To the attention of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the 27 EU Member States
Brussels, 2 February 2012
Object: Adoption of a EU Statement on the situation in Tibet before the next EU-China Summit (14 February 2012, Beijing)
Cc: HR/VC Lady Ashton, President of the European Commission Mr Barroso, President of the EU Council Mr Van Rompuy, President of the European Parliament Mr Schulz
Dear Honorable Ministers,
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) would like to highlight the critical situation in Tibet following the self-immolation of monks, nuns and in few instances lay people, as well as the on-going repression against peaceful protesters in Tibet. We have reported 17 cases of self-immolation since 2009, 16 since March 2011 and 4 new cases since the beginning of 2012. 12 of the 17 concerned people are known to have died following their protest.
Additionally, in a worrying development, ICT has reported about the shooting of Tibetans protesters by security forces in different municipalities of Sichuan Province since the beginning of Chinese New Year. Chinese security forces opened fire on protesters on January 23, 24 and 26, killing at least five people and injuring several more.
On 23 January, three Tibetans were killed and several injured when police opened fire on Tibetans who gathered to protest in Drango (Chinese : Luhuo), Kardze (the Tibetan area of Kham). Xinhua Chinese news agency confirmed that one protester, Norpa Yonden, got killed. The day after, on 24 January, at least one Tibetan got killed when the police opened fire on Tibetan protesters in Serthar (Chinese : Sede) in Kardze. The person who died was called Dawa Dagpa and was a taxi driver in his mid-twenties. Both towns, Drango and Serthar, are in the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous prefecture (Chinese : Ganzi) in Sichuan Province, where tensions have been building up following the growing number of protests and self-immolations there and in surrounding areas in recent months. News have also emerged of two peaceful vigils by monks and lay people on 23 January in neighboring Ngaba (Chinese: Aba), the Tibetan area of Amdo where another 20 year-old Tibetan (called Urgen) got killed by security forces on 26 January.
Due to the tight security restrictions imposed on the region, details about the nature and sequence of the protests and events, as well as the number of people who got killed, wounded or arrested, are difficult to verify.
Despite all repeated appeals from the international community - including several EU Member States - the government of the People’s Republic of China has not moderated its police and para-military response to protests by unarmed Tibetans. As a result, tensions have escalated and incidents of self-immolation have spread from Tibetan areas in Sichuan to Qinghai and the Tibet Autonomous Regions (TAR).
We are aware that the EU and few of its Member States have raised this issue with their Chinese counterparts at several occasions and we would like to express our appreciation and gratitude for such a support. In addition, we are convinced that a public statement by the HR/VC Lady Ashton on behalf of the 27 EU Member States would be helpful and necessary, in particular ahead of next EU-China Summit due to take place on 14th February 2012.
The President of the European Council, Mr Van Rompuy, and the President of the European Commission, Mr Barroso, should be encouraged to raise and forward the concerns of EU Member States about the situation in Tibet during their talks with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the next EU-China Summit in Beijing.
Following public statements either on the self-immolations or the shooting of unarmed Tibetan protesters addressed for instance by the Human Rights Commissioner and the Federal Government of Germany, the Foreign Office Minister of the United Kingdom, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the President of Poland, and parliamentary debates and questions on these topics in Parliaments of several EU Member States and in the European Parliament (which had adopted an urgency resolution on the immolations on the 26 October 2011), we call on you to:
– Express your concerns in a national public statement;
– Support the adoption of a EU public statement about the human rights situation in Tibet in general and specifically the cases of self-immolation and shooting/killings of several unarmed and peaceful Tibetan protesters in 2012.
We do also believe that it is a legitimate role of European capitals, within the scope of the UN system and in coordination with like-minded countries and traditional allies, to call on the government of the People’s Republic of China, which has no special exclusion, to respect the rights of its citizens who peacefully express their desire for internationally recognized freedoms and to make recommendations on addressing situations of human rights violations.
We continue to urge the Chinese government to take back its severe restrictions on Tibetan religious and cultural rights and to engage with urgency in dialogue with Tibetans on the underlying grievances that have provoked the volatile and tragic situation in Tibetan areas of the People’s Republic of China.
We further urge that the Chinese authorities resume their dialogue with the envoys of the Dalai Lama that has not taken place since January/February 2010, mindful that many, if not all the Tibetans who have self-immolated, have called for the long-life or return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
Yours sincerely,
Souhayr Belhassan, President FIDH
Vincent Metten, EU Policy Director ICT