Tibet, Spain and the universal justice

Spanish parliament finally succumbed to Chinese pressure and passed a bill to curb universal jurisdiction on 11 February 2014. Ruling party Partido Popular (People's Party, in Spanish) used its absolute majority at the Spanish chamber to overthrow the law which allowed courts in Spain to prosecute crimes of genocide or human rights abuses all around the world. Thus the government led by Prime Minister Rajoy curbed a principle shared with many democracies of the world which had made possible some of the darkest episodes of world history to be pursued and their responsibles to be punished. 

Voting chart on the proposal to curb universal justice at the Spanish parliament.

The bill was passed with the refusal of the whole opposition at the parliament, regardless of ideologies. Therefore, opposed parties like the Basque separatist Amaiur and the Spanish PSOE (Spanish Workers' Socialist Party, in Spanish) agreed on rejecting the reform proposal as it would curtail independent justice and it was passed only to appease China and protect the economic ties between Spain and this country after the Spanish National Court issued an arrest warrant against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and other CCP members on charges of genocide and torture in Tibet. Furthermore, Spanish opposition has also sued the government for trying to appease the United States by preventing the trial for the death of Spanish journalist José Couso when a tank fired on the hotel which served as a headquarters for journalists in Baghdad. The same court that is investigating possible genocide crimes in Tibet repeatedly issued an arrest warrant for several US soldiers for their alleged participation in that crimes. Nevertheless, the resolution launched by the People's Party will also difficult further investigations on this murder.
Furthermore, Spanish laws on that issue was pioneer worldwide for adding that concept to the ordinary jurisdiction, so that different judges mainly from the Spanish National Court could fill lawsuits against former Latin American dictators like Videla and Pinochet, who were even issued an arrest warrant that was never fulfilled due to international pressure. Therefore, the will to appease other states prevented some of the darkest genocides in South America from being properly investigated. In fact, the British government finally halted the extradition of Pinochet to Spain due to alleged medical reasons.
However, this was not the first attempt to curb universal jurisdiction ever. Ironically, the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had already passed a bill in 2009 limiting that principle in an attempt to appease the US government after a judge ordered further inquiries on the death of José Couso, as well as the scales that the so-called "CIA flights" made at Spanish territory while they were transferring prisoners to Guantanamo and the alleged tortures that some prisoners endured while being held at that military base. But the United States were not the only country to put pressure on the Spanish government at that time. In fact, Israel was worried about the investigation that another judge had engaged to find out whether the way its army repelled the Freedom Flotilla was lawful or not.
Regarding the last parlamentary resolution, it is clear that its main aim was to prevent any court move from posing a threat to the excellent relationship between the ruling parties both in China and Spain, which signed a memorandum of collaboration last year. In fact, the spokeswoman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that she expected the Spanish government would do as much as it could to prevent the detention of any former key Chinese politician. Furthermore, The CCP hoped that Spain would not intervene on a strictly domestic issue, as it considers Tibet. Of course, PP is ready to accept this last point in exchange of an increasing Chinese investment in the country and the possibility to take part in the distribution of resources from Tibetan plateau. No matter the victims that Chinese occupation of the plateau since 1950 could have caused, or dozens of human rights abuses that Tibetans are enduring since then.
As a conclusion, anyone should remember the ties that the founder of the People's Party and some of its key politicians have had with the former dictatorship which ruled Spain for nearly 40 years. In fact, many of them are close relatives of some of the closest allies of Franco, starting from late Manuel Fraga himself, so the crimes of that regime are very unlikely to be pursued nearly 40 years later. Indeed, it is not strange that a country where a dictator and his allies enjoyed total impunity would try to erase any references to universal jurisdiction from its laws, regardless of victims.

Mysterious destructions of ancient Tibetan heritage sites

Several fires have broken out on the last weeks throughout the whole Tibetan territory, devastating some of the most important buildings and heritage centres in Tibet. The last one took place on 11 January in Gyalthang town, situated in Kham region in Southern Tibet (Ch.: Dukezong, Shangri-La County, Deqen Prefecture, Yunnan province). It gutted the historical centre of the city and destroyed nearly 300 houses, mainly made of wood. However, the conflagration made no casualties although 2,600 people were displaced or left homeless, and it took Chinese firefighters more than 10 hours to extinguish the flames. A video by Associated Press reporting the blaze and showing footage of it can be seen below.

