Engnews March 2012

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RFA BREAKING NEWS : Kirti Monk Self-Immolates, Dies

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Kirti Monk Self-Immolates, Dies March 28, 2012— A Tibetan monk from a restive monastery in China's Sichuan province set himself on fire and died Wednesday in protest against Chinese rule, exile sources said, quoting local contacts. Twenty-year-old Lobsang Sherab shouted slogans to highlight Beijing's "discriminatory" policies on Tibetans as he self-immolated in Cha township in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, India-based exiled Tibetan monk Kanyag Tsering told RFA. "The self-immolation occurred at 7.10 p.m. along the main road in the township," he said. "The exact words he uttered as he burned were not immediately clear, but what was clear was that Sherab was protesting against the ruthless policies imposed by the Chinese authorities." "He died on the spot," Tsering said. "The Tibetans who were in the area tried to take his body away, but the Chinese security forces intervened, prevented them from doing so, and took the body, much to the anger of the Tibetans." "The Chinese security forces also ordered shops at the township to close following the self-immolation, apparently as a precautionary move," Tsering said. Kirti Sherab was from the Kirti monastery in Ngaba, from which hundreds of monks were taken away by Chinese security forces after a monk from the institution self-immolated in March last year, triggering an unstoppable wave of burning protests. "Sherab went back to his Raruwa village in Ngaba county two days earlier" apparently to prepare himself for the self-immolation, Tsering said. Sherab, who left behind his parents and three siblings, is the 31st Tibetan to self-immolate since 2009 as Tibetans stepped up their protests against Beijing's rule and called for the return of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The protests resulted in a Chinese security clampdown in Sichuan and the other Tibetan-populated provinces of Qinghai and Ganzi, as well as in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Sherab, whose father's name was Sodon and mother's name was Nyima, first joined the Genden Tenpel Ling monastery, a small institution with 31 monks, when he was nine years old before graduating to the mammoth Kirti monastery. Fatal Meanwhile, a Tibetan died on Wednesday two days after setting himself on fire in India—the second fatal self-immolation protest by a Tibetan living outside China. "We do recognize that his sacrifice will help in boosting the morale of other Tibetans and contribute in repelling the dark clouds of Chinese occupation over Tibet,” said Dhondup Lhadar, the vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress The group said a grand funeral "deserving of a martyr" is being planned for Jamphel Yeshi in the Tibetan exiled community's headquarters of Dharamsala, the northern Indian hilltown where Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in living in exile. “We have decided to take his body to Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan exile government. All the necessary approval was obtained from the authorities for us to move his body, and we are making all the necessary arrangements,” Lhadar said. Jamphel Yeshi poured fuel over himself, set himself ablaze, and ran screaming down a road engulfed in flames in India's capital New Delhi on Monday in protest against a visit to India by China's President Hu Jintao. Hu is in New Delhi for the BRICS summit that includes India, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa. Photos showing Yeshi running in flames past other protesters have been carried by newspapers and websites across the world, and Tibetans in the Indian capital have vowed to step up protests and highlight the Tibetan cause during the summit on Thursday. Another Tibetan, Thupten Ngodup, had self-immolated and died in India in 1998. Yeshi lived in the Majnu Ka Tila refugee enclave in the north of the city, where thousands of Tibetan exiles have been based for decades after fleeing from China. Call The wave of self-immolations had prompted a call recently from well-known Tibetan blogger Woeser and senior Tibetan religious leader Arjia Rinpoche to end the fiery protests, saying that Tibetans opposed to Chinese rule should instead "stay alive to struggle and push forward" their goals. Lobsang Sangay, the head of Tibet's exile government in Dharamsala, said that while he strongly discouraged self-immolations, the "fault lies squarely with the hardline leaders in Beijing." He accused Beijing of attempting over the last half-century "to annihilate the Tibetan people and its culture." The Chinese government however blamed the Dalai Lama for the self-immolations, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create "turmoil" in Tibetan-inhabited areas. Reported by Yangdon Demo and Ugyen Tenzin. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-03282012142200.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 9 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Popular Tibetan Singer Detained

