China: Persecution of Buddhist monks increases

China is stepping up the religious persecution of Buddhist monks and nuns in Tibet for fear of new disturbances. This was reported by the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) in Göttingen on Tuesday. In January 2009 several monks have already been arrested or given prison sentences. "China’s authorities have not only stepped up the surveillance of Buddhist monasteries, but also ordered religious holidays to be celebrated by monks and nuns before the traditional calendar date”, said the GfbV Asia consultant, Ulrich Delius. The object is to prevent all public protest. Many monks and nuns demonstrated in the spring of 2008 against China’s rule in Tibet. In the bloody crushing of the protests 219 Tibetans were killed, 1294 injured and 5600 Tibetans arrested.

"With the arbitrary moving of religious holidays China is inflicting great damage to the Tibetans’ freedom of religion”, criticised Delius. "Anyone objecting to this runs the risk of being arrested.” An example of this is the arrest in a copy-shop of the 27-year old monk Lobsang Kirti from the monastery of Ngaba Kirti on 15th January 2009. He is charged with distributing illegal posters calling for the orders of the Chinese authorities to be ignored and religious holidays to be celebrated on the traditional days.

A few days before that two monks from his monastery were given two-year prison sentences. The monks Kunga and Dorjee were arrested in May 2008 because they had criticised the interference of the Chinese authorities in matters of Buddhist belief in Tibet. In recent weeks their monastery of Kirti has several times been isued with orders not to hold the annual religious Janggun-Choe-Chemno debate. In past years some 4000 monks from all over Tibet have come to the monastery.

Also in January 2009 the 33-year old monk Lobsang Choephel was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Relatives who visited him in prison reported that he has been tortured and that he is now in bad health. His left eye is swollen as a result of beating.

Likewise in the well-known Tibetan monastery of Drepung officers of the government department for religion have announced a tightening-up of the policy of re-education. All Buddhist monks and nuns must take part regularly at re-education courses, in which they must distance themselves in writing from their religious head, the Dalai Lama. Anyone refusing to do so must leave the monastery and can no longer live in Tibet as a monk or nun. Since the disturbances in the spring of 2008 42 monks from the monastery of Drepung have been given prison sentences of between two and fifteen years.