Resolution of Solidarity
Preface
The Chinese government began its invasion of Tibet in 1949 and since then implemented a series of repressive policies. These have led to death of more than 1.2 million Tibetans; destruction of over 6,000 monasteries; exploitation of Tibet’s mineral resources; deforestation; death and capture of wild lives. Tibetans suffered unimaginable destruction and their survival is under threat. The peaceful protests by successive generations of Tibetans to express their aspirations have been brutally suppressed. Especially since 2008, people throughout the three traditional provinces of Tibet who took part in peaceful demonstrations were subjected to unprecedented repression, leading to deaths, torture and beatings of Tibetans. When the Tibetan people undertook a non-violent campaigns, the Chinese government totally ignored their concerns instead of looking into their demands and carrying out an impartial investigation based on the actual situation in Tibet. It continued its hard line policies, driving Tibetans from all age groups to take drastic step of setting themselves on fire.
It should be noted that since 2009 until the seventh session of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, 127 Tibetan men and women with indomitable determination and courage carried out self-immolation protests. Thereafter three more Tibetans self-immolated to protest against the Chinese government’s policies, calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. The Chinese government suppressed the highest form of non-violent protests by Tibetans by force or luring them through financial incentives. Such measures are barbaric and unrealistic.
Since 16 March 2014, three Tibetans set themselves on fire in Tsekhog County of Malho Prefecture in Domey, and Bathang and Tawu in Kham. Two of them died while the fate of the third remain unknown. Many Tibetans have been imprisoned or detained by under false charges. Apart from them, it remains difficult to fully ascertain how many other Tibetans had been killed, jailed, or tortured in various parts of Tibet.
During the 2008 large scale non-violent protests in Lhasa, the government of China lied that it had not used lethal weapons to kill or injure Tibetan protestors. However, this stands starkly contradicted in a leaked internal report dated 21 March 2008 prepared by the forensic department of the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau, titled Highlights by the Forensic Department of the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau. The document, which was obtained by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy at Dharamshala, India, on 20 August 2014, provides credible evidence of killing of large number of Tibetan protesters in different parts of Tibet’s capital Lhasa by the Chinese security forces through using lethal weapons.
There is no indication even today that the government of China may change its current hardline policy on Tibet. On the contrary, repression is constantly being tightened in all parts of Tibet. And over the past six months, it introduced policies to encourage ethnic assimilation in Tibet; resorted to beating Tibetans in connection with the exploration for and extraction of mineral resources from sacred mountain sites and so on; proclaimed draconian new regulations in the form of a booklet targeting the people of Driru County in Nagchu Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region; posed danger by improper use and management of dams in the Tibetan areas; subjected the Tibetan people to deliberate harassment in the name of political and legal investigation and discipline inspection; imposed restrictions and limits on the duration of the observance of traditional Tibetan festivals; and introduced measures to monitor the modern communication channels and to block people trying to obtain access to genuine information. Under such conditions, many people continue to be arrested and jailed in places across all the three traditional province of Tibet. Besides, recently, Chinese security forces opened fire on a crowd of innocent Tibetans without any provocation in connection with the detention of Mr. Wangdak, the head of Dege Denma Shugpa Village in Sershul County of Karze Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Many Tibetans lost their lives, or got seriously injured, or were detained or arrested and the situation continues to remain extremely serious.
Besides, the Chinese government continues to use guile to try to deceive what it calls the 200,000 Tibetans living overseas by making a show of being concerned for their living conditions and by trying to get them to return to Tibet with all sorts of false promises and temptations. Under the political authority of the autocratic regime and leaders of China, which has no respect for democracy and human rights, a total of 130 Tibetans have carried out non-violent protests by immolating themselves from 2009 to 15 April 2014. All the self-immolation protesters have uniformly shouted slogans demanding that His Holiness the Dalai Lama be invited back to Tibet, that the Tibetan people’s freedom be respected. In keeping with the fact that such slogans continue to be raised there, we hereby pledge to make greater efforts than ever before towards the realization of the wishes of Tibetans both in Tibet and in exile.
Every campaign initiated by Tibetans in Tibet has been followed by solidarity actions by the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetan organizations, individuals and others in exile. And in addition to this, successive sessions of the 14th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile have adopted resolutions expressing condolences and solidarity with the Tibetans in Tibet for their sacrifices. In the international community too, there have been officially sponsored resolutions, proclamations, expressions of grave concern, and so on, in numerous countries, making the point of supporting the Tibetan cause. By such means they have called on the government of China to end its policy of tight controls in Tibet and, for the purpose of ending the troubled situation there, also strongly appealed to it to start earnest talks with representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
As the tragic situation in Tibet today continues to be marked by severe deterioration, it is the need of the hour to adopt the following resolution to express our solidarity and condolences:
RESOLUTION
- While expressing admiration for the courage of the Tibetan men and women who have sacrificed their lives by setting themselves and those patriotic Tibetan men and women who continue to endure hardship and misery in Chinese prisons for their involvement in the struggle for the cause of Tibet, we offer our condolences and solidarity with their family members with fervent prayers for their speedy rebirth in Tibet and that those who continue to suffer repression and torture under Chinese captivity may get immediate release.
- Given the Chinese leadership’s continuous claim of being committed to seeking “truth from facts”, we reiterate our call to the Chinese leadership to follow the dictum by investigating the reasons for the self-immolations in Tibet, the words the self-immolating protesters have used to express their protests and demands, and the last written messages they have left behind and resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict through the mutually-beneficial Middle Way Approach proposed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration.
- We strongly appeal to leaders across the world to immediately take up the responsibility in a result-oriented way to explain to the Chinese leaders what it means and implies to be fair and truthful on this issue and thereby make efforts to enable the Tibetan people to realize their demands and to protect their lives;
- We express our gratitude to the governments across the world who have displayed concern over the serious and tragic situation in Tibet and solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle by passing resolutions in parliaments, and, likewise, also to the Tibet Support groups, non-governmental organizations and groups across the world, Chinese democracy campaign groups, and private individuals who support truth and justice for the various kinds of non-violent campaign action they have carried out in support of the Tibetan people. At the same time we also appeal to them to continue their just support and cooperation as before in efforts to vindicate the truthful cause of Tibet in general terms and, especially, for the sake of ensuring an immediate end to the current tragic situation in Tibet today. We also vehemently reiterate our appeal to the United Nations to immediately appoint and dispatch an envoy to investigate the current situation in Tibet.
Adopted with unanimous support from all the members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile
By the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile on 12 September 2014.