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Popular Tibetan Singer Detained March 26, 2012— Chinese authorities have detained a popular Tibetan singer after he released an album of songs dedicated to Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, sources said Monday. The 25-year-old singer, Ugyen Tenzin, was detained last month soon after the release of his album titled, “An Unending Flow of My Heart’s Blood,” the sources said. Information flow has been severely restricted from troubled Tibetan-populated areas in recent months. Unconfirmed reports said that Ugyen Tenzin has been beaten in custody and is disabled. “He released the album about a month ago, and he was arrested soon after that,” said a source in New York who recently traveled to Tibet. On the album, he had dedicated songs to the Dalai Lama as well as the third highest ranking Buddhist leader the Karmapa, and the Kalon Tripa, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile. “It has thirteen songs, and some of songs are dedicated or in praise of the Dalai Lama, Karmapa and [Kalon Tripa] Lobsang Sangay,” the source said. Wave of protests Ugyen Tenzin is from Sugma in Nangchen (in Chinese, Nangqian) county in Yulshul (Yushu) prefecture of China's northwestern Qinghai, among three key Tibetan-populated provinces where tensions have risen in recent months following a wave of protests challenging Chinese rule and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. There have been 30 Tibetan self-immolations in protest against Beijing's rule in the Tibetan-populated areas of Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai, triggering ramped-up security across the areas as well as in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Another Tibetan, Duldak Nyima, who is originally from the same county and now lives in New York, said that he heard from a friend back home that Ugyen Tenzin had been arrested because of the album. “A friend of mine received the letter from Tibet few days ago, stating the singer was arrested. I believe the arrest was connected to the release of the album.” “Before the release of the album, [other Tibetans were worried about] the album’s consequences and advised the singer against distributing it,” Duldak Nyima said. “The singer also said in the DVD that he is doing this for the religious and political cause of Tibet; he was … discussing the Tibet issue and Tibetan identity,” he said. In one song on the album, part of which was posted on YouTube, the singer alludes to Tibetan independence and repression: “The unity of the three provinces of Tibet, that is what I have repressed in my heart for 50 years and what I am now going to share through songs, until I breathe my last,” he says. Maltreatment A letter sent by an anonymous source in Tibet said that Ugyen Tenzin is being mistreated in prison and is in ill health. “None of his relatives or friends are allowed to reach him,” according to a copy of the letter. “We learned from the police sources that he was so severely tortured under detention that his body and faculties are disabled. He was recovering from surgery prior to his detention and the torture made it worse,” it said. China has jailed scores of Tibetan writers, artists, singers, and educators for asserting Tibetan national identity and civil rights since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Another popular Tibetan singer, Tashi Dhondup, was released from jail last year after serving most of a 15-month sentence for recording songs calling for Tibetan independence. The singer was convicted for violating laws by singing songs in support of Tibetan independence and the Dalai Lama. Reported by Norbu Damdul for RFA’s Tibetan service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/song-03262012190715.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 9 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Tibetan Monk Burns Himself Amid Mass Protests

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tibetan Monk Burns Himself Amid Mass Protests March 16, 2012— Another Tibetan monk self-immolated Friday in China's Sichuan province in protest over Chinese rule while more than 1,000 Tibetans demonstrated in neighboring Qinghai province demanding the release of more than 50 monks who were detailed a day earlier in a monastery crackdown. Twenty-old Lobsang Tsultrim was in flames as he ran shouting slogans against Chinese rule near the county office in Sichuan's Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) prefecture, eyewitnesses told India-based monks Kanyag Tsering and Lobsang Yeshe. "He was pursued by Chinese policemen who beat him, knocked him down, and threw him into an open truck," Tsering quoted one eyewitness as saying. "He was seen being taken away but he kept pumping his fists in the air." Tsultrim, the eldest in a family of four and who was ordained as a monk when he was eight, was from the restive Kirti monastery, which has been surrounded and sealed by security forces which have also beefed up security across Ngaba county. He is the 29th Tibetan to have self-immolated since February 2009 amid a wave of fiery Tibetan protests challenging Beijing's rule and calling for the return of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Tibetan flag The self-immolation came as more than 1,000 Tibetans protested in Gepasumdo (in Chinese, Tongde) county in Qinghai province on Friday calling for the release of about 50 monks who had been held for raising the Tibetan flag and demanding freedom a day earlier, according to sources. “Over a thousand Tibetans converged at the county building and demanded that all the monks detained should be released," a local Tibetan source told RFA. "They persisted in the peaceful protests and the county government building was surrounded by police and paramilitary forces." The source said there was no confrontation as elder Tibetans had advised the protesters to "persist in their peaceful