Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities

For a united workers campaign for the people of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet & the Uyghur Region.

A coalition of labour movement and human rights organisations are holding their first meeting for a new campaign which aims to bring together activists in the UK to develop solidarity with workers, oppressed nationalities and others whose democratic rights are threatened or being denied by the Chinese Communist Party and its regime. This important meeting will be held in London on 3rd June.

Introductory speakers include Vicky Blake, President (2020 – 2022) of the University and College Union (UCU), and other leading activists from Hong Kong and China. This will be followed by discussion and amendments on founding statement and other proposals on policies and actions.

The meeting will discuss and vote on proposals to establish a new campaign organisation, based on the draft platform that the meeting co-sponsors agreed, with a Steering Committee to lead on organising campaign activities.

This meeting is also expected to bring together solidarity campaigners to discuss creating a common labour movement campaign in the UK, to unite wherever possible in order to organising an active solidarity for the struggles of workers and oppressed and marginalised people in China for liberation, democracy and equality.

The organisers said, “Last year’s explosion of dissent in the Blank Paper Protests, originating in resistance and revolt against the abuse of Foxconn workers in Zhengzhou’s “iPhone City” and the murderous neglect of Uyghurs in Urumchi, reminds us of the struggles, and the enormous potential power, of China’s workers and oppressed people. The CCP dictatorship has been challenged by Chinese people in a way not seen for decades. Now is the time for a step change in our solidarity to them.”

They also added, “It is increasingly clear that the UK government cannot be trusted to give consistent and meaningful support to those fighting for democratic and workers’ rights in China, Hong Kong, Tibet and the Uyghur Region. Instead it uses these issues to promote nationalist paranoia and xenophobia; justify increased armaments expenditure; and advance Western big business interests. We must therefore base our efforts on the labour movement and grassroots international solidarity, independent from big business interests and the governments that serve those interests.”

The inaugural meeting, supported by a number of solidarity and labour movement organisations, will hear from leading campaigners and trade unionists, discuss the situation, and consider proposals to establish an ongoing joint campaign. All participants will discuss and decide the campaign’s programme and activities. They aim to initiate a joint campaign to build unity:

• For democratic and workers’ rights across China and its occupied territories: the rights to free speech, to organise and protest, to form opposition parties to the state and the CCP, to organise independent unions and for the right to strike, to practise any religion or none.
• For social justice and economic democracy for the Chinese, Hong Kong, Uyghur, Tibetan and Taiwanese people.
• For equality and liberation for women, LGBT people, disabled people, and racialised minorities, and the abolition of the hukou system that discriminates against working-class migrants.
• For freedom from repression, and the democratic right to self-determination, for Tibet, the Uyghurs, and Hong Kong.
• For environmental protections, including just transition to halt climate change.
• Against exploitation, oppression and environmental degradation in other countries affected by China’s economic imperialism and arms sales to tyrants.

None of these struggles benefit from superpower rivalries, xenophobia or threats of war. The campaign should therefore also:

• Support the right of threatened nations such as Taiwan to defend their self-determination and to receive arms necessary for that defence from whatever forces are willing to supply them, while opposing armament drives and sabre-rattling by the imperialist camps of China, Russia and the US and their military and security alliances.
• Fight racism against people of East & South-East Asian backgrounds.
• Oppose the UK government’s racist anti-migrant policies and demand safe routes, sanctuary and equality for refugees fleeing repression, violence and authoritarianism – whether at the hands of the Chinese state or anywhere else in the world. Defend the rights of migrants & refugees who have already come to the UK, and support their inclusion & integration into the local workers’ movement.

To these ends, the campaign’s activities would include:

• Organise and support protest and direct action against the Chinese state and its embassies and representatives, and against businesses complicit in repression and exploitation.
• Work to win the argument for solidarity within the labour movement and the left, and to engage our trade unions and political organisations in this solidarity.
• Encourage and support workers’ action in the global supply chains that connect the working classes here and in China and its occupied territories.
• Discussion, debate and education within the left and labour movement on all these issues.
• To carry out practical aid tailor made to the communities within the struggles in the UK.

