Diplomats and Civil Society Organisations at the Pre-session on China. Photo/UPR Info
Geneva: The deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet and China’s unfulfilled promises made in the second cycle of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) were brought to the attention of the UN member states at the UPR pre-session this afternoon.
The pre-session on China featured speakers from the Tibet Advocacy Coalition, World Uyghur Congress, World Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, Hong Kong UPR Coalition, PEN International and Scholars at Risk.
Representing the Tibet Advocacy Coalition, Padma Dolma highlighted the grim human rights situation in Tibet. Dolma said that China has intensified its stringent policies in Tibet, including the “implementation of new security measures” to monitor and further control Tibetans. Emphasizing China’s unabated repressive policies in Tibet, she also added that the Chinese policies in Tibet “focus solely on control and they violate rather than protect the rights of the Tibetan people”.
In the previous UPR, China had accepted the recommendation to facilitate the visit of UN human rights officials, including the High Commissioner, to Tibetan and Uighur areas. But, China has failed in its “implementation”, added Dolma. She urged the UN member states to “take a strong stance” and include Tibet specific recommendations to China in the third cycle UPR that is scheduled to take place early next month.
Tibet Advocacy Coalition has proposed UN member states to consider the following Tibet specific recommendations to China in the upcoming UPR:
- Cease the criminalization of Tibetan human rights defenders regarding charges accusing Tibetan human rights defenders as “endangering state security” and charges related to state secrecy, including subjecting them to threats, arrests, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture
- Take all necessary measures to immediately halt non-voluntary resettlement of Tibetan nomads from their traditional lands and non-voluntary relocation or rehousing programs for other rural residents; and carry out meaningful consultations with the affected communities in order to examine and evaluate all available options
- Cease restrictions, including military and police measures, on Tibetans’ freedom of movement within Tibet
- Take concrete provisions to guarantee Tibetans the right to self-determination, under Article 1 of ICESCR
The weeklong session that began today is designed and dedicated for discussing the human rights situation of the UN member states that will be reviewed in early next month. UN member states to be reviewed are Belize, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Congo (Republic of) Jordan, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Senegal.
-Filed by Office of Tibet, Geneva
Padma Dolma, representing Tibet Advocacy Coalition at the UPR pre-session on China.Photo/UPR Info
Diplomats and Civil Society Organisations at the Pre-session on China. Photo/UPR Info