Dharamshala, 28th June: The Tibetan community of Switzerland and Liechtenstein has submitted a five-point appeal to the United Nations (UN) in response to international condemnation of China’s various human rights violations, including calls to end China’s cultural genocide in Tibet and its interference in Tibetan religious beliefs and traditions, among other things. According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the community conducted a protest in front of the UN Human Rights Office on Friday, holding placards and chanting slogans against the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet and decades of oppression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) (CTA). In his remarks, Tibet Bureau Geneva Representative Chhimey Rigzen reaffirmed Tibet Bureau’s attempts to include Tibet’s agenda in UN human rights protection mechanisms.
Tibetans are being forced to leave the country on “political grounds, not due to natural calamities,” according to the Representative, who also urged all Tibetans to take responsibility for initiating and participating in the Tibetan freedom movement. Representative Chhimey added that the movement for peace, freedom, and justice in Tibet should continue until a peaceful, long-term solution is found.
Tibetan community urges UN to break the silence
Meanwhile, Karma Choekyi, the community’s president, met with a representative from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, accompanied by Tibet Bureau Geneva staff Kalden Tsomo. They sent Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a four-page appeal letter. They urged the UN to end its silence on Tibet, speak out against gross human rights violations, and encourage China to end the ongoing cultural genocide in Tibet in the letter.
The plea letter further urged China to refrain from interfering with Tibetan religious beliefs and traditions, to release Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and reveal his location, to end Tibetan torture and arbitrary incarceration, and to liberate Tibetan political prisoners. It also demanded that China end the forcible relocation of Tibetan nomads and the militarised forced labor camps in Tibet.
Picture Courtesy: bignewsnetwork
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