Initial Campaign Sponsors:

• Labour Movement Solidarity with Hong Kong
• Power to Hongkongers
• Red Roots Collective
• Peter Tatchell Foundation
• Democracy for Hong Kong
• Left Chinese Student Association
• Uyghur Solidarity Campaign (UK)
• Alliance for Workers’ Liberty
• Wessex Solidarity
• Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM)
• June 4 Sparks

Twenty-four years ago, on 13th May 1999, His Holiness the Dalai Lama opened and consecrated the Tibetan Peace Garden. This only Tibetan monument in the heart of London, was commissioned by Tibet Foundation and built on land kindly provided by Southwark Council. It has been donated to the people of Britain for all to enjoy.

The Tibetan Peace Garden has a unique location. The park in which it is built houses the Imperial War Museum and so attracts large numbers of visitors from all over the UK and abroad. It is within walking distance of Waterloo Station and is close to the Houses of Parliament, Lambeth Palace, the London Eye, the South Bank Centre and Tate Modern.

The Tibetan Peace Garden honours one of the principal teachings of His Holiness – the need to create understanding between different cultures and to establish places of peace and harmony in the world. It is hoped that it will create a deepening awareness of His Holiness’s thoughts and words.

This Garden of Contemplation (Samten Kyil) is a place where anyone can come and enjoy a time of peace and tranquility. For the spiritually minded, this is no longer an ordinary place, because it has been both consecrated and blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to have a spiritual life of its own.

As part of the 24th anniversary of the Tibetan Peace Garden this year, the eight visiting monks from India-based Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, on Wednesday 24th May, prayed for World Peace and for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They also conducted Rabney – a Buddhist blessing. Friends from Southwark Council, local offices and Buddhist centres, including from Jamyang, Kagyu Samye Dzong and Lelung Dharma Centre joined the anniversary event. A small contingent of Tibetans from Belgium and Tibetan Community UK also attended the Buddhist prayer for World Peace.

HE Lelung Rinpoche, Founder and Spiritual Director of Lelung Dharma Trust, assigned Tsering Passang, a volunteer, who is also Founder and Chair of Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities, to organise this year’s anniversary event. Passang said: “It’s so wonderful to support the good work of HE Lelung Rinpoche and the Lelung Dharma Trust ensuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message of Peace is continuously spread throughout the world. The monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery really made this year’s anniversary a special one with their presence at the Tibetan Peace Garden.”

Passang read out His Holiness the Dalai L ama’s Message, which is inscribed on the Stone Pillar in four different languages – Tibetan, English, Hindi and Chinese – in the Tibetan Peace Garden.  

After the closing of the Tibet Foundation in 2021, the Lelung Dharma Trust agreed to and is committed to upkeep of the Tibetan Peace Garden in cooperation with the Southwark Council.

The visiting monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in south India are currently on their 50th anniversary of UK Tour 2023. The original Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse (Tibet) is the official seat of the Panchen Lamas. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who is the genuine reincarnation of the previous 10th Panchen Lama, recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, has been missing since May 1995. For more, please read Tsering Passang’s piece – China Must Return the Stolen Tibetan Child – The 11th Panchen Lama

Location

The Tibetan Peace Garden

Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park

St George’s Road

London SE1 6ER

Mainline train: London Waterloo; the garden is around 10 minutes’ walk from the station

Underground: Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo/Northern Lines) / Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line)

Bus: 12,45,53,63,68,159,168, 171,176,188,344 & C10 pass outside

Useful Links:

Lelung Dharma Trust

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery UK Trust

Tashi Lhunpo Monks: 50th Anniversary Year Tour 2023

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Bylakuppe, south India

Thanks to the amazing work of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), scholars and legal experts around the world, as well as the independent China Tribunal have all established that the Chinese State has “sanctioned forced organ harvesting from prisoners and prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China”.

Watch this short video clip that explains the illegal organ harvesting taking place in PRC.

Extensive reports since 2006 have documented the scale and severity of state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from prisoners and prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China. Independent reporting and pressure from international medical and governmental institutions have prompted the Chinese government to announce multiple reforms. Official statements claim that reforms are designed to bring China’s transplantation system into line with international standards and enable China’s transplantation system and professionals to gain international legitimacy and acceptance. Despite these claims and the gradual development (since 2010) of a voluntary organ donation system, evidence continues to emerge regarding largescale and severe human rights violations in the sourcing of organs for transplants in China.

