ICT highlights extra-legal detentions in Tibet on U.N. International Day of Enforced Disappearances
On the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30, 2014, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) calls for an end to a wave of enforced and extra-legal disappearances across Tibet, in particular following intensified repression after the self-immolations began in 2009.
There has been a new spike in enforced disappearances since the self-immolations in Tibet in 2009. The authorities’ draconian response to the more than 130 self-immolations across Tibet has included reprisals against those allegedly associated with self-immolators, including friends, families, witnesses to the act, and even entire communities.
“Enforced disappearance has been used as a tactic by the Chinese authorities in Tibet to spread fear and attempt to ensure allegiance to the Party-state,” said Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet. “We are highly concerned about the cases of ‘disappearances’ connected to self-immolations – such as friends, family, and individuals who may have simply witnessed a self-immolation,” Mecacci added.
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Dawa Tsomo (Image: RFA)
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Pangri-na Rinpoche prior to his arrest. (Image: TCHRD)
Thoughts on ethnic autonomy from a Tibetan in Tibet

Shokjang (Image: High Peaks Pure Earth)
Today one of the most alarming concerns of the educated individuals of most ethnic minorities is the predicament of their language and culture with its fate nearing the precipice of extinction. If there is any veracity to Beijing’s commitment to real autonomous administration of these nationalities, then the implementation of policies concerning the protection and preservation of language and culture of ethnic minorities must be upheld seriously. On the contrary, if we blame all the internal conflicts and acts of hostility among ethnic groups on the system of ethnic autonomous administration, then as Wang Lixiong suggests, isn’t it “the destruction of the ultimate armour of ethnic minorities?”
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