Gyalthang is situated in Shangri-La county, the name of which was changed by the Chinese Communist Party from Zhongdian, which was given to it when the Chinese army occupied Tibet in the 1950s. It was renamed by Chinese authorities in 2001, in order to turn the county into a touristic area as it shares the name with the fictional land James Hilton wrote about on his novel Lost Horizon, written in 1933. Nevertheless, the renaming drew criticism by Tibetan writer and activist Tsering Woeser as well as several Tibetan and non-Tibetan advocacy groups. For instance, the American newspaper Global Post wrote a series of articles criticizing the move by the Chinese Government as an attempt to transform the area in a sort of Tibetan Disneyland regardless of the people who are living there. In fact, the area has seen an increase flooding of Han migrants who are building plenty of tourist establishments in the city centre, just at the place where most local Tibetan population live. Furthermore, the authorities are encouraging the move of people from all around China in an attempt to "economically develop" the county and "improve the living standards of the local population. On the other side, Tibetans are often underemployed due to the flooding of Chinese skilled workers who get the best paid jobs, so the local population is facing an increasing poverty and marginalization. Moreover, some tourists who had been there complaint about the fact that many of the traditional buildings in Gyalthang (or Dukezong, in Chinese) have been demolished and replaced with brand-new ones which pretend to respect the traditional architecture.
In addition, the circumstances of the fire still remain unclear. The official China Daily newspaper blamed it on an electrical fault that took place inside an inn on the town centre, quoting local authorities. However, it seems quite implausible that a curtain on fire could damage nearly 300 houses and other symbols of ancient Tibetan heritage like thangka and culture relics in spite of the obstacles that firemen could face while putting an end to flames. Moreover, it seems that a fire prevention system which costed approximatelly a million dollars failed due to the freezing cold that disabled the pipes and the fire engines were unable to get close to the fire in the narrow streets of the town. Furthermore, local authorities have triggered the population's criticism because of the way in which they are facing the consequences of such catastrophe. In fact, most of the people who were left homeless, mostly Tibetans and Naxi, have stated that they were left outside with no clothes or bedding after having lost everything despite the freezing cold and two heavy snowfalls that had taken place on the days after the fire. Nevertheless, authorities have stated that they were sending emergency kits to the area and they had accommodated the victims at several hotels.
Leaving the possible causes aside, it seems hard to believe that it had been an accident considering that it had been the second burning incident in less than a week. On 9 January, another blaze destroyed about 100 houses belonging to Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in Serthar, a town also situated in Kham region (Ch: Seda County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province). Ironically, one of the possible causes of the fire was an electric fault, as in the fire that destroyed nearly two thirds of Gyalthang city only three days later. However, other sources state that it might have been caused by a butter lamp at one of the nuns' rooms.
As the picture below shows, the flames turned the buddhist academy in something like a hell on earth. In fact, some witnesses stated that the flames could be seen from all around the area and had lit up the night. According to official Chinese sources, as many as 450 firemen, policemen and rescuers tried to put out the fire during hours but could not prevent some of the nuns' residences from burning. Nevertheless, it luckily did not cause any casualties or damages to the ancient heritage of the monastery although it left about 100 nuns homeless so far.

As if this was not enough, these two blazes have not been the single ones taking place in Tibet in the last year. Eventually, another one hit Ganden Thubchen Choekhorling monastery in Lithang county of Kham region (Ch: Litang County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province) on 16 November 2013, destroying the main prayer hall built in the 16th Century. In fact, the monastery was built by Sonam Gyatso, the third Dalai Lama, in 1580 and was one of the few ancient Tibetan monasteries which survived to the Cultural Revolution that shook Tibet and China between 1966 and 1976. It did not cause any casualties and its effects were limited to the multi-story main prayer hall withouth affecting any buildings of the monastic complex. Furthermore, the fire which destroyed Lithang monastery was also due to an electric fault originated in one of the visitors' halls of the religious building and erupted at night as well. In addition, it was also difficult to put out the flames as nearly 2,500 people were needed to extinguish them, whereas several monks had to be rescued from the raging inferno the prayer hall had become in. However, it seems that some of the most sacred objects inside the room could be saved. 

In conclusion, it seems unbelievable that three different fires could erupt in less than a year at the same region and in the same way, charring some of the most important Tibetan heritage sites across Kham. Furthermore, they are more unlikely to be accidental considering that Chinese authorities are developing plans to turn some of the most important Tibetan cities into touristic attractions despite the damages those policies could inflict to the local population. The most highlighted case is the series of reforms that the CCP is implementing in Lhasa, where authorities are building a shopping area with underground parking facilities right in the Barkhor, the sacred circumvalation road aroud the Jokhang temple which is the main way for Buddhist pilgrims into the city. Furthermore, most of the local Tibetans living in the area have been forced to move into newly built suburbs outside the city centre. So it seems that the Chinese Communist Party is really committed to destroy ancient Tibetan symbols just for tourism and propaganda purposes.

UPDATE: a new fire began in Kham region on 25 January 2014, according to a report by Radio Free Asia news service. In this case, the blaze was originated due to unknown causes in a hilly area of Nyagchukha county in Kardze prefecture (Ch: Yajiang county, Ganzi prefecture, Sichuan province). Some people living in the area stated that it could have spread to the city of Nyagchukha and a small monastery situated on a side of a mountain called Phagmo Hill. However, Chinese firemen managed to put out the flames before they could manage any inhabited area.

Dark (and Spanish) implications over a mining disaster in Tibet

Another mining disaster has taken place in Kham region of Tibet (Sichuan province, according to China). In this case, a spill of polluted water from a mine in Dartsedo (Ch: Kangding) county, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi), according to a report issued by Radio Free Asia on 18 October. A spill of chemical products from the mine has triggered the death of many fish from nearby rivers and polluted drinking water for many villages as well, causing a huge damage not only to the environment but also to the livestock and living conditions of herders and farmers living there. However, Chinese authorities in Kardze have refused to act against the mining site, threatening Tibetans who issued complaints against the mining site with deploying troops in the area and allegations of conflicting the will of the authorities. In addition, some inhabitants from Balang township brought dead fish from the polluted river towards local government headquarters in order to put pressure on them, but the local authorities answered only stating that it would take time to redress the situation and cut off all communications in the area.

