Releasing the 2003 report on Human Rights in Tibet at the World Social Forum this week, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) urged the international community to pressure the Chinese government to release one of Tibet's most charismatic religious leaders, currently facing a death sentence under a Chinese offensive against Tibetan religious leaders and institutions.
Chinese authorities arrested the 53-year old religious leader, Trulku Tenzin Delek, along with four other monks from eastern Tibet on 7 April 2002. They were charged with involvement in "a series of bomb blasts in Sichuan province" and "incitement to separatism."
On December 2, 2002, Delek was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, which draws to a close this year.
Delek is well known for his social welfare services in the east Asian nation, having built seven monasteries and an old people's home in the Tibet Autonomous Prefecture. In 1997, Delek also built a school for more than 300 children of poor nomads and farmers.
But what probably irked the Chinese authorities the most was Delek's fearless allegiance to exiled Tibetan spiritual and political leader, The Dalai Lama, and his strong influence over Tibetans in the region.
Recounts one of his disciples, Venerable Lobsang Yonten, "He was very outspoken, constantly enjoining upon Tibetans to adhere to their teachings, rather than embrace Communism under Chinese pressure. He also criticized the Chinese sterilization program against Tibetans."
The report by the north India-based rights group notes that while there were 27 documented arrests in Tibet in 2003, the actual figure would total 100.
Marking a new trend, most of these were made "outside" the Chinese designated Tibet Autonomous Region, signifying that the region of dissent is now spreading to other areas as well, especially in the rural hinterland.
Activists warn that the Chinese government may use the global war on terror to back its campaign of suppressing peaceful Tibetan dissent.
The year began on a violent note with the execution of former Tibetan monk, Lobsang Dhondup on 26 January 2003, on similar charges of involvement in bomb blasts.
Significantly, Dhondup was the most crucial defense witness for Delek.
Violating international norms, both Dhondup and Delek were denied access to visitors and legal counsel, and allegedly subjected to coercive methods of interrogation, including beating and torture.
Remarked TCHRD's Senior Program Officer, Norzin Dolma; "There is an acute degeneration of Buddhism in Tibet, with monasteries reduced to showcases for visiting tourists. In an attempt to suppress nationalist sentiments, Chinese authorities have suspended or jailed monks and nuns who do not embrace Communism."
Reputed Thai civil society leader and winner of the 1995 Right to Livelihood award, Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa, who released the CHRD report, declared that, "What China has been doing in Tibet is not very different from Bush. They must learn to respect human dignity and equality of people."
In impassioned vein, Sivaraksa added that, "Tibet is known as the Roof of the World, so if there is peace there, it will flow to the rest of Asia. The Tibetans are fighting non-violently and they need to be backed by all of us."
According to reports, eastern Tibet has now become the focal point of all Chinese intimidation.
A 10-minute video documentary compiled from film footage smuggled out of Tibet displayed the systematic destruction of the sprawling Serthar Buddhist Institute in eastern Tibet one of the largest seats of Buddhist learning which housed 8000 students and thousands of monks.
Descending on the campus in 2001, Chinese authorities burnt the monks huts, forcing them to flee.
The 2003 report cites the example of six Tibetans arrested from the Khangmar monastery in the eastern Sichuan province in mid January 2003, after the Chinese authorities discovered they had held a prayer session for the Dalai Lama's long life. Four of them were monks — Sherthar, Soepa, Tsogphel and Woeser — who were also caught with a portrait of the Buddhist head in their possession.
In an attempt to suppress religious freedom, the report says the monks were tried in August and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for this crime.
Activists warn that Tibet is currently enveloped by an all-pervasive atmosphere of fear, making it increasingly difficult for news to reach the Tibetan government in exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala.
Says a senior monk now in exile, "These days when people are arrested, often nobody except the immediate family, gets to know about it."
In prison too, the most common form of abuse is to keep inmates in solitary confinement and long-term isolation for extended periods. Physical torture is also widely prevalent.
The report documents the case of a village headman, Tsering Dhondup who was arrested on 7 April 2002 in connection with the case against Delek.
During his detention at the Dartsedo Detention Center, the authorities reportedly blinded him so severely that he was left with both legs broken and blinded in one eye.
Said activist Youdon Aukatsang, "In 2003, we thought we would see a softer Chinese policy, but our hopes were belied."
She elaborated that there has been no cessation of human rights violations in Tibet over the past one year, despite a change in strategy.
As she summarized, "We are seeing a more savvy policy, with the Chinese becoming more subtle in their approach, and projecting people in the cities to show their apparently humane treatment of Tibetans."