The most recent and comprehensive assessment of the evidence about forced organ harvesting in China was conducted by the China Tribunal. This was an independent people’s tribunal established to investigate forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China and determine what criminal offences, if any, have been committed by state or state-approved bodies, organisations or individuals in China that may have engaged in forced organ harvesting. The Tribunal’s Final Judgment, delivered in June 2019, unanimously found that forced organ harvesting continues in China.

In August 2021, 12 UN Special Rapporteurs and human rights experts issued a correspondence to China regarding credible evidence of forced organ harvesting from ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. The correspondence was made public and the UNOHCHR issued a press release.

FINDINGS OF THE CHINA TRIBUNAL

“Forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale.”

“Falun Gong practitioners have been one—and probably the main—source of organ supply.”

“In regard to the Uyghurs, the Tribunal had evidence of medical testing on a scale that could allow them, amongst other uses, to become an ‘organ bank’.”

“Commission of Crimes Against Humanity against the Falun Gong and Uyghurs has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.”

“The Tribunal has no evidence that the significant infrastructure associated with China’s transplantation industry has been dismantled and absent a satisfactory explanation as to the source of readily available organs concludes that forced organ harvesting continues till today.”

International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC)

The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC) is a coalition of lawyers, academics, ethicists, medical professionals, researchers and human rights advocates dedicated to ending forced organ harvesting in China.

The principal object for which the International Coalition To End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC) has been established is to advance and promote the education of human rights and values with the goal of ending human rights violations associated with organ trafficking involving forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China and seeking justice for the victims of forced organ harvesting.

Useful Links:

The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC)

China Tribunal

Exactly 72 years ago, on 23rd May 1951, the “Seventeen-Point Agreement” was signed between the representatives of the independent Tibetan Government in Lhasa and the Chinese Communist Government in Peking.

Tibetans have always maintained that the “agreement” was signed by their representatives “under duress”. His Excellency Lukhangwa, the lay Tibetan Prime Minister, plainly told Chinese Representative Zhang Jingwu in 1952 that the Tibetan “people did not accept the agreement”. Nevertheless, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, who was a young teenager at the time, decided to work with the Chinese “in order to save my people and country from total destruction”, as he wrote in his memoir, ‘My Land and My People’.

For eight years, the Dalai Lama tried to abide by the terms of that document. The Tibetan Leader even relieved his Prime Minister Lukhangwa from his post, who had made no secret of his staunch opposition to the Chinese aggression.

In 1954, the young Dalai Lama visited Peking. During his nearly 6 months of stay in mainland China the Dalai Lama had meetings with many Chinese leaders, including Chairman Mao Tsetung and Premier Chou En-lai on a few occasions. Both of them gave assurances to him on Tibet’s good future.

However, the Chinese leaders did not keep their words. The situation across Tibet was getting worse as Tibetan resistance against the invading PLA forces led to fierce fighting. The young Dalai Lama finally escaped Tibet into exile in March 1959 in India, where he set up the Tibetan Government-in-exile.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first press conference in India, in Mussoorie in 1959, repudiating the 17 Point Agreement which was signed under duress in Beijing on May 23, 1951.

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, President of the Central Tibetan Administration, has been saying that the 17-point “Agreement” is “illegal” under the international law. On the 63rd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising, Sikyong Penpa Tsering delivered his administration’s Official March 10th 2022 Statement and said, “When the Chinese communist assumed power on 1 October 1949, it announced the so-called “peaceful liberation” of Tibet. Soon after in 1950, the overwhelming Chinese communist forces attacked Chamdo and defeated the Tibetan army. The whole of Tibet was brought for the first time under its occupation after coercing Tibetans to sign the 17-Point Agreement in 1951.