The latest spill has even increased the anger of Tibetans living in the area, many of whom had already complained against the building of the mine when they were noticed. Nevertheless, authorities did not pay any consideration to those claims and carried on the construction of the mining site, although local government firstly stated that the project was only to build a road. But it did not prevent the anger of villagers who saw such plan as a threat to the environment and their traditional way of life. In addition, such infrastructures trigger a massive influx of Han-Chinese migrant workers into the region, who usually get the best paid jobs and marginalize ethnic Tibetans by imposing their language and modern way of life.
Even though the spill in Balang township can be seen like an isolated incident, the true fact is that it has been the last of many mining disasters which have happened in Tibet for the last years. The one which drew the attention from the main international media outlets was a landslide in a mine in Gyama village, near Lhasa, which wiped out the miners' camp and buried 83 workers alive. Although it was blamed on a "natural disaster" by the authorities in the Tibetan Autonomous Regions, nearby villagers and Tibetan rights advocates raised early concerns over the causes of the landslide. In fact, most people thought that the real cause for the incident was the excessive activity of the mine, as said by witnesses living in the area who were quoted by Tibetan poet, blogger and activist Tsering Woeser. In addition, she wrote several articles on this issue on her blog and deeply analyzed the catastrophe, concluding that all the evidences proved that it was entirely man-made. She also stated that mining activities would keep polluting water supply, as happened recently in Kham region.
Another issue to be considered is that nearly all corporations which are carrying on mining activities in Tibet are at least partly owned by Western companies which constitute joint ventures alongside Chinese state-owned companies. This is very likely to be the cause of the mining corporation which caused the spill of chemical products in Kardze, a company called Ganzi FerroAtlántica Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., specialized in the extraction of silicon metal from the earth crust and its further transformation into a material to build solar panels. This enterprise is a joint venture owned in a 75% by Spanish group FerroAtlántica, presided over by Juan Miguel Villar Mir (see picture below), one of the main businessmen from Spain.

Juan Miguel Villar Mir on an undated photo

Furthermore, someone who starts seeking information about FerroAtlántica and its several ramifications would notice that it is only a part of the huge enterprise group controlled by Villar Mir. The key corporation of this group is OHL, a conglomerate of companies with several ramifications but aimed mainly to construction activities and concessions over infrastructures. Moreover, the Spanish businessman is currently one of the directors of Abertis, a set of corporations which controls most of highway concessions and tolls all over Spain and generates a large amount of benefits. In fact, motorway tolls have escalated their prices over a 7,5% only during the last one or two years and mainly in Catalonia, triggering citizens' protests like #novullpagar ("I don't want to pay" movement) aimed not to pay tolls when driving through the main Catalan highways.

As if it were not enough, Juan Miguel Villar Mir can be regarded as one of the key pieces of the complex relationship between the ruling powers in Spain and China. In fact, the other share of Ganzi FerroAtlántica Silicon Industry Co., Ltd is owned by a Chinese state-owned company, so he is likely to be well related to several members within the Chinese Communist Party. Furthermore, he has close ties with Spanish ruling People's Party and was blamed for illegally funding it by a huge amount of donations, according to information recorded on documentation from Bárcenas lawsuit, a court case regarding the illegal funding of the ruling party in Spain.

Finally, this case is an example on how certain businessmen can invest their money in projects which can provide huge benefits through the exploitation of very rare natural resources without considering the needs of the population living in the area or the damage their activity can cause to such a sensitive environment as the Tibetan plateau, while are aiding the occupation of the area and encouraging an influx of migrant people who work on their companies and start the colonization of the region. But it also shows some ties between their corporations and the relations between the ruling parties of their birthplace and the place they are investing it. The relationship between the water spill in Kardze and the company owned by Spanish businessman Villar Mir is quite an evidence supporting the dark scheme of ties between Chinese and Spanish authorities.

Illusion and delusion: China's current policies towards Tibet

Chinese Communist Party has implemented more hard-line policies on Tibet during the last weeks ahead of the birthday of the Dalai Lama. This has happened despite rumours which suggested that the cult to the figure of Tibetan spiritual leader had been allowed in some areas and the invitation by a Chinese religious group to visit Hong Kong in September, as well as the latest statement by Chinese scholar Jin Wei, who suggested that talks with Dalai Lama's representatives should be resumed after more than two years of stallement and even claimed that China should invite him to visit Hong Kong or Macau and eventually allow him to come back to Tibet only on the role of Buddhist leader with no voice on political affairs.

After tightening the surveillance on Tibetans and the plans to vanish the ancient heritage of Lhasa by creating  a comertial area across the Barkhor area (a road that circumvalates Jokhang temple, one of the holiest in the city), the last move by Chinese authorities in Tibet has been the re-launchment of calls for "absolute fight" against the Dalai Lama, as Yu Zhengsheng stated during a meeting with local officials and religious leaders in Gansu province. At the same time, Chinese police shot several people who were celebrating the birthday of Tenzin Gyatso in Tawu county, Kham (Ch.: Daofu County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). According to some reports emerging from exile, at least two monks (Tashi Sonam and Ugyen Tashi) were shot in the head whilst several others were injured due to the shooting and the use of teargas. In addition, a report by Human Rights Watch has highlighted recently that nearly a third of Tibetans (approximately 2 million people) have been moved away from their homes and grasslands and transferred to the so-called New Socialist Villages, being barred from continuing with their traditional way of life. Therefore, many nomads have been forcibly sedentarized and condemned to alcoholism and margination. The video below gives the background and key features for this issue.

