confessing their guilt and submitting a shuyig [self-criticising letter]. He/she must sincerely and voluntarily tell the truth.”

Severe punishment is prescribed for monasteries considered to have led protests in March and April. At monasteries where between 10% and 30% of monks took part in protests “all religious activities at the monastery will be halted. Movements of monks will be closely monitored.”

Following protests throughout Tibet earlier this year the Chinese government has intensified its crackdown on monasteries and nunneries. Tibet’s head of propaganda, Lie Que, was quoted by the official Tibet Daily newspaper on June 2 as saying: “We must clean out the monasteries and strengthen the administrative committees”.

The measures are highly significant as they are to be implemented by the Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefectural Government. Kandze is a prefecture in a largely Tibetan populated area of Sichuan province that has seen large protests by Tibetans in March and April. According to eyewitnesses, Chinese security forces opened fire on Tibetan protesters at Tongkor town in Kandze prefecture on April 3, killing at least eight Tibetans. The incident was widely reported.

Stephanie Brigden, Director of Free Tibet Campaign, said: “In 2006, Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture concluded that ‘torture remains widespread in China’. Free Tibet Campaign is concerned these measures provide the conditions in which inhumane treatment or torture could take place.

“In a broader context the measures represent a charter for further repression. They also provide the most damning proof yet that China has launched its harshest crackdown on religion in Tibet in decades.

“World leaders attending the Games must use their visit as an opportunity to do more than simply watch the athletics. They must raise publicly their concerns at the ongoing and deepening repression in Tibet. And as China uses the Games to emerge on to the world’s top table, world leaders must impress onChina’s leaders that such a position imposes fundamental obligations on China to respect human rights.”

Brigden has also written to British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, calling on the British government to “publicly and unequivocally condemn the measures” contained in the document.

China ‘Betrayed’ Values Of Olympics By Failing To Improve Human Rights

China has “betrayed” the values of the Olympics by failing dismally to keep promises on improved human rights in the run-up to the Games, Amnesty International said tonight.

In a highly critical final assessment 10 days before the Beijing games begin, Amnesty said the International Olympic Committee’s intention to spur reforms by awarding the event to China appeared to have failed.

“The Chinese authorities have broken the promises they made when they were granted the Olympics seven years ago,” Amnesty’s UK campaigns director, Tim Hancock, said.

“They told the world that the Olympics would help bring human rights to China, but the government continues to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights ahead of the Games.

“The Olympic values have been betrayed by the Chinese government.”

The 17-page report praises Beijing for “some important legislative and institutional reforms” connected to human rights but lists areas of concern, notably the death penalty, detention without trial, the persecution of rights activists and the lack of media freedom.

Whatever the IOC’s hopes, in some instances preparations for the Olympics had made things worse, Amnesty said, particularly in the use of so-called “re-education through labour” and “enforced drug rehabilitation” orders to round up dissidents and perceived troublemakers.

“The police have specifically targeted petitioners and rights activists in their efforts to ‘clean up’ Beijing ahead of the games,” the report notes, adding that more adherents of the banned Falungong religious group had also been held ahead of the event.

It adds: “In fact, the crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers has intensified because Beijing is hosting the Olympics.

“The authorities have stepped up repression of dissident voices in their efforts to present an image of ‘stability’ and ‘harmony’ to the outside world.”

Among those whose cases the report highlights is Hu Jia , a well-known dissident jailed in April for three and a half years on charges of subversion.

The report also notes continued restrictions placed on the activities of foreign journalists reporting in China, something China specifically pledged would end ahead of the Olympics.

According to Amnesty, foreign correspondents in China reported more than 250 instances of interference with their work since the start of last year, despite temporary media regulations that were supposed to allow greater freedom.

Free Tibet, say Australian Olympians

A Large chunk of Australia’s Olympic team will enter Beijing opposed to its occupation of Tibet.

More than one-third of athletes in the team - 35 of the 100 polled - declared that they wanted China to withdraw from the strife-torn home of the Dalai Lama.

Tibet has been a huge talking point among athletes in the wake of riots and a ruthless response by Chinese authorities this year.

Tour de France cyclist Cadel Evans, perhaps now the most famous Australian Olympian to compete at the Beijing Games - triggered world headlines when he wore a Free Tibet T-shirt during a race in Belgium earlier this year.

Evans recently repeated his show of support for the Tibetan cause, wearing a Free Tibet T-shirt under the prestigious yellow jersey preserved for leaders of the Tour de France, during stage 15 of this year’s race.

The International Olympic Committee has toughened its interpretation of the Olympic Charter for Beijing, adding a clause banning demonstrations or political, religious or racial propaganda.

The Chinese have been extremely sensitive about any form of Tibetan protest, and they have banned any demonstrations on the issue.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: China’s Plan to Contain Olympic Protests

Chinese authorities are providing ‘protest pens’ in a last ditch effort to contain, conceal and discourage demonstrations at next month’s Olympics while appeasing advocates of the right to peaceful protest.

The three designated protest zones, located in public parks, are 11 to 12 kilometres from the main Olympic venues and would-be demonstrators must first apply for permission from the city’s police.

It is unclear whether the media will be able to cover protests. According to The Age, at least two of the parks ban commercial photography or filming. The third park charges money for commercial photography or filming.

Details of the application procedure, who may apply to protest, whether permits will be granted for demonstrations on particularly sensitive issues such as human rights, Tibet, and East Turkestan, and whether demonstrators may use posters, banners or other visual tools are all unclear.

‘While allowing some scope for legal protest is an unprecedented move for China, it is clear that the initiative is designed to contain rather than facilitate free expression’ said Paul Bourke, Executive Officer of the Australia Tibet Council.

Any demonstrations outside of the designated zones are likely to be short-lived. In addition to the 110,000-strong Olympic security police and 300,000 security cameras, ‘more than a million residents have been mobilised to detect security threats’, according to The Age.

Olympic security chief Liu Shaowu has also revealed that many of the security forces will be in plain clothes or disguised as Olympic volunteers.

Tibet Support Groups are skeptical of any suggestion that Chinese authorities are softening their stance on peaceful demonstrations.

‘Having to apply for a permit allows the Chinese government to Identify protesters, and herding protesters into pens merely allows the Chinese government to keep protesters out of sight’ said Matt Whitticase of the UK’s Free Tibet Campaign.