By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, July,4: During the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland from June 19 to July 14, numerous countries including Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States have voiced their concerns over the Chinese government’s continued human rights violations in Tibet. The Tibet Bureau-Geneva has reported that 65 countries in total, along with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, raised the issue of Tibet and expressed their support for the fundamental rights of Tibetans.
The global update presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights specifically highlighted China’s violation of rights, including assimilation policies that undermine the identity of the Tibetan people. The High Commissioner stated that further engagement with China is being sought, emphasizing the importance of establishing the presence of the UN Human Rights Office in China for the first time. The High Commissioner also called on China to seek the expertise of Special Procedures mandate-holders.
Following the High Commissioner’s update, several UN member states addressed the issue of Tibet in their statements. The Czech Republic urged China to respect its international obligations and protect the universal human rights of all peoples, specifically emphasizing the need to end the serious and systematic violations of human rights in Tibet. The UK also called on China to respect its international obligations and put an end to human rights violations in Tibet.
Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany expressed deep concern over the human rights situation in Tibet, raising issues such as the persecution of human rights defenders. Australia highlighted the mistreatment of Tibetan women in Tibet, echoing the conclusions of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) regarding human rights violations in China.
In a joint statement on behalf of 65 member states, the United States drew attention to the deplorable human rights violations committed by the Chinese government against religious, linguistic, national, and ethnic minorities. The statement cited various rights violations, including the destruction of cultural heritage sites, restrictions on languages, forced assimilation of children into the education system, and severe limitations on movement, livelihoods, education, and healthcare.
During an interactive dialogue on specific thematic issues, the United States commended the UN Special Rapporteur on Education for shedding light on the Chinese government-run boarding schools in Tibet. The US expressed serious human rights concerns regarding these schools, emphasizing that they forcibly separate nearly a million Tibetan children from their families.
The strong condemnation from multiple countries and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights underscores the international community’s concern regarding China’s human rights record in Tibet. The calls for China to respect its international obligations and protect the rights of Tibetans reflect a growing consensus on the need for improved human rights conditions in the region.
One Response
hahah what a joke.
what’s the big deal if ” UNHRC criticizes China’s human rights violations in Tibet”? What happens next? What practical support does Tibet get when unbhrc criticizes a country?
China was critized by unhrc more than 1,000 times( one thousand times) since 1959, saying there was human right violation. But they never said Tibet was invaded by China. But was china sanctioned,punished, or suffered due to such criticisms? I don’t think so.
Putin is invading Ukraine in broad day light in front of the eyes of Tibetans and UNO. But looks like it depends on which country has more weapons and/or army to win and keep everyone shut.
Please Tibetans come out from the matrix of deception, or lala land. In real world, you need weapons and technology and strategy and manpower to win a situation. No external help such as uno or american can make Tibet win freedom back from china.
Tibetans have to win our country back by ourselves using warfare, and if we cannot since due to our population, each Tibetans have to kill at least 1,000 Chinese to win the war, then we have to talk directly with china for a Peace Plan, just like china’s 12 Point peace plan for UKraine.