defiance and not become involved in any kind of violence." The protest was triggered by a crackdown by Chinese security forces on the Ba Shangtre monastery Thursday after about 150 to 200 monks from the institution raised the Tibetan flag at the Gepasumdo (in Chinese, Tongde) county in Tsolho (in Chinese, Hainan) prefecture. They also displayed banners calling for freedom for Tibet, the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, and for human rights for Tibetans before marching through the streets, the Tibetan source said. “Some time that evening, 40 Chinese vehicles arrived at the monastery and the Chinese police and paramilitary surrounded it. They searched the residences of the monks and detained about 60 monks," the source said. "Fifty of them were held back at the county detention center while 10 were released.” Police Chinese police at Gepasumdo county refused to confirm the protests. When RFA asked the person who answered the phone at the police station whether there was a 1,000-strong protest, he said, "There wasn't." Asked whether the protesters were all students, he hung up the phone. Tensions have heightened in Tibetan-populated provinces and in the Tibet Autonomous Region following a Chinese security clampdown and the detention of hundreds of monks since early last year. Earlier this week, several thousand students protested in three counties in Qinghai on Wednesday to challenge a possible change in the medium of instruction in schools. The protests against a proposed change from Tibetan to Chinese language occurred in schools in Rebkong (in Chinese, Tongren), Tsekhog (Zeku) and Kangtsa (Gangcha) counties, according to a Tibetan exile spokesman for the Rebkong community based in the Indian hilltown of Dharamsala. It was the biggest protest since October 2010 when thousands of Tibetan middle and primary school pupils from four different Tibetan autonomous prefectures in Qinghai Province demonstrated for days against a language change policy. Anniversary The latest self-immolation came nearly a week after Uprising Day on March 10, the politically sensitive anniversary of the 1959 flight into exile of the Dalai Lama and of regionwide protests throughout Tibet in 2008. The wave of self-immolations prompted a call last week from well-known Tibetan blogger Woeser and senior Tibetan religious leader Arjia Rinpoche to end the fiery protests, saying that Tibetans opposed to Chinese rule should instead "stay alive to struggle and push forward" their goals. Reported by Lumbum, Kansang Tenzin, Lobe Socktsang, and Rigdhen Dolma for RFA's Tibetan service and Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translation by Karma Dorjee, Rigdhen Dolma, and Feng Xiaoming. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-03162012143125.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Tibetan Protesters Told to Surrender or Face ‘Severe’ Action

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tibetan Protesters Told to Surrender or Face ‘Severe’ Action March 13, 2012—Authorities have warned Tibetans who participated in mass protests in China's northwestern Qinghai province to surrender or face “severe” punishment, and have expelled more than half of Tibetan monks from a restive monastery in Tibet, sources said Tuesday. Public notices written in Tibetan and Chinese have appeared in Nangchen (Nangqian, in Chinese) county in Qinghai province warning those who took part in protests in the county last month to hand themselves in to the police, the sources said. The March 6 notice, a copy of which was shown to RFA, read, “You took part in an unusual protest on Feb. 8. Per this order, you are required to report to the police station to confess by no later than 10:00 a.m., March [date erased], 2012. Those who fail to turn themselves in will be dealt with severely.” It did not say what punishment will be imposed on the protesters. Two venues More than 1,000 Tibetans had protested at two venues in Nangchen county on that day under close watch by the Chinese security forces. The protests came amid Tibetan self-immolations to oppose Chinese rule and to call for the return of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. At the county stadium, about 1,000 laypeople in traditional dress chanted prayers and shouted slogans such as "Freedom for Tibet" and "Long Live the Dalai Lama," sources had told RFA. The Tibetans had shouted "Kyi Hi Hi," a Tibetan battle cry in defiance," when armed soldiers and policemen closed in, the sources said. Several hundred Tibetans also gathered in the main monastery in Nangchen town on the same day, chanting and tossing traditional tsampa, or barley flour, into the air. As Chinese authorities moved to nab the protesters in Qinghai province, reports emerged that 104 monks out of 200 monks in the Karma monastery in Chamdo county in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) had been expelled, sources inside the region said. Monks without proper identification staying at the Karma monastery have been expelled and returned to their places of origin, according to a recent internal communiqué issued by the monastery management committee, the sources said. Per this order, they are now made to work as laymen on local farms, with local village committees being put in charge of the monks’ “reeducation,” they said. Bomb Some monks and nuns had fled the Karma monastery in October last year after they were suspected by Chinese authorities of being involved in a bomb attack on a government building. Under the latest order, the monks are