20. Sep 2005
CRC Chair demands access to Panchen Lama
(ICT) Prof. Jacob Doek, Chairman of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) asked the Chinese authorities to receive an independent body to verify the current status of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the boy recognised by the Dalai Lama as the eleventh Panchen Lama. The head of the Chinese delegation to the CRC stated that he would pass on the request to higher authorities in Beijing . Doek described the case of the Panchen Lama as a "thorny issue because that particular boy has been taken against his and his parents' will from Tibet to China". He added, "I still fail to understand why it is so difficult for China to allow access to the boy by an independent body”. He also highlighted that the regular denial of requests for access to the Panchen Lama makes "lawyers assume that there is an appearance of something being wrong" and requested a "candid, open and frank answer" from the Chinese authorities.