The situation has worsened since Xi Jinping became president of the country and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, with a spike on surveillance on non-Han people, including Tibetans and Uyghurs (a Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang).  Several measures of control have been implemented on minorities, such as monitoring of phone and internet communications, house-to-house searchings and arbitrary detentions or a tightening control on religious activities among others. Moreover, the increased control on minorities and "separatism" is not an isolated fact but an attempt to reassure its current boundaries by controlling some strategic points. In the case of Tibet, the plateau is the source of some of major rivers in East and Southeast Asia like Mekong, Yangtze, Brahmaputra or Salween. In addition, both Tibet and Inner Mongolia are rich in mineral resources crucial to the development of China whilst Xinjiang is rich in petrol, agricultural resources and livestock. So that, the Communist Party of China is not interested in loosing its control on them. Furthermore, both Tibet and Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are territories which share its borders with several countries, thus a heavy military presence is deployed there.
On the other hand, current policies towards Tibet or other "separatist" regions coincide with an increasing assertiveness towards some territories which are considered by China as its own. China's claims include not only the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, an archipielago situated in the East China Sea (they are a disputed territory by both China and Japan) but also other islands and continental territories like Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state which shares its boundaries with Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar and claimed by China as a territory called Southern Tibet. But the region which has suffered more attacks to its sovereignty is the territory of Ladakh, a valley situated in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which shares borders with the Tibetan region of Ngari and Aksai Chin, currently part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In fact, the last one has been repeatedly invaded by patrols of the People's Liberation Army during the last year, with some incursions into the area like the ones which took place in April or May this year and have not resulted in violent clashes between both armies, the last of them taking place only four or five days ago. However, India's reaction has been lukewarm since it has not broken any diplomatic conflict between the two countries. For instance, there have been some high-level meetings between important politicians from both countries, including Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's visit to India in which both countries scheduled diplomatic meetings to discuss the ways to end the rows.
Unlike some scholars who seem surprised by the continuity of hard-line policies on Tibet at a scale that reminds the years of the Cultural Revolution and the impunity that China is enjoying, the last change on the leadership in the country and the CCP has made a variation on policies towards the region unlikely. Instead, some Western countries turn a blind-eye on the precarious situation of human rights in the country by intensifying their economic ties with China or making some political agreements with the Communist Party, like the Memorandum of Understanding between the CCP and the People's Party, the ruling party in Spain. Moreover, the concerns that different governments like the United States have raised over Tibet have not prompted any response by Chinese authorities, which repeatedly claim that Tibetans enjoy more freedom than ever. Thus China enjoys great freedom to address the situation in Tibet at its convenience, despite the damages that the repression on Tibetans could cause to this ethnic group and even to the whole country. 

Testimoni de Tsering Woeser

Amb el pretext d'un viatge que periodistes estrangers han de fer a Lhasa entre els dies 6 i 13 de juliol, el govern xinès ha tornat a posar l'escriptora i activista Tsering Woeser* sota arrest domiciliari, juntament amb el seu marit Wang Lixiong. Ha donat el seu testimoni sobre aquests fets en una entrada escrita al seu bloc, així com l'explicació que un amic seu ha escrit en anglès. També s'hi poden trobar unes quantes fotografies fetes per la mateixa Woeser, les quals il·lustren molt bé la situació en la qual es troba.

Heus ací el testimoni de Woeser, traduït al català:

No és agradable tornar a parlar d'arrest domiciliari.

Només perquè vosaltres [el govern xinès] voleu permetre a les autoritats que organitzin una sèrie d'entrevistes de grup amb periodistes estrangers a Lhasa (sembla el mateix espectacle de cada any), i perquè els periodistes havien començat els preparatius, incloent-hi una entrevista amb mi, ens heu posat al meu marit i a mi sota arrest domiciliari per l'"escàndol" que s'ha format (sembla que els periodistes estrangers només han de veure la imatge de tibetans feliços vivint feliçment les seves vides). És evident que les autoritats tibetanes tenen por que se sàpiga la veritat.

I aquesta és la visió general escrita en anglès per un amic de l'escriptora:

Un altre cop, com si seguissin una rutina lamentablement regular, Tsering Woeser i Wang Lixiong han tornat a ser posats sota arrest domiciliari.

Aquesta vegada ho han fet per esbiaixar les informacions que sorgiran arran d'un viatge a Lhasa que ha estat organitzat per als periodistes estrangers a la Xina.

Woeser ja s'ha reunit amb alguns dels periodistes i les autoritats semblen amoïnades perquè les seves opinions puguin contradir la imatge de color de rosa que volen presentar mitjançant un itinerari aprovat i els encontres pactats per projectar una imatge de tibetans feliços vivint feliçment les seves vides. 

Està previst que el grup viatgi a Lhasa el 6 de juliol i que romangui al Tibet fins al dia 13. També està previst un viatge per a diplomàtics estrangers, possiblement a finals de juny.

Woeser ha tuitejat que, aquesta vegada, els passos de les autoritats han estat més ostentosos que mai.

En la tarda del 19 de juny, set o vuit policies i membres del personal de Seguretat de l'Estat els van envoltar.

Els van agafar al carrer Cuwei del districte Haidan i van ser portats fins a casa seva a Tongzhou, a l'est del Gran Pequín.