THE AGREEMENT OF THE CENTRAL PEOPLE’S GOVERNMENT AND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF TIBET ON MEASURES FOR THE PEACEFUL LIBERATION OF TIBET

The Tibetan nationality is one of the nationalities with a long history within the boundaries of China and, like many other nationalities, it has done its glorious duty in the course of the creation and development of the great motherland. But over the last hundred years and more, imperialist forces penetrated into China, and in consequence, also penetrated into the Tibetan region and carried out all kinds of deceptions and provocations. Like previous reactionary Governments, the KMT [Kuomintang] reactionary government continued to carry out a policy of oppression and sowing dissension among the nationalities, causing division and disunity among the Tibetan people. The Local Government of Tibet did not oppose imperialist deception and provocations, but adopted an unpatriotic attitude towards the great motherland. Under such conditions, the Tibetan nationality and people were plunged into the depths of enslavement and suffering. 

In 1949, basic victory was achieved on a nation-wide scale in the Chinese people’s war of liberation; the common domestic enemy of all nationalities–the KMT reactionary government–was overthrown; and the common foreign enemy of all nationalities–the aggressive imperialist forces–was driven out. On this basis, the founding of the People’s Republic of China and of the Central People’s Government was announced. In accordance with the Common Programme passed by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Central People’s Government declared that all nationalities within the boundaries of the People’s Republic of China are equal, and that they shall establish unity and mutual aid and oppose imperialism and their own public enemies, so that the People’s Republic of China may become one big family of fraternity and cooperation, composed of all its nationalities. Within this big family of nationalities of the People’s Republic of China, national regional autonomy is to be exercised in areas where national minorities are concentrated, and all national minorities are to have freedom to develop their spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform their customs, habits, and religious beliefs, and the Central People’s Government will assist all national minorities to develop their political, economic, cultural, and educational construction work. Since then, all nationalities within the country, with the exception of those in the areas of Tibet and Taiwan, have gained liberation. Under the unified leadership of the Central People’s Government and the direct leadership of the higher levels of People’s Governments, all national minorities have fully enjoyed the right of national equality and have exercised, or are exercising, national regional autonomy. 

In order that the influences of aggressive imperialist forces in Tibet may be successfully eliminated, the unification of the territory and sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China accomplished, and national defence safeguarded; in order that the Tibetan nationality and people may be freed and return to the big family of the People’s Republic of China to enjoy the same rights of national equality as all other nationalities in the country and develop their political, economic, cultural, and educational work, the Central People’s Government, when it ordered the People’s Liberation Army to march into Tibet, notified the local government of Tibet to send delegates to the Central Authorities to hold talks for the conclusion of an agreement on measures for the peaceful liberation of Tibet. 

In the latter part of April 1951, the delegates with full powers from the Local Government of Tibet arrived in Peking. The Central People’s Government appointed representatives with full powers to conduct talks on a friendly basis with the delegates of the Local Government of Tibet. The result of the talks is that both parties have agreed to establish this agreement and ensure that it be carried into effect.

