Free Tibet

His Holiness,The Dalai Lama of Tibet

The Dalai Lama has launched a fierce attack on Chinese rule in his Tibetan homeland, saying his people had experienced "hell on Earth". Five decades of Chinese rule had caused "untold suffering", Tibet's exiled spiritual leader said, accusing Beijing of creating a climate of fear.

He also repeated his demand for Tibet's "legitimate and meaningful autonomy". His words came on the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese troops which led to his exile. It is 50 years today that the Tibetans rose up against Chinese rule causing the Dalai Lama to flee his homeland and campaign peacefully for over 50 years for autonomy for Tibet.



With China’s (let us remind ourselves, still a repressive Communist dictatorship with no credible claim to democracy or the rule of law) attempts to rewrite history and continue to tell the “Big Lie” let us remind ourselves what actually happened in 1959 which was nine years after the Chinese Communists invaded Tibet in 1950. First let us hear what the Tibetan Government’s spokesman, Thubten Samphel, says about China’s claim that Tibet is part of China.

“It is beyond dispute at various periods of its long history that Tibet came under differing degrees of foreign influence: the Mongols, the Ghurkhas of Nepal, the Manchu emperors of China and the British rulers of India all played their parts. At other periods in the plateau's history, it was Tibet which exercised power and influence over its neighbours - including China.

It would be hard to find any state in the world today that has not been subjected to foreign domination or influence at some era in its history. In Tibet's case the degree and duration of foreign influence and interference was relatively limited.”


The Potala Palace, Lhasa

Here is what the United Nations resolution (which I’m proud to say was sponsored by Malaya and Ireland) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations after the Chinese repression in 1959 actually says;

United Nations General Assembly - Resolution 1353 (XIV)

New York, 1959
The General Assembly,

Recalling the principles regarding fundamental human rights and freedoms set out in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948,

Considering that the fundamental human rights and freedoms to which the Tibetan people, like all others, are entitled include the right to civil and religious liberty for all without distinction,

Mindful also of the distinctive cultural and religious heritage of the people fo Tibet and of the autonomy which they have traditionally enjoyed,

Gravely concerned at reports, including the official statements of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to the effect that the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the people of Tibet have been forcibly denied them,

Deploring the effect of these events in increasing international tension and embittering the relations between peoples at a time when earnest and positive efforts are being made by responsible leaders to reduce tension and improve international relations,

1) Affirms its belief that respect for the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is essential for the evolution of a peaceful world order based on the rule of law;

2) Calls for respect for the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people and for their distinctive cultural and religious life.


Flag of Tibet

Speaking to thousands of supporters, the Tibetan spiritual leader said Chinese martial law, and hard-line policies such as the Cultural Revolution, had devastated the Himalayan region.

"These thrust Tibetans into such depths of suffering and hardship that they literally experienced hell on earth," he said in the Indian hill town of Dharmsala, where he and the self-proclaimed government-in-exile have been based since shortly after fleeing their homeland. "The immediate result of these campaigns was the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans."

Tibetan culture and identity are "nearing extinction", he told about 2,000 people, including Buddhist monks, Tibetan schoolchildren and a handful of foreign supporters. The group gathered in a courtyard that separates the Dalai Lama's home from the town's main temple, and monks blowing enormous conch shells and long brass horns heralded his arrival. "Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them," the Dalai Lama said.

While his comments were unusually strong for a man known for his deeply pacifist beliefs, he also urged that any change come peacefully and reiterated his support for the "Middle Way," which calls for significant Tibetan autonomy under Chinese rule. "I have no doubt that the justice of Tibetan cause will prevail if we continue to tread a path of truth and non-violence," he said. After his speech, thousands of young Tibetans took to the streets of Dharmsala chanting "China Out!" and "Tibet belongs to Tibetans!"


Dharmsala

While Beijing claims Tibet has been part of Chinese territory for centuries, Tibet was a deeply isolated theocracy until 1951, when Chinese troops invaded Lhasa, the regional capital. Today's anniversary marked 10th March 1959 riots inside Tibet against Chinese rule which led to a crackdown and, later that month, the Dalai Lama's flight across the Himalayas and into exile.

Last year, a peaceful commemoration of the 1959 uprising by monks in Lhasa erupted into anti-Chinese rioting four days later and spread to surrounding provinces - the most sustained and violent demonstrations by Tibetans in decades. This year, China has largely sealed off Tibet to the outside world.