not allowed to leave their areas without permission from several levels of local authority, the sources said. The monks remaining at Karma monastery are being subjected to political reeducation and are being forced to display pictures of Chinese leaders in their living quarters, denounce the Dalai Lama and show their loyalty and gratitude to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. "Those who refuse are severely beaten. The public denunciation sessions are filmed by the monastery management committee," one source said. The developments came amid tensions in the Tibetan-populated provinces and in the TAR area following a Chinese security clampdown and the detention of hundreds of monks since early last year. Twenty-seven Tibetans have self-immolated so far to protest Chinese rule. Reported by Dorjee Damdul and Palden Gyal for RFA's Tibetan service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney and Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/action-03132012194041.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Slain Uyghurs Not Linked to Bomb-Making Activities

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Slain Uyghurs Not Linked to Bomb-Making Activities March 13, 2012— Four Uyghur men shot dead by police in China’s troubled Xinjiang region last week were not linked to bomb-making activities as suspected but may have had “terror plans,” security officials said Tuesday, as residents disputed any terrorism intentions. The men were gunned down in a pre-dawn raid at a farmhouse near Korla city in central Xinjiang on Thursday, as part of the Chinese government's "strike hard" anti-crime campaign in the region, after police had detained a bomb-making suspect in the city. Korla police said that there was evidence that the men, who defended themselves with knives during the raid, had plans for terrorist activity though they did not elaborate. Beijing considers Xinjiang a terrorism hotspot and the incident added to tensions in the region, where Uyghurs complain of policies favoring Han Chinese migration into the region and the unfair allocation of resources to the Chinese. Local residents who knew the Uyghurs involved disputed the police theory that those killed were suspected terrorists, claiming that the Chinese authorities had fabricated evidence in the past to justify the killings of Uyghurs. A security official said that Tohti Ibrahim, who was detained after a bomb exploded at his home in Korla city, was – unlike previous suspicions – not working with the four killed in Towurchi, a rural township 20 km (12 miles) outside the city. Korla police had identified the Towurchi farmhouse as a target for the raid after detaining and interrogating 20 of Ibrahim’s hospital visitors. “Yes, it was wrong to make the conjecture [that they were linked], but the shooting was not wrong, because the four disobeyed police during the raid operation,” said Seypidin, a senior security official in Korla. Moreover, the four killed had shown evidence of extremism, he said, defending the police action. “Even though they don't have organizational link with the bomb-maker, their ideology and political views are 100 percent the same. And in addition, we found enough evidence of a terror plan, like axes and boxing gloves,” he said. Not terrorists But a Towurchi resident who knew the four men disagreed with the police view that the men had any terrorist intentions, explaining that the items police had confiscated as evidence were not uncommon. “I don't believe they had materials and items for a terror plan. Probably the boxing gloves and bows and arrows were for sports for them and their children. Axes and knives can be found in all the houses in Korla,” he said. “Police, especially state security police, always fabricate evidence to justify their killing,” he added. Three of the four men were from out of town and had served time in jail for unknown offenses, according to the Towurchi resident and Korla police. Ghulamidin Yasin, the police officer who led the raid on the Towurchi farmhouse, said one of the four men was from Akto (Aketao) county in Kizilsu prefecture, and two others were from Peyziwat (Gashi) and Kargilik (Yecheng) counties in Kashgar prefecture. It was not known where the fourth person was from. They had moved to the township to start a terrorist camp, the officer claimed. The resident said they had come to work on the farm in Towurchi two years ago after being harassed by police in their hometowns. “They had left their hometowns to be rid of police trouble because of their police records. They moved to Korla just to seek a peaceful life,” he said. “Of course they had to evade the police raid because they knew what would happen to them if they were detained. And on the other hand, as strong religious believers, they don’t submit easily to unjust treatment,” he said. Bomb suspect Tohti Ibrahim, the bomb-making suspect originally linked to the men killed, may have been motivated to make a bomb in revenge against his wife’s detention, according to his neighbors and Korla police. "Tohti Ibrahim’s case is much different from the others’. His actions were mostly motivated by personal or family anger, rather than ethnic tension,” a neighbor said. Ibrahim’s wife had been detained by city police, along with his brother Memet Ibrahim’s wife, for holding an “illegal religious gathering” with a dozen other women on Feb. 28, neighbors and police said. The raid on the gathering, in which police confiscated books and CDs, was part of a regional campaign against illegal religious activity, Ghulamidin Yasin said. After his wife was detained, Ibrahim told his neighbors, “Now I’m in a situation where I cannot protect my wife. This is enough reason for me to be thrown into hell in the other world,” they said. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur service. Translated by Shohret Hoshur. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/korla-03132012182221.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : North Korea Moves to Identify Defectors

