At the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council currently underway in Geneva, the International Campaign for Tibet has once again called for an end to the mass forced resettlement of Tibetan nomads and herders and to the boarding school system for Tibetan children. Both are cornerstones of the Chinese government\u2019s policy of assimilation of the Tibetan people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a video statement delivered March 23 on behalf of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Kai M\u00fcller from ICT Germany warned about the Chinese government\u2019s \u201caggressive disenfranchisement of the Tibetan people through erosion of their educational, religious, cultural and linguistic rights.\u201d Referring to the Concluding Observations<\/a> of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights following its recent review of China<\/a>, in which it expressed concerns about \u201creports of the large-scale campaign to eradicate Tibetan culture and language, as well as the general undermining of the linguistic identity of ethnic minorities by the assimilation policy\u201d of the Chinese government, M\u00fcller called on states to raise these concerns with China. “The aforementioned policies are particularly urgent as they represent a substantial threat to the survival of the Tibetan people, as well as a violation of international law,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few days earlier, Vincent Metten from ICT Europe had given two further statements<\/a> – also on behalf of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights – stressing the pattern of torture and ill-treatment in Tibet and the Chinese government\u2019s persecution of Tibetan environmental defenders<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Metten said: \u201cTorture is routinely inflicted to silence, permanently injure and even cause death when Tibetans are arbitrarily detained for peacefully expressing their opinion or practicing their religion. A dangerous pattern of death due to torture has been observed, including the recent deaths of 19-year-old monk Tenzin Nyima and 51-year old tour guide Kunchok Jinpa. We emphasize that in both cases, as with many others, an investigation into deaths in custody and a prosecution of those responsible for them was never undertaken by the Chinese authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the General Debate, 11 countries – Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA – also expressed<\/a> concern about the human rights situation in Tibet. In its written statement, the European Union called<\/a> for the immediate and unconditional release of Tibetans Tashi Dorje, Rinchen Tsultrim and Go Sherab Gyatso, along with Uyghurs and Chinese detained by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below is the statement delivered by Kai M\u00fcller on behalf of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Item 4: General Debate \u2013 Human rights situations that require the Council\u2019s attention<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr. President,<\/p>\n\n\n\n We remain deeply concerned by the Chinese government\u2019s aggressive disenfranchisement of the Tibetan people through erosion of their educational, religious, cultural and linguistic rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its Concluding Observations on the third periodic report of China, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights expressed concerns about \u201creports of the large-scale campaign to eradicate Tibetan culture and language, as well as the general undermining of the linguistic identity of ethnic minorities by the assimilation policy of the State party, known as Sinicization, including the coercive residential (boarding) school system imposed on Tibetan children.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Committee urged the Chinese government \u201cto immediately abolish the coerced residential (boarding) school system imposed on Tibetan children, as well as allowing private Tibetan schools to be established.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Committee furthermore reiterates its recommendation that China take all necessary measures to immediately halt non-voluntary resettlement of all nomadic herders, including Tibetan ones, from their traditional lands and non-voluntary relocation or rehousing programs for other rural residents, such as small-scale farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We strongly urge Member States to raise these concerns, bilaterally, multilaterally, and in the upcoming UPR process on China. The aforementioned policies are particularly urgent as they represent a substantial threat to the survival of the Tibetan people, as well as a violation of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Footnotes:<\/strong> At the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council currently underway in Geneva, the International Campaign for Tibet has once again called for an end to the mass forced resettlement of Tibetan nomads and herders and to the boarding school system for Tibetan children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12883,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691,678],"news_tag":[672],"class_list":["post-12882","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-news","categorie-policy-centerunited-nations-and-tibet","news_tag-united-nations-and-tibet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStatement<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
[1]<\/strong> UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 3 March 2023, \u201cConcluding observations on the third periodic report on China\u201d, E\/C.12\/CHN\/CO\/3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"