Visitors to Lhasa have described armed police posted on rooftops. Local governments in Tibetan areas have ordered tourists out, and foreign journalists have been detained and told to leave.

In March 1959, as Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled into India. Then a young man in his mid-20s, the future must have seemed bleak. With few countries prepared to respond to China's actions, he faced a difficult task to protect Tibetans and their traditions.


Monk Lhasa

Yet despite 50 years in exile, the reach of Tibet's spiritual leader has extended far beyond his community and he is now recognised as one of the world's leading religious figures. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his consistent opposition to the use of violence in his quest for Tibetan self-rule. But Beijing continues to view him as a "splittist", although he has repeatedly stated that his goal is for Tibetan autonomy rather than independence.

Just weeks before the 50th anniversary of his flight from Lhasa, the Dalai Lama appealed to people in Tibet not to respond to the "provocations of the Chinese authorities", referring to a heavy Chinese military presence across Tibet. And he restated his life-long commitment to a peaceful resolution to the Tibetan issue. "It goes without saying how much admiration I have for the enthusiasm, determination, and sacrifice of the Tibetans in Tibet. However, it is difficult to achieve a meaningful outcome by sacrificing lives. The path of non-violence is our irrevocable commitment and it is important that there be no departure at all from this path."

In this age of disinformation and the Chinese NEWSPEAK here is what the highly respected International Commission of Jurists actually reported in 1959. Since then Tibet has suffered 50 years of Chinese Imperialist repression, Han colonisation of the Tibetan Plateau and destruction of its unique Buddhist culture.


Temple Scene

ICJ Report on Tibet 1959


International Commission of Jurists Report on:
The Question of Tibet
The rule of Law
Geneva, 1959
(EXCERPT)


Introduction to the evidence on Chinese activities in Tibet
The allegations against the People's Republic of China can be fitted into three broad legal categories:


1) Systematic disregard for the obligations under the Seventeen-Point Agreement of 1951;

2) Systematic violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Tibet;

3) Wanton killing of Tibetans and other acts capable of leading to the extinction of the Tibetans as a national and religious group, to the extent that it becomes necessary to consider the question of Genocide.



There is some inevitable overlap between these categories, for example, in the case of respect for religious belief, where there is this obligation under the Seventeen-Point Agreement [Article 7] and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [Article 18].

The significance of these three legal categories may be briefly explained. Violation of the 1951 Agreement by China can be regarded as a release of the Tibetan Government from its obligations, with the result that Tibet regained the sovereignty which she surrendered under the Agreement. This question is discussed in the part of this report entitled "The Position of Tibet in International Law." For this reason the violations of the Agreement by China amount to more than a matter of domestic concern between Tibet and China. What is at stake is the very existence of Tibet as a member of the family of nations, and this matter concerns the whole family of nations. Evidence showing the systematic violation by China of the obligations under the Agreement is therefore printed in extenso.

Any systematic violation of human rights in any part of the world should, it is submitted, be a matter for discussion by the United Nations. For this reason the evidence which indicates violation on a systematic scale of the rights of the Tibetan people as human beings is printed in extenso. Most people will agree that in the sphere of human rights, some rights are fundamental. The rights of the Tibetans which appear to have been ruthlessly violated are of the most fundamental - even that of life itself. With violations of this gravity it is not a question of human rights being modified to meet the requirements of local conditions. It is a question of conduct which shocks the civilized world and does not even need to be fitted into a legal category. The evidence points to a systematic design to eradicate the separate national, cultural and religious life of Tibet.

Genocide is the gravest crime known to the law of nations. No allegation of Genocide should be made without the most careful consideration of evidence that killings, or other acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention, however extensive, are directed towards the destruction in whole or in part of a particular group which constitutes a race, a nation or a religion. The facts, as far as they are known are set out in extenso. It is submitted, with a full appreciation of the gravity of this accusation that the evidence points at least to a prima facie case of Genocide against the People's Republic of China. This case merits full investigation by the United Nations.