La policia els va portar en el seu propi cotxe, mentre un vehicle del personal de Seguretat de l'Estat els seguia.

No se'ls va permetre de fer cap aturada, ni tan sols per aconseguir alguna cosa per menjar. Després, policies vestits de paisà es van col·locar al voltant de l'edifici, mentre dos més vigilaven permanentment l'ascensor. 

De moment sembla que l'arrest durarà fins el 25 de juny, potser més.

Malgrat els sentiments optimistes que el canvi de lideratge a la Xina ha suscitat a Dharamsala [la seu del govern tibetà a l'exili], sembla que el govern sembla tan determinat com abans a sufocar qualsevol informació sobre el Tibet que vagi en contra del missatge que el govern intenta transmetre'n al respecte.

Tsering Woeser representa una de les escasses veus dissidents sobre el Tibet que roman accessible, i les autoritats la volen fer inaccessible.

*Tsering Woeser (Lhasa, 1966) és una escriptora, poetessa i activista tibetana. Mentre treballava per a una publicació patrocinada pel Partit Comunista Xinès va publicar una sèrie d'escrits per denunciar la situació que travessa el Tibet, per la qual cosa va ser acomiadada. Actualment viu a Pequín amb el seu marit Wang Lixiong, i és freqüentment posada sota arrest domiciliari.

Tsering Woeser-en testigantza

Atzerriko kazetariek uztailaren 6tik 13ra Tibetera egin beharreko bidaia dela eta, Txinako gobernuak Tsering Woeser* idazle eta ekintzaile tibetarra atxilopean jarri du haren etxean, senarra Wang Lixiong-ekin batera. Bere blogean gertatutakoari buruzko testigantza idatzi du, baita lagun batek ingelesez emandako azalpena ere. Woeser-ek berak egin zituen zenbait argazki ikusgai daude, bizitzen ari den egoera islatzen dutenak.

Hona hemen Woeser-en testigantzaren euskarazko itzulpena:

Ez da atsegina berriro ere etxeko atxiloketari buruz hitz egitea.

Zuek [gobernuak] agintariak atzerriko kazetariekin Lhasan taldeko elkarrizketa izan dezaten baimendu nahi dituzuelako soilik (urteroko ikuskizun bera dirudi), eta kazetariek prestaketak egiten hasi zirelako, nirekin elkarrizketa barne, sortu den "iskanbila" dela eta senarra eta biok etxeko atxilopean jarri gaituzue (badirudi atzerriko kazetariek tibetar herria zoriontsu dela entzun behar dutela, besterik ez). Tibeteko agintariek izugarrizko beldurra diote egiari, agerikoa da.

Eta haren lagunak ingeleraz emandako ikuspegi orokorra:

Berriz ere, egutegi tamalez erregularrari jarraitu baliote bezala, Tsering Woeser eta Wang Lixiong euren etxean atxilopean jarri dituzte.

Honakoan, Txinak atzerriko kazetarientzako antolatu duen Lhasarako bisitari buruzko zurrumurruak okertzea da haien xedea. 

Woeser zenbait kazetariekin elkarrizketatu da jada eta agintariak arduratuta dirudite, haren ikuspuntuak eurek arrosa kolorekoa balitz bezala aurkeztu nahi duten panorama gezurtatu duelakoan. Izan ere, gobernuak tibetar zoriontsuak zorioneko bizitzak bizitzen aurkeztu nahi ditu aldez aurretik onartutako ibilbidearen eta hitzartutako elkarrizketen bidez.

Dirudienez, taldeak Lhasarako bidaia uztailaren 6an hasiko du eta 13ra arte egongo da Tibeten. Diplomazialarientzako bidaia ere antolatu dute, ekainaren amaierarako agian.

Woeser-ek gaurkoan agintarien pausoak besteetan baino agerikoagoak izan direla txiokatu du.  

Ekainaren 19ko arratsaldean, 7 edo 8 pertsona, polizia eta Estatu Segurtasuneko pertsonala tarteka, Woeser eta bere senarra inguratu zituzten.

Haidan Distriktuko Cuwei errepidean hartu zituzten eta Tongzhou-ko (Beijing ekialdean dagoen auzoa) euren etxera eraman. 

Poliziak Woeser eta bion autoan eraman zituzten, Estatu Segurtasuneko ofizialek gidatutako autoa atzean zutela.

Ez zituzten geldialdirik egiten utzi, ezta zerbait jateko ere. Zibil erara jantzitako poliziak jarri zituzten  Woeser-en etxebizitzaren inguruan, beste bik igogailua zelatatzen duten bitartean.

Momentuz, badirudi kartzelatze honek ekainak 25era arte iraungo duela, agian gehiago.

Txinako lidergo berriak Dharamsalan [erbesteko gobernu tibetarrak egoitza duen hiria] sentimentu baikorrak piztu dituen arren, badirudi estatua lehen bezain irmo dirauela gobernuak Tibeti buruz zabaldu nahi duen mezua ezeztatzen duen ezein informazio amatatuz.

Tsering Woeser Tibeti buruzko eskuragarri dauden disidentziaren ahots arraroetako bat da, eta aginteak  eskuraezin bihurtu nahi du.

