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INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
to intimidate the Tibetans. If a Tibetan and a Chinese have a little argument, the soldiers
will beat the Tibetan up without a question; as a result of that, Chinese often
discriminate against Tibetans for no reason as they have a ruthless strong backing so
the tensions between the two ethnic groups are high. Recently, an additional army
of 10,000 soldiers arrived in Rebkong to intimidate and suppress the Tibetans more
[ICT cannot independently confirm this total].
“Surveillance cameras are installed everywhere and the soldiers often raid the quarters
of the monks at night. Almost all the monks dare not sleep alone out of fear that they
would go missing, as there have been many cases like that. Immediately after the incident,
all the quarters of the monks were searched while the monks were pushed
out at gun point; their shrines were destroyed and the pictures of His Holiness the
Dalai Lama were torn and burnt. Windows and doors were aggressively smashed as
if they were the cause of their trouble. Money is taken if found, at least it happened in
one case — the case is presented in the court of law but it’s almost being lost as the
local authorities don’t care.
[This is a reference to a monk from Rongwu monastery who sent a letter to the county
authorities stating that 20,000 yuan, US $3000 had been taken from his room during
a police raid on the monastery, and asking for this to be returned. The money was
being saved by the monk and other friends in order to rent a room at the monastery.
ICT has a copy of this letter, which was posted on a Tibetan blogsite and signed by the
individual monk, who also names the police personnel who searched his room. The
monk says: “The money was wrapped in a yellow cloth and put in a red pouch. On
April 19, the red pouch was left on the bed and the money was missing. I believe that
search party from the police department must know of the happening and therefore
must take responsibility for it. I request that the county prosecutor investigate this
matter in a speedy way and return the money to me.” This rare and bold quest for accountability
is one of several similar cases that have been reported across the plateau
in recent months; various monasteries such as Tsendrok monastery in Machu county
in Gansu, depicted on the cover of this report, have attempted to hold local authorities
accountable for the theft of sacred statues during police raids.]
“As the international community withdraws its attention from the crisis in Tibet and
there is no positive result for the dialogue between Beijing and Dharamsala [a reference
to the ongoing Sino-Tibetan dialogue between representatives of the Dalai Lama and
Beijing officials] and Beijing continues to say that it will never change its position towards
Dharamsala, Tibetans in Tibet are getting frustrated and even some are getting
disappointed that they have suffered loss of lives for nothing. While the security is getting
tighter and pressure is building, Dharamsala [home of the exiled Dalai Lama and
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