By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, May 14: To commemorate the 25th year of 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s enforced disappearance, 15 parliamentarians of Switzerland and 16 parliamentarians of Czech Republic have called upon the Chinese government to release him and his entire family. Both the Swiss Parliament Group for Tibet and Czech Parliamentary Support group for Tibet have issued separate joint statements to that end.
Swiss parliamentarians have raised concerns over China’s continued denial of information and its refusal for an independent team to ascertain his whereabouts. “We call upon the Chinese government to respect human rights in Tibet including cultural and religious freedom and resume dialogue with the representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for peaceful resolution of Tibet,” read the statement.
Czech parliamentarians noted the human rights violations suffered by Tibetans under China, “Tibet is consistently ranked as the second least free region in the world and the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief has ranked China as one of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world in 2018. Not just Tibetan Buddhists, even Uighur Muslims and Christians are also facing religious persecution by China.”
They urged the government of Czech Republic, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) to take note of the violence and press China to release Panchen Lama and prevent China from meddling in the religious practices of the Tibetans, including the system of recognizing reincarnation of religious figures.
The case of the enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains pending at the UN, both at the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, for the last 25 years. China has repeatedly denied any access to the Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and deprived him of religious and scholastic education in Tibetan Buddhism.
Belgium, US, Lithuania, and Britain recently joined to show their support for the Panchen Lama. Last week, 159 organizations submitted a joint petition to the United Nations (UN), Geneva to hold China accountable for his disappearance.