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

North Korea Moves to Identify Defectors March 12, 2012—The North Korean government has launched a campaign to identify and punish families of defectors in an apparent bid to prevent further defections that have highlighted abuses in the reclusive country, sources said. The move comes amid claims by refugee advocates in South Korea that China has repatriated 31 North Korean refugees it arrested last month despite international concerns they could suffer abuse or even execution for fleeing North Korea during the mourning period for its late leader Kim Jong Il. According to a Pyongyang resident, the government is interrogating families with members who have been "missing" for long periods as it moves to strengthen procedures to check defections. The resident from the North Korean capital who recently visited China told RFA that “thorough investigations on families of people who are assumed to be defectors but have been classified as missing persons due to lack of evidence are now underway.” “They use an intellectual method of interrogation by examining members of each family not all at once but one at a time," said the resident, identified only as Min. Min explained that the North Korean authorities want to pin down the motive of those who might have defected and the dates they left the country. Examinations of cases stretch for long periods if there are any discrepancies in statements made by family members, he said. “I heard that even if they don’t find any discrepancies between the statements, they use extremely coercive methods to find faults by repeating the same questions over and over again while changing the interrogators,” Min added. Confirmation A Chinese Korean, identified as Cho, who has returned from her visit to her family in North Korea's northwestern Hwanghae province's capital Haeju, confirmed that the government is conducting the probe on the defections. Cho said she “heard the news that the entire area of Haeju, too, is under investigation.” >From these accounts, observers said, it can be assumed that the North Korean authorities are carrying out a nationwide investigation on families of suspected defectors. Families that are classified as those of defectors could be banished to remote areas, Min and Cho both said. A Chinese source familiar with the situation in North Korea said that while the investigations appeared to be generally of "missing persons" in North Korean households, they were particularly aimed at probing defections. “It seems to be related to the forced repatriation issue of North Korean defectors that is currently becoming a subject of discussion worldwide,” the source said. “In fact, it looks like they are determined to hunt down those missing people who do appear to have defected from the country.” Plight Human rights groups have recently highlighted the plight of North Korean defectors in China who face deportation home and possible execution. Refugee advocates in South Korea said last week that in the latest case, Beijing had sent home 31 North Korean refugees it arrested last month despite international pressure against the move. Rumors had been rife that Kim Jong Un issued a shoot-to-kill order against people attempting to cross the border during the mourning period for his father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, and has also called for stern punishment for their relatives, said Do Hee-Yun, head of the Citizens' Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, Agence France-Presse reported. North Korea has in the past treated those who simply crossed the border to find food with relative leniency, while punishing severely those who attempted to flee to the South, according to North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity. However, all fugitives are now treated as traitors worthy of severe retribution, the coalition group of North Korean defectors based in Seoul said. The Chinese source believed that the North Korean authorities "might have come to the conclusion that if this issue of forced repatriation of those North Korean defectors captured in China is prolonged, it could become a link that leads to the creation of more defectors.” Last fall, Pyongyang classified as defectors those citizens on the suspect list who have not returned home for more than five years and punished their families by banishing them to remote areas. Reported by Kim Joon-Ho for RFA's Korean service. Translated by Kang Min Kyung. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/defectors-03122012163808.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Tibetan Monk Self-Immolates on 'Uprising Day'