*Tsering Woeser (Lhasa, 1966) idazle, poeta eta ekintzaile tibetarra da. Txinako Alderdi Komunistak babestutako aldizkari batetan lan egiten ari zela, Tibeten egoera salatzen zuten idatziak plazaratu eta zonalde horretako agintariek handik kanporatu zuten. Ordutik aurrera Beijing-en bizi da bere senarra Wang Lixiong-ekin, eta maiz etxeko atxilopean jarri ohi dute.

  

Three visions on Self-Immolations in Tibet

Self-immolation has turned into a dramatic way of protest both inside and outside Tibet. Since a monk called Tapey set himself alight in a marketplace in Ngaba, Amdo (Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) on 27 February 2009, as many as 119 Tibetans have taken the commitment to self-immolate to demand respect for Tibetan culture and language, the return of the Dalai Lama, the unity of the three historical Tibetan provinces (Ü-Tsang, Amdo and Kham) and freedom (independence) for Tibet. The last person burning herself alive was a woman did so yesterday at 5PM local time.

As anybody can imagine, the issue has been object of a huge controversy not only among Tibetans or Chinese people, but also among those interested in human rights issues and the current situation in Tibet. But such conflict can also be manipulated for propaganda purposes in an attempt to gain the simpathy of people who are not familiar to the cause, so it is sometimes hard to distinguish the reality from the manipulation. Given this situation, documentaries can be a good tool for collecting and spreading information even though they are not always objective.
The three documentaries below show different versions on the problem of self-immolations in Tibet. The first two have been broadcast by Chinese State television CCTV on May 2012 and May 2013 and give the official version held by Chinese authorities. On the other hand, the third documentary, broadcast by Voice of America on 6 June 2013, tries to make a wider analysis by explaining both the historical background and the current situation on theTibetan plateau, while some people give their own point of view on the issue as well.

The Dalai Clique and the Self-Immolation Event
The first video was firstly broadcast in Chinese by official CCTV television channel on May 2012, then translated into many languages as English, Arabic, French, Spanish or Russian and broadcast on channels outside China. Several days later, they uploaded both the Chinese and English versions into websites like Youtube and others but, as Tibetan writter and dissident Tsering Woeser noticed, someone tried to remove the logo of the Chinese Central TV from the video and divided it into different parts.

 

This documentary is focused on a particular area: Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Ngaba (Aba) Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, both situated in Sichuan Province according to China (they are historically part of Kham and Amdo regions, respectively). It firstly analyses the burning protest by Phuntsok, a 19 year-old monk from Kirti monastery in Ngaba, Amdo (Ch. Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) who set himself alight on 16 March 2011 and died a day later. He allegedly committed suicide because of the influence that the first self-immolation by a monk called Tapey on 27 February 2009 exercised on him and the manipulation exercised by three friends of Phuntsok, who were supposed to incite the young monk to torch himself as well as to collect information and pictures of the suicide to send them abroad. The official version states that the police tried to rescue him but some fellow monks, including an uncle of him, prevented them from doing so, precipitating his death due to the lack of medical care.

After that, the programme takes a look on the international impact of the death of the young monk and the way that websites like Radio Free Asia and Voice of America reported it, highlighting the attempts by both media channels, the Dalai Lama and other exiled organizations to turn Phuntsok into a martyr thus encouraging all the self-immolations which would take place later. However, it shows such actions as contrary to Buddhism and encouraged by separatist forces, as well as attempts to regain honor and respect by Tibetans who had previously committed any kind of acts against their community.
Therefore China blames Kirti Rimpoche, the head of the monastery who fleed India following the Dalai Lama in 1959, for having collaborated with other lamas in exile in order to incite unrest, collect information and "constantly encourage" self-immolation protests in an attempt to explain the fact that the majority of these protests took place in the outskirts of Kirti monastery. In contrast, the documentary gathers the accounts of several survivors to self-immolation as examples of the respect that provincial authorities have for human life. All of them confess that they repent of having set themselves on fire and that they are thankful for the medical attention they received. Furthermore, the video states that the self-immolators are instigated and incited by others, at the same time as some renowned Buddhists speak against self-immolation, qualificating it as a sin.
The programme also criticizes the ambiguous attitude of the Dalai Lama towards those suicides, whereas others say that encouraging them or praising those who have torched themselves as heroes would make some Tibetans resort to terrorist acts.
Finally, it analyses the situation in Drango county, Kham (Ch. Luhuo, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) earlier in 2012, reflecting some riots that took place there as samples of robbery and violence. However, the footages broadcast at this point show a gathering of monks and lay people who are peacefully demonstrating for independence whilst a reduced group is seen as throwing sticks and stones while protesting; then, some witnesses talk on the impact that those riots had in the economy of the region. 

The documentary finishes explaining the punishment that those who participated in Drango riots and the friends and relatives of Phuntsok who were allegedly linked to his self-immolation had received according to the Chinese criminal laws as an example of normality, in opposition to the attempts by the "Dalai clique" to put pressure on China and make the international community intervene for Tibet's independence.

Guidebook to Self-Immolation - evidence of hands behind the tragedies

The second one was also broadcast by Chinese State television CCTV on 16 May 2013, firstly published in Chinese and later translated into many languages as Spanish, English, French, Russian and Arabic. It has been uploaded into websites like Youtube, where can be seen in its full lenght. However, the duration of the documentary is different depending on the chosen version due to unknown reasons. 

