Since February 6th, Chinese authorities have detained hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims who returned from Bihar, India, where they attended religious teachings by Dalai Lama from December 31, 2011 to January 10, 2012.

Usually Tibetans caught crossing Chinese border with no valid legal documents are detained up to 6 months and then sentenced to prison for up to two years; but according to Human Rights Watch, the detention of travelers with legal travel documents is extremely rare. The recent detainees did have valid Chinese passports and relevant visas, and since there is no regulation prohibiting Tibetans to attend the Dalai Lama’s teachings the Chinese authorities’ actions appear to violate Chinese as well as international laws.

The detainees were sent to ad-hoc detention centers in the cities where they are registered, regardless of their actual place of residence. According to DossierTibet, they have to pay for their rooms and meals while in detention. No notification was sent to detainee’s families.

Those detained will have to undergo “re-education.” Human Rights Watch reports that since the mid 1990-s, “political re-education has been imposed chiefly on monks, nuns, and officials in Tibet, rather than on lay people. It usually lasts three months and consists of lectures on patriotism and the Communist Party’s policies concerning religion and law, and verbal attacks on the Dalai Lama and ‘separatism.’ At the end of previous re-education sessions, usually carried out at participants’ workplaces, each person has had to give a written statement that included a denunciation of the Dalai Lama.”

Tibetan pilgrims are not the only target of Chinese authorities, who also practice the detention of Tibetan cultural elite. According to Radio Free Asia, a popular Tibetan writer Drubpa Kyab was taken away by the police on February 15th. This detention may be linked to recent Tibetans’ self-immolations and protests against the Chinese rule in the Serthar country of the Sichuan province, where the writer was arrested.

Just a few weeks prior to the detention of Drubpa Kyab, a popular advocate of Tibet’s traditional culture and language was believed to have been taken away by Chinese authorities. Dawa Dorje, a government researcher, was believed detained after expressing concern over the closure of Tibetan monasteries. He was known to organize a conference promoting Tibetan culture in the Sichuan province, where the anti-Chinese protests took place.

Links:

• Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/16/china-end-crackdown-tibetans-who-visited-india
• Radio Free Asia http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/writer-02182012161437.html
• DossierTibet http://www.dossiertibet.it/news/tibet-hundreds-tibetan-pilgrims-detained-lhasa

TIBET.— On Monday, 18 year-old monks, Lobsang Kalsang and Lobsang Konchok, from the Kirti monastery in Sichuan province’s Aba prefectuture set themselves on fire in protest to China’s tight control on Buddhist practices.

The Free Tibet campaign said in a statement that the monks called for religious freedom shouting, “We need freedom of religion! Long live the Dalai Lama!” before they set themselves on fire.

Both monks suffered slight burns but are said to be in stable condition.

Lobsang Kelsang is the brother of 21-year-old Kirti monk, Rigzin Phuntsog, who died this March after setting himself on fire. Phuntsog’s self-immolation was also in protest to China’s harsh control of Tibetan Buddhism.

The monk’s death ignited a harsh crackdown with security forces detaining nearly 300 Tibetan monks.

“This shows not only the level of suffering and desperation of Tibetans but also the extreme actions they are willing to take to draw the world’s attention to the situation in Tibet,” said Free Tibet.

Aba has been the scene of a number of protests against the Chinese government over the past several years. Most protests are led by monks loyal to Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama.

Recent protests have arisen concerning the selection of the successor of the Dalia Lama.

Beijing reportedly wants to pick its own successor who supports China’s policies. China has repeatedly accused the  Dalai Lama of being a separatist leader who supports violence.

The Dalai Lama rejects this accusation, insisting that he is only seeking autonomy for Tibet, particularly in its selection of leaders.

According to Free Tibet, over the past six months at least four monks have chosen self-immolation in Tibet to protest China’s strict control of their religion.

Source: Reuters