By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 17: A contingent of Tibetan, Uyghur, Mongolian and other activists representing over 180 groups under the banner of ‘Tibet Advocacy Group’ are in Geneva this week to raise concern over the rampant employment of torture and crackdown on people of different ethnicities under the Chinese repression. The coalition is gathered in Geneva as the UN Committee against Torture’s review on China takes place today and tomorrow.
The apparent worsening of the reality in Tibet must be addressed, said Student for a Free Tibet’s Padma Dolma who is one of the attending delegates. “Since China’s last Review in 2008 the situation in Tibet has deteriorated at an alarming rate and looks set to continue on a downward spiral. The ‘Committee Against Torture’ must use this opportunity to put China’s deteriorating human rights practices including torture under the microscope on an international stage, and push for Beijing to implement serious changes in line with international standards.”
The delegation also include Golok Jigme Gyatso, a political prisoner tortured and imprisoned after the 2008 uprising in Tibet for assisting another Tibetan, Dhondup Wangchen, in making the documentary film ‘Leaving Fear Behind’.
Jigme attests, “China have so far denied their use of torture, but I have been arrested and tortured three times by Chinese authorities. In 2008 I was detained and tortured for a month and 21 days.”
Jigme who was granted asylum by Switzerland following his escape from captivity last year further said, “I was beaten with wooden batons and electronic devices and had my face, eyes and lips burned when I was tied to a hot stove. I was shackled with my hands behind my back and hung from a pipe on the ceiling and I was also physically assaulted by a group of five Chinese officials who trampled all over my body, shackled me to a wall and then pulled me away. I am physically scarred and a witness to their brutal treatment. I am here to make sure the Committee gets the true story of China’s torture record”.
Earlier last month (Oct. 26) the coalition submitted a Report to the UN Committee Against Torture documenting a 16 page statement of violation committed by China with regards to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment levied on people under the communist government.
The CAT’s sixth review on China this week is expected to witness detailed reports by various independent observers and organizations accounting China’s poor record of human rights violations and its approach to torture and other inhumane treatment of prisoners and dissents alike.
Last week Amnesty International published a report, ‘No end in sight: Torture and Forced Confessions in China’ conclusively providing firsthand accounts of victims that have undergone harsh treatments in custody.
Togochog Enghebatu of Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center elaborates that such means are wound intricately with how China’s official machineries work while dealing with protests and dissent. “There is a complete climate of impunity for perpetrators of torture under Chinese rule because it is an integral part of China’s strategy for control – particularly in Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian areas”.
The Tibet Advocacy Group, among other groups, includes Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, Tibet Justice Center, World Uyghur Congress, Students for a Free Tibet and International Tibet Network.