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tibetan Monk Self-Immolates on 'Uprising Day' March 12, 2012— A young Tibetan monk burned himself to death in China’s Sichuan province in protest at Chinese rule as Tibetans marked “Uprising Day” at the weekend, according to exile Tibetan sources in India. The 18-year-old monk, identified as Gepe, staged the self-immolation behind a Chinese military office in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) prefecture, the sources said. It was the 27th self-immolation by Tibetans since they began a wave of fiery protests in February 2009 to challenge Beijing's rule in Tibetan-populated areas and call for the return of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The latest self-immolation occurred on Uprising Day, the politically sensitive March 10 anniversary of the 1959 flight into exile of the Dalai Lama and of regionwide protests throughout Tibet in 2008. Speaking to RFA and citing sources in the region, India-based monk Lobsang Yeshe said Gepe was from Ngaba's restive Kirti monastery, from which hundreds of monks have been taken away by Chinese security forces and which has faced a clampdown since early last year. “He self-immolated between 5:00-6:00 p.m. [local time] at the rear of a Chinese military office in the marketplace of Ngaba town,” Lobsang Yeshe said. “He died on the spot, and Chinese military personnel immediately took his body inside the building.” Family kept away Gepe’s family learned of his death only on the next day, Lobsang Yeshe said. But when they went to claim his body, Chinese officials refused to hand it over, saying that it would be taken instead to neighboring Barkham (in Chinese, Ma’erkang) county for cremation. The family would not agree to this, so authorities burned Gepe’s remains that night at a public cremation ground near Kirti monastery, Lobsang Yeshe said. Five monks were present to conduct prayers, but no family members or other Tibetans were allowed to attend. Gepe came from a nomad family living in the village of Soruma Dewa and was taken at a young age to Kirti monastery, where he did well in his studies, Lobsang Yeshe said. He is survived by his mother and two siblings. Chinese police detained Gepe’s mother, Chako, and questioned her for several hours on Sunday and Monday before releasing her, Lobsang Yeshe and fellow monk Kanyag Tsering said in a statement released on Monday. Tibetan shops and restaurants in the area are now closed in solidarity with the dead monk, and security measures in the area have been tightened, Yeshe and Tsering added. News spreads to China News of the self-immolation appeared also on the Chinese website Xin Lang, which carried a Weibo microblog posting confirming Gepe’s name and age and the date of his protest. However, the posting was quickly removed and replaced by a comment saying that the story could not be viewed by the public. The wave of self-immolations prompted a call last week from well-known Tibetan blogger Woeser and senior Tibetan religious leader Arjia Rinpoche to end the fiery protests, saying that Tibetans opposed to Chinese rule should instead "stay alive to struggle and push forward" their goals. Tibet's India-based exile cabinet marked this year's March 10 anniversary of the failed 1959 national uprising against Chinese rule with a statement noting what it called China's efforts over the last half-century "to annihilate the Tibetan people and its culture." Lobsang Sangay, the head of the exile government, said that while he strongly discouraged self-immolations, the "fault lies squarely with the hardline leaders in Beijing." The Chinese government has blamed the Dalai Lama for the self-immolations, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create "turmoil" in China's Tibetan-inhabited areas. But Sangay said "the self-immolations are an emphatic rejection of the empty promises of [China's] so-called ‘socialist paradise'" and the lack of ability to protest in any other way in Tibet. "Today, there is no space for any conventional protests such as hunger strikes, demonstrations and even peaceful gatherings in Tibet," Sangay said. "Tibetans are therefore taking extreme actions such as ... [committing] self-immolations," Sangay said. Reported by Rigdhen Dolma for RFA’s Tibetan service. Translations by Rigdhen Dolma and Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/uprising-03122012142647.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Uyghurs Who Were Gunned Down were 'Prepared To Fight And Die'

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Uyghurs Who Were Gunned Down were 'Prepared To Fight And Die' March 11, 2012— Four Uyghur men shot dead by Chinese authorities last week for suspected bomb-making in the restive northwestern Xinjiang region were prepared for their death and even had made their own funeral arrangements, according to police. The men were gunned down in a pre-dawn raid at a farmhouse near Korla city in central Xinjiang on Thursday as part of the Chinese government's "strike hard" anti-crime campaign in the region. Beijing considers Xinjiang a terrorism hotspot but the minority Uyghurs complain they are being discriminated against. The four men, armed only with knives, knew they had no chance against the gun-toting police. They gave farewell hugs to their wives and children and made their own funeral arrangements before confronting the pursuers, officers who supervised the operation said. Six policemen were initially involved in the raid at the farmhouse near Korla city in the Bayin'gholin prefecture but they had to seek reinforcements after a police officer’s arms were chopped at by an assailant, they said. "While we were waiting for additional forces to come from the county, we monitored the actions of the suspects from a window and we saw them performing the funeral ceremony for each other," Ghulamidin Yasin, the commander of the operation, told