Lhasa Square

The evidence submitted against China is printed verbatim in this report. Statements made by the official press and radio of the Chinese People's Republic are reproduced at perhaps inordinate length, and even so amount to no more than specimens of the Chinese account of the recent history of Tibet. Space does not permit a fuller inclusion, but it is considered that the selection is at least typical of the official Chinese accounts. The accounts given by Tibetan leaders in exile and refugees on the one hand, and Chinese spokesmen and Tibetan collaborators on the other are reproduced with a minimum of editing and running commentary. By and large the accounts given by Tibetans are self-evidently linked to the specific legal category under which they are cited; accounts from Chinese sources are by and large self-evidently inconsistent, though in this case there is a certain amount of running commentary.

At the beginning of each section of evidence presented is a summary of contents, an assessment of the effect of the evidence and, in some cases, a critical discussion of the Chinese accounts. Finally, a summary of conclusions is offered. A note on the leading personalities involved precedes the general body of evidence, together with a list of abbreviations used in the extracts and in the commentary.

From the whole tangled mass of propaganda, allegation and counter-allegations made by the principal protagonists in the Tibetan situation, one statement stands out. The Dalai Lama in his statement at Mussoorie, India, on June 20th, 1959 said:

"I wish to make it clear that I have made these assertions against Chinese officials in Tibet in full knowledge of their gravity because I know them to be true. Perhaps the Beijing Government are not fully aware of the facts of the situation but if they are not prepared to accept these statements let them agree to an investigation on the point by an international commission. On our part I and my Government will readily agree to abide by the verdict of such an impartial body."

The issue on the evidence submitted in this report is to a large extent who is telling the truth. On this issue this proposal by the Dalai Lama is of the utmost importance. The International Commission of Jurists is setting up its Legal Inquiry Committee, but it is not known whether this Committee will be allowed to enter Tibet. Nor is it certain that a United Nations Commission, if one is formed, will be able to make on the spot inquiries in Tibet. But if entry is refused it will be by the Government of the People's Republic of China. That Government has not so far accepted the Dalai Lama's proposal. On the question of credibility the obvious inference is there to be drawn.

The Question of Genocide

Genocide is defined in the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, 9th December 1948, which was agreed in pursuance of the resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations(1) that Genocide is a crime against the law of nations. The contracting parties undertook to prevent and punish Genocide. There is therefore an obligations upon each and every one of the States who were party to the Convention to take action if a case of Genocide comes to light.

The Convention defines both the mens rea(2) and the actus reus(3) of Genocide in specific terms. The actus reus is committed in one or more of several ways as defined in Article 2:

a) killing;

b) causing serious bodily or mental harm;

c) subjection to living conditions leading to the total or partial destruction of the group;

d) measures intended to prevent the birth of children within the group;

e) forcible transfer of children of the group to another.

Conspiracy to commit Genocide, incitement to commit Genocide, attempted Genocide and aiding and abetting Genocide are all declared punishable by Article 3. The mens rea of Genocide is defined as the intention to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such.(4)
It cannot be overemphasized that one must deliberate carefully before making an allegation of Genocide. It is probably the gravest crime known to the law of nations. For this reason, the evidence must be very carefully considered, and all inferences from the evidence must be logically supportable.

Evidence of the actus reus of Genocide:

(i) Religious groups: The evidence that there has been widespread killing of Buddhist monks and lamas in Tibet is clear and explicit. One need only refer to the evidence in this category under Section A (II). If this evidence is to be believed, there has been a destruction by killing of a part of a religious group. The International Commission of Jurists believes that this evidence raises at the very least a case which requires thorough and careful investigation.

(ii) National groups: The account of wanton killings in Tibet points to killings on a wider scale than that of religious groups. Particular attention should be paid to the evidence of indiscriminate air attacks, and of deliberate shooting of Tibetans who were in no way engaged in hostilities. Evidence of such killings is given in Section B. It should also be stressed that the alleged deportation of 20,000 Tibetan children is directly contrary to Article 2 (e).(5) It is of the utmost importance that this report be fully investigated.


Fraternal Chinese activities

The Memorandum contains important evidence on the forcible removal of children to China:


"Above all they have made thousands of homes unhappy by forcing young boys and girls to go to China for de-nationalization, thus getting them indoctrinated to revolt against our own culture, traditions and religion. To this end they have sent more than five thousand boys and girls up to now to China proper."

Here is clear prima facie evidence of a violation of Article 2(e) of the Genocide Convention.

