MCLC: arrests contribute to Tibet's isolation

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: arrests contribute to Tibet's isolation
***********************************************************

Source: Reporters without Borders (10/16/13):
http://en.rsf.org/chine-wave-of-arrests-contributes-to-16-10-2013,45337.htm
l

WAVE OF ARRESTS CONTRIBUTES TO TIBET’S GROWING ISOLATION

The Chinese authorities have stepped up their persecution of independent
Tibetan news providers in recent weeks, arresting three writers who are
frequent information sources for external observers on the pretext that
they carried out “political activities aimed at destroying social
stability and dividing the Chinese homeland.”

“Every arrest of a Tibetan who tried to inform his peers and the outside
world about the dramatic situation in Tibet plunges the region further
into isolation,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“Instead of trying to turn Tibet into an information black hole, the
Chinese authorities must put an immediate stop to these arbitrary arrests
and release those detained without delay. We urge the international
community to forcefully condemn their detention.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “There can be no justification for
remaining silent in the face of these flagrant violations of freedom of
information, not even the ‘respect for sovereignty’ that the Chinese
government repeatedly cites in response to criticism of its repressive and
discriminatory policies towards Tibetans.”

A Tibetan exile known only as Tharpa told Reporters Without Borders that
he learned from two local sources that Kalsang Choedhar, a monk from
Palyul monastery, was arrested in the market in Sog, in eastern Tibet, on
12 October for circulating information about a two-week-old crackdown by
the Chinese authorities in Driru county.

Choedhar’s mobile phone was confiscated following his arrest and he is
currently being held incommunicado in an unknown location. Hundreds of
Tibetan monks from Palyul monastery demonstrated outside Palyul county
government offices and a police station to demand Choedhar’s release.
Officials said he had been transferred to Chamdo.

Tsultrim Gyaltsen, a 27-year-old Tibetan writer who uses the pen-name of
“Shokdril,” was arrested in Khardrong, in Driru province, on 11 October,
and a 25-year-old associate known only as Yulgal was arrest the next day.
Both are accused of “political activities aimed at destroying social
stability and dividing the Chinese homeland.” Their current place of
detention and physical condition are not known.

Gyaltsen’s computer, mobile phone, books and other personal effects were
confiscated by Chinese security officials who went to his home at 1 a.m.,
witnesses said.

A former monk, Gyaltsen has written two books about Tibet and used to edit
a Tibetan-language magazine called The New Generation. Yulgal is a former
Security Bureau officer who resigned because of the “political” nature of
his work.

The manner in which the three are being held is similar to that use with
Lobsang Namygal, a Tibetan poet also known by the pen-name of “Sangming,”
who has been held incommunicado ever since his arrest on 15 May 2012 for
publishing the Dalai Lama’s banned speeches and other politically
sensitive works about Tibet.

Namygal’s detention was kept secret for more than a year. His family knew
absolutely nothing about his whereabouts until March 2013, when they
learned that he was probably being held in Chengdu prison (in Sichuan
province) although they still did not know why.

It was only in September that the authorities confirmed that he was being
held in Chengdu and gave the grounds for his arrest. They also confirmed
that he was not permitted any visits. He still has not been allowed to
speak to a lawyer or receive visitors.

An employee of Chengdu’s Buddha Cultural Centre until his arrest, Namygal
is the author of a book of poems that express his views and arguments in
favour of Tibetan independence. He was previously held for a year after
being arrested in 2008 in connection with demonstrations in Lhasa linked
to the Beijing Olympics.

The situation of news and information providers is worrying throughout
China but particularly in Tibet, where any criticism of the Chinese
authorities is severely punished.

Chinese embassy officials in Thailand directly threatened the French
journalist Cyril Payen
<http://en.rsf.org/chine-chinese-diplomats-threaten-french-11-06-2013,44762
.html> after France 24 broadcast his documentary “Seven Days in Tibet” in
May and tried to get the TV station to remove it from its website.

China is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Enemies of the Internet
<http://surveillance.rsf.org/en/china/>” and is ranked 173rd out of 179
countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index
<http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html>.