Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have died under the Chinese occupation as a result of factors including torture, starvation and execution
Approximately 6,000 monasteries, nunneries and temples, and their contents were destroyed from the late 1950s and during the Cultural Revolution
Tibetans can be imprisoned and tortured simply for expressing their views
Measures to repress religion are particularly severe in Tibet due to the close connection between Tibetan Buddhism and national identity |
Tibetan monks and nuns are frequently subjected to severe torture in Chinese prisons, including beatings with metal bars and electric shock batons and solitary confinement There is an increasing influx of Chinese into Tibet, due in part to government incentives and policies, resulting in severe threats to the cultural and economic life of the Tibetan people
More Information:
International Campaign for Tibet |
Today the situation in Tibet is increasingly tense. The influx of Chinese increases; peaceful demonstrations in Lhasa and elsewhere take place despite the strong and often violent reaction of Chinese security forces.
Hundreds of Tibetans are imprisoned for their political or religious activities. Asia Watch states in its 1994 report, Detained in China and Tibet, that "The proportion of 'counterrevolutionaries' to common criminals in Tibetan jails today is almost 21 times higher than in China proper."
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Detainees are regularly tortured and exiled Tibetans have only limited access to their country. Meanwhile, China has just opened Tibet to both individual and group tourism, and to wider economic development.
Links:
International Campaign For Tibet
The Government of Tibet in Exile
Students For A Free Tibet
Tibet Justice Center
The Tibet Fund
Tibet Online
Kham Aid Foundation
Conservancy for Tibetan Arts
Tibet House
The Tibetan Photo Project
Canada Tibet Committee |
