Rights group reports protests among Tibetans
"
BEIJING – Protests have broken out in a volatile Tibetan area of western China just weeks before the anniversary of last year's deadly rioting across the Himalayan region, Tibetan advocacy groups reported Wednesday.
At least 24 people were detained and several injured in the demonstrations Sunday and Monday around the town of Lithang that drew hundreds of participants and onlookers, the London-based Free Tibet Campaign said.
Paramilitary police were patrolling the area and arresting others they suspect of taking part in the protest, it said.
Another group, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, put the number detained at 21. Two protesters, 23-year-old Sonam Tenpa and 29-year-old Lobsang Tenzin were badly beaten and suffered severe injuries, while a third man, Gelek Kunga, was taken into custody, said the group, which is based in the Indian town of Dharmsala, seat of the Dalai Lama's self-proclaimed government-in-exile.
Both groups said Sunday's unrest began after Buddhist monk Lobsang Lhundup, 37, began shouting slogans outside Lithang's vegetable market calling on people not to observe next month's traditional Tibetan new year and praising the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist leader who fled into exile in 1959 following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.
Security forces moved in, beating those present and detaining Lobsang Lhundup, the groups said. Monday's protest at the same location drew up to 400 people, prompting troops to attack them with batons and rifle butts, detaining more than a dozen, they said.
Businesses in the town remained closed Wednesday and traffic on the main route through the area was at a standstill, they said."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet;_ylt=AuOyHJ0UVW0332DWegJaEU0Bxg8F
BEIJING – Protests have broken out in a volatile Tibetan area of western China just weeks before the anniversary of last year's deadly rioting across the Himalayan region, Tibetan advocacy groups reported Wednesday.
At least 24 people were detained and several injured in the demonstrations Sunday and Monday around the town of Lithang that drew hundreds of participants and onlookers, the London-based Free Tibet Campaign said.
Paramilitary police were patrolling the area and arresting others they suspect of taking part in the protest, it said.
Another group, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, put the number detained at 21. Two protesters, 23-year-old Sonam Tenpa and 29-year-old Lobsang Tenzin were badly beaten and suffered severe injuries, while a third man, Gelek Kunga, was taken into custody, said the group, which is based in the Indian town of Dharmsala, seat of the Dalai Lama's self-proclaimed government-in-exile.
Both groups said Sunday's unrest began after Buddhist monk Lobsang Lhundup, 37, began shouting slogans outside Lithang's vegetable market calling on people not to observe next month's traditional Tibetan new year and praising the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist leader who fled into exile in 1959 following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.
Security forces moved in, beating those present and detaining Lobsang Lhundup, the groups said. Monday's protest at the same location drew up to 400 people, prompting troops to attack them with batons and rifle butts, detaining more than a dozen, they said.
Businesses in the town remained closed Wednesday and traffic on the main route through the area was at a standstill, they said."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet;_ylt=AuOyHJ0UVW0332DWegJaEU0Bxg8F
posted by Jennifer Druin POLS495 at 3:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home