China's Crackdown

There is so much mention of a "harsh crackdown" by the Chinese in Tibet.

But what does this really mean, and is it just a ‘severe' form of restriction of movement, or the arrest of some ‘hooligans' which attacked some Han Chinese shops?

Well, best to let a Tibetan speak and reveal a glimpse of what life in Tibet under Han Chinese occupation really means.

(Details omitted to protect the identity of the person)

"On (*) March, around one hundred soldiers came to my house, broke down five doors, checked everything and threw it all on the floor and hit everyone present there. It was like a robbery or burglary. There were a lot of firearms and they were very rough with us. I was arrested. They took me with them, with my thumbs tied behind my back, very tightly, resulting in the whole area being numb since then"

"They treated us very harshly. Talking to each other, they said, "This is our chance", and they beat us. At first I thought that they were going to kill me, they hit my head a lot, and skull can be broken easily. It is not like the rest of the body. They took me to prison. For four days they didn't ask me anything, they just threw me in. They gave us half a steamed bun a day. That's very small. Everyone was very thirsty and a lot of people drank their urine [the detainees were not provided with water]. We had no clothes, no blankets, nothing to lie down on, nothing [just cement floors] and it was very cold. For four days nobody spoke to us, they just left us there."

"We heard a lot of things. Many people had their arms or legs broken or had gunshot wounds inflicted, but they weren't taken to hospital. They were there with us. It was really terrible. I can't believe that we are in the 21st century. For instance, one boy who was shot four times, one from here to there [the bullet entered from the left side of his back and exited from the left side of his chest, near his heart], one from here to here [from inner left elbow to inner left wrist], and one here [a horizontal wound on his upper right arm]. Some people had their ribs broken. One man was punched in his [right] eye, and it was all swollen and black and blue, very bad. People had their teeth broken, these are just examples. A lot of terrible things were done."

"The worst thing - this is Gondzhe [the name of the prison], in Lhasa there are nineteen prisons, the biggest is Drapchi and there is one in Chushul [Ch: Qushu County], they are empty, they showed the visitors that nobody is in prison, it's just for show. Usually there is no prison at the train station, but they rented a very big building and they put people there and in Du-Long [Toelung Dechen County] and at the train station, and in Gondzhe; they put people in these three places. At night they bring a big bus, and many soldiers come, and one hundred to one hundred and fifteen go to Du-Long. They say it's time to go home, "You haven't done anything wrong, you're going home," but they put them in a huge bus to Du-Long or to the train station."

"Some monks had sacks put over their heads and they were taken away and didn't come back, so maybe they were killed".

"A brother and sister from (*), the brother was younger, were sleeping in the same room and all of a sudden soldiers came and threw them out of the window from a high floor to the ground, the brother was killed on the spot. Yes, right outside the building. The sister didn't die, but she can't lie down, she has to remain in a sitting position all the time. They took the body away and told her that she is forbidden to tell anyone. (*).These are just a few examples. There are many problems like this."

"You know that they say that there are no soldiers in Lhasa, but they're in civilian dress and they check identity papers."

"I want to talk and that people should know what's happening in Tibet. If they beat me that's okay [he means that his family may be hurt as well], I didn't do anything bad in Lhasa. "

"Many young people in Lhasa, for example, if we were together on the 14th [of March], I was beaten, so I was "sold" and then you're with me [with the prison warden doing the beating]. But I have friends in (*) monastery, I would rather die than give them away. I saw a lot of things that they did in prison. "

"A guy from Dhadezhe [possibly Dartsedo County] had a new jacket, so they beat him and he died, because of the jacket, because it was very new, so they said he stole it, so because of his new coat he was killed."

"There are a lot of high school students from Sauko . A seventeen-year-old who had not participated in the events of the 14th [of March], all his clothes were taken away, they tied his hands and they pushed a wagon at him until he fell, there are all kinds of torture methods. This kid was very young and he didn't even do anything. Afterwards he said that he'd done all kinds of things, that happens to a lot of people, they pressure people to admit things they never did. "

"And one day, a Chinese man was asked some questions, someone called and asked how many people had been arrested and he said less than Ten Thousand, and that doesn't include Drepung, Sera, Ramoche, Jokhang. After they let us out they arrested the monks. When I got out [of prison] I heard that many were arrested at Drepung Monastery. "

"A boy named (*), aged (*), from Anishim near Lhasa, is in prison, and two of his friends were shot to death. He and his 18 year-old brother were from Phenpo. In the prison at Gondzhe there are a lot of people from Phenpo."

"During the day it's very quiet, everything happens at night, everything's very secret.

"Outwardly they show people that everything is very nice but inside it's really terrible. People did really bad things and forced us to make this problem. At Ramoche they didn't do anything, but thousands of soldiers surrounded the monastery and all the temples, and many vehicles closed off the gates like a prison. We can't be tolerant anymore, we should be tolerant but we can't be tolerant anymore. There are no human rights and cultural genocide is the reality,, for instance in Lhasa, on a main street like Beijing Lu [Lu means street in Chinese], or Gengshu Lu, how many Tibetans have businesses on streets like those? "

"I'm worried about the small Tibetan population. Many people are dying today or being crippled with broken arms and legs, and that's very bad. And people are in prison, like me, and I think about the people in prison all the time. I think about the terrible state they are in. Young people, 16 or 17 years old, crying all the time - it makes me really sad. I saw people with broken limbs and people who'd been shot - seeing their pale faces is very, very sad."

This, of course, is but one account, the Han Chinese Communists also widely planted ‘evidence' in many monasteries to further discredit the monks, and in order to arrest even more, and shut down monasteries completely they perceive to be trouble spots of resistance to their occupation.

They've arrested Tens of Thousands all over Tibet and keep them under the most barbaric conditions without proper care, provisions or amenities.

The arrested face the most horrific brutality, torture and degradation.

Countless have been rendered cripples, beaten beyond recognition, had inflicted horrific internal and external injuries and are left to die a slow and agonising death, or have been murdered outright, if they're lucky.

Amnesty International has confirmed that over 1,000 Tibetans are missing and are unaccounted for since they've been arrested and disappeared in the Han Chinese occupation system.

There has been absolutely no letup in this crackdown, with daily reports trickling out of wanton arrests of monks, who just seem to endure the misfortune of having fallen foul of the Han Chinese occupying "authorities".

Tibetans desperately seeking information about their missing loved ones have nowhere to turn to. Should they dare to voice their concerns, they risk disappearing themselves and end up in a secret mass grave somewhere beyond the gaze of any critical eyes.

(And then there is the "Execution for organs on order" trade that has widely been verified by various groups; but that's for another story.)

Of course China has obstinately refused any outside investigation by the UN, or anyone at all for that matter!

Or even made good on its promise to the IOC of free access for journalists across China.

Let the Olympics begin!

Original post can be viewed here:

http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080519.html