1. The Tibetan people shall be united and drive out the imperialist aggressive forces from Tibet; that the Tibetan people shall return to the big family of the motherland–the People’s Republic of China.
2. The Local Government of Tibet shall actively assist the People’s Liberation Army to enter Tibet and consolidate the national defences.
3. In accordance with the policy towards nationalities laid down in the Common Programme of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Tibetan people have the right of exercising national regional autonomy under the unified leadership of the Central People’s Government.
4. The Central Authorities will not alter the existing political system in Tibet. The Central Authorities also will not alter the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama. Officials of various ranks shall hold office as usual.
5. The established status, functions, and powers of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni shall be maintained.
6. By the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama and of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni is meant the status, functions and powers of the 13th Dalai Lama and of the 9th Panchen Ngoerhtehni when they were in friendly and amicable relations with each other.
7. The policy of freedom of religious belief laid down in the Common Programme of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will be protected. The Central Authorities will not effect any change in the income of the monasteries.
8. The Tibetan troops will be reorganised step by step into the People’s Liberation Army, and become a part of the national defence forces of the Central People’s Government.
9. The spoken and written language and school education of the Tibetan nationality will be developed step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in Tibet.
10. Tibetan agriculture, livestock raising, industry and commerce will be developed step by step, and the people’s livelihood shall be improved step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in Tibet.
11. In matters related to various reforms in Tibet, there will be no compulsion on the part of the Central Authorities. The Local Government of Tibet should carry out reforms of its own accord, and when the people raise demands for reform, they must be settled through consultation with the leading personnel of Tibet.
12. In so far as former pro-imperialist and pro-KMT officials resolutely sever relations with imperialism and the KMT and do not engage in sabotage or resistance, they may continue to hold office irrespective of their past.
13. The People’s Liberation Army entering Tibet will abide by the above-mentioned policies and will also be fair in all buying and selling and will not arbitrarily take even a needle or a thread from the people.
14. The Central People’s Government will handle all external affairs of the area of Tibet; and there will be peaceful co-existence with neighboring countries and the establishment and development of fair commercial and trading relations with them on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect for territory and sovereignty.
15. In order to ensure the implementation of this agreement, the Central People’s Government will set up a military and administrative committee and a military area headquarters in Tibet, and apart from the personnel sent there by the Central People’s Government it will absorb as many local Tibetan personnel as possible to take part in the work. Local Tibetan personnel taking part in the military and administrative committee may include patriotic elements from the Local Government of Tibet, various district and various principal monasteries; the name list is to be prepared after consultation between the representatives designated by the Central People’s Government and various quarters concerned, and is to be submitted to the Central People’s Government for approval.
16. Funds needed by the military and administrative committee, the military area headquarters and the People’s Liberation Army entering Tibet will be provided by the Central People’s Government. The Local Government of Tibet should assist the People’s Liberation Army in the purchases and transportation of food, fodder, and other daily necessities.
17. This agreement shall come into force immediately after signatures and seals are affixed to it.

[Signed by the representatives of the Central People’s Government and the Local Government of Tibet on 23 May 1951]

Useful Links:

Facts about the 17-Point Agreement Between Tibet and China

Central Tibetan Administration

The Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) met in Hiroshima for their annual Summit, from 19th to 21st May 2023. The Group of Seven is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union is a “non-enumerated member.” It is organised around shared values of pluralism, liberal democracy, and representative government.

It is evident from this year’s G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué that the Leaders of these advanced economies are more united than ever before in their “determination to meet the global challenges of this moment and set the course for a better future.” The Communiqué states: “Our work is rooted in respect for the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and international partnership.”

The G7 Leaders’ Communiqué also highlighted China’s violations of human rights, including in Tibet, Xinjiang (East Turkistan) and Hong Kong, adding, “We will keep voicing our concerns about the human rights situation in China, including in Tibet and Xinjiang where forced labor is of major concern to us. We call on China to honor its commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which enshrine rights, freedoms and a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.”

In its comprehensive Communiqué, the G7 Leaders reiterated their “commitment to achieving a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all, through taking a realistic, pragmatic, and responsible approach”. Tibetan spiritual leader and the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has been an avowed campaigner for “demilitarization throughout the world and the elimination of all nuclear weapons” for decades, issued a welcome statement.

His Holiness Welcomes G7 Leaders Call for ‘World Without Nuclear Weapons’

“I wholeheartedly welcome the recent statement from the G7 Leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan, calling for a “world without nuclear weapons”. This joint statement reflects the reality that we live in an increasingly interdependent world, and represents an opportunity to make this 21st century an era of peace and cooperation.

As an avowed campaigner for demilitarization throughout the world and the elimination of all nuclear weapons, I firmly believe this to be a positive initiative. In January 2022, when the Five Nuclear-weapon States made a joint pledge affirming that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, I warmly commended their action.

In these times of uncertainty and upheaval across many parts of the globe, it is vitally important that all of us make earnest and concerted efforts to resolve problems through dialogue and diplomacy. Therefore, commitments like the one by the G7 countries represent a powerful message and recognition of the urgency of putting an end to the threat that these weapons pose to humanity.

A world without nuclear weapons is necessary and possible. In our interconnected world, violence brings suffering even to those far from the conflict. I sincerely hope that we can all remember the oneness of humanity, and recall that harming anyone with violence, including the use of nuclear weapons harms us all.

I pray that this 21st century becomes a more compassionate, peaceful and harmonious world.