RFA. Farewell The wives and eight children of two of the four men told police their husbands hugged and bid them farewell and herded them into a secluded room at the farmhouse before preparing for the police party to arrive. Police were tipped off about the suspected bomb-making at the farmhouse after interviewing acquaintances of a man who was injured while making explosives a week earlier. Seypidin, a senior security official at Korla city, said one woman told police that a neighbor had alerted the Uyghur men just before the raid. "It was around three o'clock. Our neighbors knocked gently at our door," he quoted the woman as saying. "My husband went out and after 10 minutes, he came back to our room and kissed our children one by one and hugged me and whispered, ‘This is my last hug, we will meet in another world. I have only one expectation from you—don’t show your tears to our children under any circumstance.' "After that, my husband put us in another room—all women and children in the farmhouse were placed in one room.” Seypidin said her statement "clearly proved that the suspects had prepared to fight with us and die." The Uyghur men were shot dead as they charged at the police with their knives, according to the police officers. Criticized Seypidin said some top officials had criticized the police operation because none of the suspects were captured alive. Police identified the ringleader of the suspected bomb-making activity as Nesrulla, who they said moved to the farmhouse from Korla city after a warrant for his arrest was issued on March 5. Nesrulla also moved his wife and their son to Hejing county two days before the shooting. Police who monitored the wife's house in Hejing had detained 12 people who visited her. The incident adds to tensions in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs complain of policies favoring Han Chinese migration into the region and the unfair allocation of resources to the Chinese. Ten days earlier, 20 people were killed in attacks in Kargilik (in Chinese, Yecheng) county in Kashgar prefecture. The government said that a group of Uyghurs had stabbed to death 13 people before police shot dead seven of the attackers in the violence. Several residents of Kargilik county interviewed by RFA said the violence stemmed from a massive influx of Han Chinese, resulting in fewer economic opportunities for the Uyghur community. The Chinese government has blamed the incident on separatists. Ethnic violence left some 200 people dead in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi in 2009. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur service. Translated by Shohret Hoshur. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/die-03112012181519.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Four Killed in China's Xinjiang Raid

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Four Killed in China’s Xinjiang Raid March 9, 2012—Chinese police shot dead four Uyghur men after raiding what they said was a bomb-making operation at a farmhouse near Korla city in China’s troubled northwestern Xinjiang region, according to city police officers Friday. The pre-dawn raid in Towurchi village near Korla city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region's Bayin'gholin prefecture on Thursday was part of the Chinese government's "strike hard" anti-crime campaigns and "stability drive" as the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's parliament, convened in Beijing for its annual session this week. The raid was staged after a man was injured while making a bomb at his home, raising suspicions, the police officers said. Police believed the man was linked to a group suspected of planning an attack in Xinjiang, which has been gripped by persistent ethnic tensions between the Muslim Uyghurs and the rapidly growing Han Chinese migrant population and where Beijing says its primary terrorism threat comes from. Based on information extracted from interrogations on 21 suspects who were rounded up, police raided the farmhouse, killing one wanted man, identified as Nesrullah, aged 21, among them, they said. Confirmed Korla City Police Bureau Detective Office Chief Wu San and an officer on duty, Xiao Jing, confirmed the events that led to the bloody incident, the latest in Xinjiang since attacks in Kargilik (in Chinese, Yecheng) county in Kashgar prefecture last month killed 20. The officer in charge of the raid told RFA that six armed policemen were involved initially in the raid but that they had to seek reinforcements after a police officer’s arms were chopped at by an assailant. “We had located Nesrulla and his accomplice’s hiding place, which was a farmhouse in Towurchi village of Korla city,” said police officer Ghulamidin Yasin. “When we rushed into the room, there were two women and eight children. We asked them where their men were and they told us they were not home, but we could see from their faces that they were deceiving us,” he said. “We surrounded the storage room and were ready to rush in, when one man rushed out from the room holding an axe, and he chopped one of our policemen’s hands.” When police discovered that there were several other men in the house, some of whom began throwing bottles at the raiding party, 40 more police officers were called in to surround the area, Yasin said. The men rushed out, carrying knives, and police shot them. In addition to Nesrulla, those killed in the incident were identified as Nurmemet, 25, and Abdurehim and Abdulla, both over 30 years old. The men’s last names