Like the first one, this documentary is also focused on Sichuan province, firstly introducing the self-immolation attempt by a Tibetan called "Palma Gyal" (sic.) in Sertha, which was prevented in the last moment by the police. He allegedly wrote dozens of suicide notes following the instructions of the so-called "Guidebook to self-immolation", written by a former member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile with the purpose to teach Tibetans how to self-immolate. After that, it analyses the book and its structure: it is divided in 4 parts, each of which referred to a stage on self-immolation protest. For instance, the first chapter comprises the ideological preparation that self-immolators must follow; the second chapter, the practical issues regarding the protest; the third one, to the slogans to be shouted by people who set themselves on fire, whilst the last chapter takes a look on what would happen before or afterwards. However, Tibetans in exile claim that this book was actually an analysis of the self-immolations that have taken place in Tibet during the last four years.

This reportage also refers to the first self-immolation protest which took place in Tibet on 27 February 2009, when Tapey, a monk from Kirti monastery, set himself on fire in an attempt to "regain his honour". Moreover, it also blames the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile for praising him as a hero and thus encouraging more protests like that. That would be the reason which allegedly prompted Phuntsok to burn himself alive on 16 March 2011, a protest which is also recorded on the first documentary.

Then, the programme analyses the attitude of Dalai Lama towards self-immolations, saying that he firstly chose to be neutral regarding those protests. He later claimed that they were a way to fight against China's tyranny. It also blames Kirti Rimpoche, the exiled leader of Kirti monastery as an instigator of such acts.

However, that is not only focused on a limited zone but tries to analyse the matter in all its breadth. In fact, it states that the self-immolations have mostly taken place in Ngapa (Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan), Kardze (Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture), Kanlho (Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu) and Malho (Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) prefectures, situated both in Amdo and Kham Tibetan historical provinces. There is another difference regarding the first documentary: it also recognizes that self-immolators have not only been monks and nuns, but also people from different social backgrounds. Self-immolators are described as people on their twenties or even younger, mindless and easily manipulated by the Dalai Clique as well. 

Another feature that this documentary shares with the first one is that both comprise the statements made by some Buddhist heads criticizing those who committed or instigated this kind of suicides, blaming them for contravening religious teachings and being sinful. 

It later resumes the analysis on the content of the book, quoting that the second chapter reccommends those who decide committing suicide to do so on an important date, as well as to record messages and write suicide notes before doing that. According to the documentary, several self-immolators asked someone to take pictures or record their self-immolation to send the footages abroad and to write or edite their suicide notes as well. It subsequently blames some pro-Tibetan media for publicizing the self-immolators and the notes they wrote before setting themselves on fire.

Furthermore, the programme identifies four main points used by the "Dalai Clique" to instigate such acts of protest, setting Kirti monastery as the most important of them because of the influence of Kirti Rimpoche and the work made by Lobsang Gongchok, a Tibetan who allegedly instigated 3 of those protests. Secondly, it blames the Tibetan Youth Congress for transmitting those orders through two of its members who allegedly encouraged Sangye Gyatso to set himself on fire on 6 October 2012. The third channel would be formed by those Tibetans who return to Tibet from abroad, especially from India. This would be the case of Phakpa, a Tibetan who returned to his hometown in Rebkong (Ch. Tongren, Huangnan Prefecture) county and persuaded a monk to self-immolate. The last one would be the internet at the media, especially websites like Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, which report self-immolations when they take place and thus encouraging more people to do so. 

Returning to the book, the documentary highlights the importance of slogans to be shouted by those who are torching themselves on fire, calling for freedom for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama and following the political claims made by the Tibetan Government in Exile. In fact, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader blames China's wrong policies towards Tibet as the main cause for such protests. Then, some Western scholars give their own account on the situation in Tibet, praising China's policies and blaming Western media and supporters of the Dalai Lama for distorting the information and thus encouraging more self-immolations. Some of those scholars also blame the Tibetan Government in Exile for being tolerant to them and paving the way to terrorism in Tibet, while a Chinese scholar states that most self-immolators belong to a religious order which has been banned globally. The programme also remarks the links between the Dalai Lama and the CIA, as well as the armed struggle which took place in Tibet during a short time. 

The programme concludes that, according to the Guidebook on Self-Immolation, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile are benefitting, encouraging, praising and instigating the self-immolation protests both inside and outside Tibet.

Fire in the Land of Snow: self-immolations in Tibet
The last one was broadcast by Voice of America on 6 June 2013 as a response to the second documentary issued by Chinese official media. It was originally published in both Tibetan and English.

It starts giving some geographic indications on the situation of Tibet, divided between the Tibetan Autonomous Region and some other Tibetan prefectures which make almost the size of Western Europe. The documentary also highlights the importance of Buddhism to Tibetan culture, adding values as compassion and respect of all lives. However, individual Tibetans have taken the decision to douse themselves with gasoline, often drinking it, and torch themselves to protest. Some videos of self-immolators can be seen at this point, engulfed in flames and often shouting slogans. 