Evidence of the mens rea of Genocide:

It is very rarely in criminal trials that direct evidence of mens rea is available. The fact that there is no official Chinese policy statement directed towards the destruction of the Tibetans is no ground for withholding an accusation of Genocide if an inference of the requisite intention can properly be drawn. For this purpose it is permissible to take into account acts which point to the extinction of a national or religious group whether or not such acts are in themselves acts of Genocide. For if a systematic intention to destroy a nation or religion can be shown by acts which are not declared criminal by the Genocide Convention, the acts on which these inferences are based can properly be adduced as evidence of general intention. If in addition there are acts which are capable in law of amounting to Genocide, and such acts are part of a consistent pattern of destroying a nation or religion, the inference of intent in non-genocidal acts is equally valid in respect of acts which are within those prohibited by the Genocide Convention.

For this reason, the overall assessment of the evidence in Sections A and B is relevant and important. If such evidence points to an intention to destroy religion in Tibet, and to assimilate the Tibetan way of life to the Chinese, there is evidence of the required intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national or religious group. It has been argued that the activities of the Chinese in Tibet point to the conclusion that this was the intention behind the Chinese acts in the fields described in Sections A and B. The ruthless efficiency is otherwise difficult to explain. The evidence in these two sections should be carefully studied.


A Tibetan Women

This interference has been drawn from these and other facts by Tibetans from the Dalai Lama downwards. The Tibetan opinions on the Chinese intentions are as follows:

Statement of the Dalai Lama in Mussoorie, June 20, 1959:

In the course of his press conference the Dalai Lama stated:

"The ultimate Chinese aim with regard to Tibet, as far as I can make out, seems to attempt the extermination of religion and culture and even the absorption of the Tibetan race. . .Besides the civilian and military personnel already in Tibet, five million Chinese settlers have arrived in eastern and north-eastern Tso, in addition to which four million Chinese settlers are planned to be sent to U and Sung provinces of Central Tibet. Many Tibetans have been deported, thereby resulting in the complete absorption of these Tibetans as a race, which is being undertaken by the Chinese."

Memorandum:
The statement already quoted from the Memorandum on the actus reus of Genocide also contains the inference by the authors of the document that the aim was to get the children to "revolt against their own culture, traditions and religion."

Statement of Chaghoe Namgyal Dorje:


"... My experience of four years' work with the Chinese convinced me that their propaganda was false and that their real intention was to exterminate us as a race and destroy our religion and culture.
"Communists are enemies not only to Buddhism but to all religion. It has been told to me that more than 2,000 Lamas had been killed by the Chinese. I have personal knowledge of such attacks on 17 Lamas.



"Even if no help is coming we shall fight to death. We fight not because we hope to win but that we cannot live under Communism. We prefer death.

We are fighting not for a class or sect. We are fighting for our religion, our country, our race. If these cannot be preserved we will die a thousand deaths than surrender these to the Chinese."

These inferences were drawn by people who know as no one outside Tibet can know the full extent of Chinese brutality in Tibet. They are in a better position than any outsider to assess the motives behind the Chinese oppression, including the slaughter, the deportations and the less crude methods, of all of which there is abundant evidence.

It is therefore the considered view of the International Commission of Jurists that the evidence points to:

(a) a prima facie case of acts contrary to Article 2(a) and (e) of the Genocide Convention of 1948.

(b) a prima facie case of a systematic intention by such acts and other acts to destroy in whole or in part the Tibetans as a separate nation and the Buddhist religion in Tibet.

Accordingly, the Commission will recommend to its Legal Inquiry Committee that existing evidence of Genocide be fully checked, that further evidence, if available, be investigated, that unconfirmed be investigated and checked. But the final responsibility for this task rests with the formal organ of world authority and opinion. The Commission therefore earnestly hopes that this matter will be taken up by the United Nations. For what at the moment appears to be attempted Genocide may become the full act of Genocide unless prompt and adequate action is taken. The life of Tibet and the lives of Tibetans may be at stake, and somewhere there must be sufficient moral strength left in the world to seek the truth through the world's highest international organ.
Footnotes

1) Resolution 96(1) of December 11, 1946.
2) mens rea, a term form the criminal law, means the state of mind necessary to make criminal the conduct which is prohibited.
3) Actus reus means the conduct which the law prohibits.
4) Article 2.
5) The report was contained in an article in the London "Daily Mail" on January 1st, 1959. Whilst a newspaper report cannot without evidence more be regarded as an authentic primary source, the statement of a competent and reputable journalist (Mr. Noel Barker) raises at least a case for investigation



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