could not be immediately obtained. “We found two bows, some bomb-making materials, and boxing gloves. It looks like they were preparing some sort of armed attack,” Yasin said. He identified the man who was injured while making a bomb as Tohti Ibrahim. Ibrahim "told the doctor that his gas tank had exploded at home, but the doctor didn’t believe him and immediately informed us,” Yasin said. When police questioned him about the bomb, Ibrahim told them, “I do not acknowledge the law of China, and I am not willing to live under the Chinese regime, and I am willing to die. Don’t question me anymore, just kill me, I will tell you nothing. I was planning to act alone,” according to Yasin. Stabbed In the Kargilik violence last month, the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region said in a statement published on its official website that a group of Uyghurs stabbed to death 13 people before police shot dead seven of the attackers. Several residents of Kargilik county interviewed by RFA said the violence stemmed from a massive influx of Han Chinese, resulting in fewer economic opportunities for the Uyghur community. The Chinese government has blamed the incident on separatists. Zhang Chunxian, secretary of the Xinjiang’s ruling Chinese Communist Party committee, said this week that the Kargilik incident, as well as other public violence that rocked the region last year, were related to outside forces. "The infiltration of three overseas forces of separatists, extremists and terrorists, the social situation in nearby countries and international anti-terrorism activities may have directly or indirectly prompted such incidents," he said, on the sidelines China’s annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing, according to the state-run China Daily newspaper. Uyghurs complain of policies favoring Han Chinese migration into the region and unfair allocation of resources. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur service. Translated by Dolkun Kamberi. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/korla-03092012182915.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS : Aung San Suu Kyi's Campaign Speech Censored

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Aung San Suu Kyi's Campaign Speech Censored March 9, 2012— Burmese authorities have censored a key election campaign speech of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, removing portions related to the abuses of the previous military junta and the absence of the rule of law in the country. She told RFA that the authorities had removed a paragraph from the text of her speech to be aired by state radio and television as part of her National League of Democracy (NLD) party broadcast ahead of April 1 by-elections. In that paragraph, she had accused the military junta, which ruled Burma with an iron fist for decades, of not respecting the rule of law and of manipulating the law to punish the people. "I had to submit my speech ahead of time and one paragraph was censored," Aung San Suu Kyi said in an interview on Thursday. "The part about how there wasn't rule of law and the military government had repeatedly used the law to repress the people, that is censored," she said. All political parties were entitled to a campaign speech to be broadcast on state radio and television. It was to be recorded next week and broadcast at a later date before the by-elections in which Aung San Suu Kyi is contesting one of 48 seats. It is believed that the NLD replaced the contentious paragraph. Sanctions The upcoming elections are being closely watched by foreign governments considering the prospect of gradually lifting sanctions as the nominally civilian government embraces political and other reforms following decades of harsh military rule. Aung San Suu Kyi has been facing various election campaign restrictions despite assurances by the Burmese authorities that there would be no such hurdles in the run-up to the polls. She had faced problems getting venues for her to hold campaign rallies and complained that official voter lists included dead people and open possibility for fraud. Aung San Suu Kyi has asked the international community to watch closely how the elections proceed and how the official election commission deals with complaints of electoral irregularities before determining their policy toward Burma. Her NLD had boycotted Burma's general election in November 2010 but agreed to rejoin the electoral process after the new military-backed government began implementing a series of democratic reforms. Even if the NLD wins all 48 seats, the current government will still have a commanding majority in parliament. The NLD scored a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the military junta then did not allow the party to take office. Burmese President Thein Sein assured this month that his government will build on the sweeping reforms it has begun over the last year, saying it is truly committed to democratic change. The Thein Sein administration’s reforms—including freeing political prisoners, signing ceasefires with armed rebel groups, easing restrictions on the press and opening a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi—have baffled even some of the nation's fiercest critics. Reported by RFA's Burmese service. Translated by Khin May Zaw. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/burma/censor-03092012140252.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

12 years, 10 months

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Engnews March 2012