Persecutions in Tibet and campaign against the Dalai Lama continue

One year after the inauguration of the new General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, on November 15, 2012, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) points out the sad results: "Despite all the promises for reform, the Chinese policy on Tibet has not changed at all. China still rules Tibet with an iron fist," said the STP's Asia-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Monday. In October 2013 alone, three Tibetan political prisoners were sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison and at least 47 Tibetans were arrested for political reasons. Seven of them are facing long prison sentences. Last weekend, the leader of the Communist Party in Tibet, Chen Quanguo, also published a proclamation in the Central Party School's magazine "Qiushi", demanding further measures against the Dalai Lama.

The party leader announced that China must do everything possible to stop the "reactionary propaganda" of separatists from abroad from reaching Tibet. China will therefore continue to confiscate illegal satellite-equipment, keep up the internet-surveillance and make sure that all telephone and Internet users are forced to register under their real names. The leader of the Communist Party even demanded measures to stop the circulation of pictures of the Dalai Lama in Tibet.

"The Party leader's appeal to fight against the Dalai Lama has destroyed all hope for a reform process in Tibet," said Delius. "At the end of June 2013, there had been reports that the authorities decided to lift a ban against the possession of pictures of the Dalai Lama in Gaden Monastery – but unfortunately, this seems to have proven wrong."

According to the STP, it became clear that China is not willing to admit the failure of Tibet-policy, when the "white paper" on Tibet's development was published on October 22, 2013. Instead, the paper focuses on the "positive development" in Tibet. "The fact that this so-called development often contradicts the interests of the Tibetan population was not mentioned," said Delius. "There are more and more protests by the Tibetan population because of the forced settlement of nomads, land theft, exhaustion of resources, systematic violations of the freedom of religion, speech, the press and the freedom of assembly – further, the arbitrary arrests of protesters, writers and intellectuals as well as the torture of detainees. Also, we are especially concerned about the increasing criminalization of the friends and relatives of Tibetans who burned themselves as a form of protest."