By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Mar 1: Tibet has received a rating of zero for political rights and civil liberties, in the annual “Freedom in the World 2024” report. The US-based human rights and democracy organisation allocated a score of -2 out of 40 in political rights and 2 out of 60 in civil liberties in their report.
The latest report signals a troubling development, with Tibet’s overall score plummeting to zero, indicating the worsening human rights conditions in the region. The report in its key findings highlighted Beijing’s ongoing restriction of the limited freedoms granted to Tibetans, including the denial of political rights and civil liberties in the disputed region.
“Tibet is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government based in Beijing, with local decision-making power concentrated in the hands of Chinese party officials. Residents of both Han Chinese and Tibetan ethnicity are denied fundamental rights, but the authorities are especially rigorous in suppressing any signs of dissent among,” the international watchdog remarked in their report.
“This score leaves no doubt that China’s occupation of Tibet has been a global catastrophe,” pro-Tibet group, International Campaign for Tibet’s President Tencho Gyatso said. “For 65 years, the Chinese government has brutalised Tibet to the point that its global freedom score has now hit rock bottom. That is a clear indictment of China’s failed policies in Tibet and the need for the Chinese government to get back to peaceful dialogue with Tibetan leaders to resolve this disastrous occupation.”
