22. May 2010
46kg of pangolin scales seized at Tibet-Nepal border
(Republica) A total of 46kg of pangolin scales was seized during a security check at the Tibet-Nepal border in Sindupalchowk district, Nepal. This is the highest quantity of pangolin parts, which are used for the production of traditional Chinese medicines, ever seized in Nepal. The pangolins are believed to have been poached in India. Police arrested two Indians, one Nepali and two Chinese passport holders, whose names were given as Yao Kuyu and Ju Jiangba, the latter being a Tibetan while the ethnicity of the latter remains unclear. The pangolin is an endangered species. Due to excessive poaching, its numbers in the wild are said to be fast declining in South Asia.
25. May 2010
Tibetan writer faces second arrest in 13 months
(VOT) A Tibetan writer who was briefly arrested in March 2009 has been arrested again, according to a report by Voice of Tibet (VOT) radio service. Dokru Tsultrim was detained from Gomang monastery in Ngaba county. His friend Kalsang Tsultrim, a native of Bazong, was also arrested. Officials of the Public Security Bureau (PSB) arrived at the monastery and demanded to see Tsultrim's laptop computer, and searched his room, Dokru Tsultrim was arrested in March 2009 for alleged anti-government writings and freed a month later. He was accused of writing two articles that criticised the Chinese government and supported the "separatist forces of the Dalai Lama". The publication of his private journal in Tibetan language called "Khawai Tsesok" was also curtailed.
26. May 2010
Tibetan sentenced to death and five to lengthy prison terms
TCHRD) The Tibetan Centre of Human Right and Development (TCHRD) reports that the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court has sentenced Sonam Tsering, a Tibetan, to death with a two-year reprieve. The court sentenced five other Tibetans - named as Tashi Choedon, Kelyon, Yeshi Tsomo, Tayang, Tsewang Gyurmey - to lengthy imprisonment terms between 3 to 7 years in prison. Lhasa Evening News reported that Sonam was charged with rioting and inciting the public to riot on 14 March 2008. He allegedly "undertook a leadership role" in inciting hundreds of people in rioting by setting cars and shops on fire and overturning police vehicles. The other five Tibetans were charged with secretly hiding him from the law enforcement agencies and providing him with help in escaping overseas.
31. May 2010
Surveillance stepped up in Lhasa hotels
(RFA) Under a new set of police regulations, hotels and guesthouses in Lhasa will be required to install electronic identity card readers and closed circuit television cameras to monitor guests, industry sources told RFA. "We had to do this, because if we hadn't, the Lhasa municipal police [could] refuse to issue us with our business license", said the owner of one Lhasa guesthouse to RFA. Another guesthouse owner said "We have to make a daily report to the police station for a foreign guest", and "only hotels with a higher star-rating are allowed to accept foreign guests; none of the family guesthouses will be permitted to do so". According to the report, every hotel and guesthouse has now to employ government-licensed security guards.
01. Jun 2010
Old charge resurfaces against prominent Tibetan
(Reuters; VOA) A prominent Tibetan businessman, environmentalist and collector of antiquities has been in detention nearly five months, his lawyer said, and faces charges dating back over a decade. Karma Samdup was due to face trial for excavating and robbing ancient tombs - a charge brought and dropped in 1998 - but lawyer Pu Zhiqiang said he arrived at the court to find the hearing was postponed indefinitely. The revival of the charges is believed to stem from differences between Karma Samdup and the Chinese authorities in his hometown in Gonjo (Chin: Gongjue) county, in eastern Tibet. He had been fighting for the release of his two brothers, detained after their village-level environmental NGO clashed with the local police who were hunting protected wildlife. The philanthropist was arrested in Chengdu city, Sichuan province, in early January 2010 and taken to Xinjiang province for trial as that is where the charges originated. Pu said he did not know why they had resurfaced after so long.
02. Jun 2010
China sets Tibetan writer free, exiles fear poor health
(Phayul) The Chinese authorities have released from detention a Tibetan student of the National Minorities' University of Lanzhou, according to Shingsa Rinpoche, a lama at Sera monastery in south India. However, he is said to be in a poor physical state after almost a month in detention. Shingsa Rinpoche said that Druklo (pen name - Shokjang) had been subjected to sleep deprivation and long sessions of interrogation. "I heard Shokjang is currently very weak physically and does not anymore have his usual intellectual capacity to write", said Shingsa Rinpoche. The authorities reportedly claimed Druklo had "connections with the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC)", and accused him of having links with Shingsa Rinpoche who has participated in several political campaigns in exile and who runs a Tibetan language website called wokar.net that publishes articles written by Tibetan writers from inside Tibet. Druklo had denied both the allegations.
02. Jun 2010
Ten Tibetans arrested entering Nepal
(Kantipur Online; Nepal News) Authorities in Nepal have arrested at least 10 Tibetans, who arrived in Charikot, the district headquarters of Dolakha, after passing the border clandestinely from Tibet in to Nepal. Three of the arrested were women. According to the latest standard procedure, they have been sent to the Immigration Department in Kathmandu for further investigation.
03. Jun 2010
Tibetans protest over land
(RFA) Scores of Tibetan residents, whose homes were devastated by the 6.9 earthquake that struck Jyekundo/Kyegudo, (Chin: Yushu) prefecture, are protesting against local government plans to take possession of choice properties to reconstruct ravaged homes, schools, offices, and other sites. Some properties claimed by the authorities suffered no damage in the April earthquake. "The local government has forced local residents out of their houses-they said they had to clean the area to build office buildings, schools, and parks, and they are planning to take away the sites for our homes and our fields", one Yushu resident told RFA. According to official Chinese government figures, 2,698 people died in the quake, with 270 still missing.