Dalai Lama”

Useful Links:

G7 2023 Summit – Hiroshima, Japan

The White House

Office of the Dalai Lama

Charter of the United Nations (UN)

UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Questions China on Situation of Tibetan Women in Tibet

Geneva: A group of 23-member expert committee reviewed China on the implementation of the UN International Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, on 12 May 2023, in the ongoing 85^th session of the Committee commenced on 8 May 2023. In line with the review of China by the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in its 85th session, Tibet groups, namely the Tibet Bureau, Tibetan Women Associations and Tibet Advocacy Coalition group made submissions to the committee on Tibet, individually. Furthermore, an oral joint statement to draw the committee’s attention to the situation of Tibetan women was delivered on the first day of the session held on 8 May 2023.

Representative Thinlay Chukki and UN Advocacy Officer Kalden Tsomo of the Tibet Bureau along with President of Tibetan Women Association Tenzing Dolma and Tibet Advocacy Coalition’s coordinator Gloria Montgomery took part in the review session on China.

With reference to the situation of Tibetan women in Tibet, the experts questioned China on a wide range of pertinent issues, including the forcible removal of Tibetan nomads and herders; Tibetan women subjected to military-style vocational training, low-skilled and low-paid employment; participation of women in public and diplomatic service, including Tibetan women; legal grounds for confiscation of passports, including women in Tibet; access to education in Tibetan language and issues on mental health safeguard for Tibetan children in residential schools.

During the day-long review session, the UN experts raised numerous pressing questions to the Chinese delegations concerning the situation of women in China and regions under its control including Tibet, and in special administrative areas: Hong Kong and Macau. More than 40 members of Chinese delegations attended the session. However, the delegations, yet again, failed to give sufficient responses to the experts, resulting in repeated interventions from the chair and the country’s rapporteur reminding the delegations to provide “specific replies” to the questions raised by the experts.

Raising the issues of forcible removal of Tibetan nomads, farmers and herders from their ancestral land, the expert raised, “In the name of creating employment opportunities, Tibetans, including women are subjected to military-style vocational training in Tibet”. She further referred to the findings by the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Slavery that an extensive labour transfer program has shifted mainly farmers, herders and other rural women workers into low-skilled and low-paid employment. In light of these issues, the expert asked China to a) provide concrete figures of Tibetan farmers, herders and nomads who have been forcibly removed from their lands within the last decades and provide gender aggregated data; b) Reasons for providing Tibetan rural women workers with low skilled and low paid employment training under labour transfer program; c) Indicate a number of Tibetan women subjected to forced labour transfer program across China. The large team Chinese delegation could not respond to the issue raised by the expert during the session.

In accordance with the state’s obligation to take necessary measures to eliminate discrimination against women in political and public life, the expert raised the issue of circumstances surrounding the limited participation of women in political and public spheres. The expert asked China to indicate efforts to increase women participation or candidates for political positions and in the diplomacy corps, including Tibetans. Responding to the Chinese delegation’s hazy replies to the question raised by an expert, the chair rapporteur had to point out the delegation’s response to explicitly raise “how many of these (Chinese women) in public life are Tibetans, Uyghur…”?

The expert asked Chinese delegations to clarify and provide information on issues related to the confiscation of passports and identity documents. While acknowledging the experts’ awareness of problems faced by women, including in Tibet, on restrictions of movement, the expert asked Chinese delegations on conditions under which individuals are restricted to travelling abroad; legal grounds that state agents confiscate the passports and identity documents of the individuals. Following the un-concise response by the Chinese delegation, the expert promptly flagged-up that the question raised by the expert had not been answered.

In light of ongoing large-scale assimilatory policy by China in Tibet through residential schools, the expert raised the issue of mental health and aggregated data of Tibetan children in “forced residential schools” in Tibet.

Furthermore, the experts questioned China over the situation of women subjected to state-led interethnic marriages, the situation of women human rights defenders, including protection from harassment, punishment and retaliation against their work and the state’s support to the work of civil society organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations.

This report, filed by the Tibet Bureau in Geneva, published on www.Tibet.Net on 15th May 2023.

Useful Links:

Central Tibetan Administration

Tibet Bureau, Geneva

Voice of Tibet