Then, it analyses the causes that prompted people to die in such a painful way to make clear that they do not see a future for themselves or their people within China. The reasons of these and other forms or protests would be found dozens or years ago, when the People's Liberation Army atacked the Tibetan city of Chamdo (Kham, currently in the Tibetan Autonomous Region) on 7 October 1950, paving the way to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. After that, representatives of both the Chinese and Tibetan government signed the Seventeen Points Agreement, through which Tibet accepted being under Chinese rule on condition of mantaining the control of religious, cultural, economic and domestic political affairs. However, China would soon begin to dismantle the elements of Tibetan society in the areas outside today's TAR, provoking a strong rebellion where scores of Tibetans would die under Chinese guns and that would pave the way for the Tibetan uprising of 1959. Subsequently, Tenzin Gyatso, the 23-year-old 14th Dalai Lama, would flee to India, where still remains. 

After offering this historical background supported with the statement of Chinese scholar Li Jianglin, the documentary analyses the latest episodes of protests against the occupation. It highlights that, during the uprising of March 2008, protestors demanded greater religious freedom and the end of a control on their life that was not seen anywhere else in China since the Cultural Revolution ended.

Focusing on the Tibetan uprising which took place between 10 and 14 March 2008, Tibetan writter and blogger Tsering Woeser speaks about protests and the brutal police crackdowns that followed. Furthermore, she claims that Lhasa and other Tibetan areas have been under a kind of martial law since, making group protests almost impossible. Those protests, especially the media coverage by State-run television, would change the relationship between Han Chinese and Tibetans for the years to come. In fact, China presented them as organized and encouraged by the Dalai Lama and other exiled Tibetan leaders and covered only the violent incidents which took place after 4 days of peaceful protests. 

Moreover, Chinese writer and scholar Wang Lixiong highlights the differences between the coverage of that uprising and the way that State media handles other similar protests taking place in China, to whom the government usually responds through information blackouts. By constantly airing violent clashes of 14 March 2008, the ethnic tensions between Tibetans and Han Chinese turned into a racial conflict. As an example, the documentary illustrates Wang's statement with examples of daily discrimination suffered by Tibetans, who are frequently questioned, searched and disturbed everywhere, damaging the convivence between both ethnic groups. As an example, Tibetans are paid a lower wage than Han Chinese for the same work. According to Robert Barnett, the director of the Department on Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University, those events led to a turning point in the history of China since more than a half of Tibetan population do not support Chinese rule on Tibet anymore.

Following those protests, some Chinese intellectuals (jailed Nobel Peace Prize Liu Xiaobo among them) asked the government to review its policies towards Tibet. However, the government has ignored those requests and targeted those who made them with harassment. In addition, police crackdown continued with mass detentions and tighter controls on the daily life of Tibetan monks and lay people. The situation would lead Tapey, a monk from Kirti monastery in Ngaba, Amdo (Ch. Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) to set himself ablaze on 27 February 2009. At this point, the documentary explains this burning protest, the first one which would take place in Tibet. According to Woeser, the situation has worsened since in all the Tibetan areas with a spate on protests and subsequent repression by Chinese police, including imprisonments, torture and forced dissapearances. However, those protests did not have any international repercussion, so they eventually turned into self-immolations. 

At this point, the documentary explains the situation in Ngaba since 2008, when police shot on demonstrators and killed at least 10 of them. As Barnett notes, Tapey's self-immolation was a clear indicator on the fail of Chinese policies after the uprising of 2008, leading to a movement much more widespread than earlier protests themselves. Unlike the other two documentaries analysed before, this gives credibility to the testimony that Tapey was shot by the police while still burning and then held in custody. Following the protest, the entire prefecture was taken by police. This self-immolation would have a huge impact among Tibetans living in exile, despite the attempts of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to minimize it. According to Tibetan writer Dhondhup Tashi Rejkong, it marked a milestone on the Tibetan struggle and marked a sort of generational shift on it: Tapey was part of a generation who had born under Chinese occupation of Tibet and so that was trying to respond to the attempts of destruction of their culture and way of living led by China since 1959.

This documentary also analyses the self-immolation protest commited by Phuntsok on 16 March 2011, remarking that he shouted for long life of the Dalai Lama while engulfed in flames. But the version of what happened then changes at this point: unlike the two others, this programme reports that the 20-year-old monk from Kirti monastery was beaten by the police before being rescued by fellow monks. This is exactly the opposite of the official version given by Chinese authorities, as explained before: Phuntsok eventually died soon afterwards, due to his injuries. Following that suicide, the presence of security forces would be even harsher in many Tibetan areas, including restrictions on movement by Tibetans. Despite the heavy controls, eleven more people would self-immolate in 2011 alone. 

After that, the programme takes a look on the controls suffered by Tibet's monastic community in the aftermath of Tapey's self-immolation. According to Steve Marshall, a member of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the governemnts of several prefectures implemented new specific regulations on Tibetan monasteries and increased their interference on monastic affairs. The situation was especially harsh at Kirti monastery because of its relationship with Kirti Rimpoche, a person blamed by Chinese government for having instigated the spate of self-immolations in Tibet. The same head of the monastery, exiled in India since 1959, admits he has even accused of having been a Security Minister even though he had only served as a Minister of Religious Affairs. He obviously denies any involvement in the rise of protests inside Tibet. 

While reviewing the clampdown implemented by Chinese security forces since 2008, the video highlights the attempts to supress almost any expression of Tibetan identity by detaining writers and artists. However, it has not been visible to the outside world because of the closure of the entire region to the foreign media. The few reporters who managed to enter secretly there highlighted the policial deployment across Tibetan areas and a climate of fear and intimidation. As a consequence, the level of frustration suffered by Tibetans has increased, leading to more self-immolations so far. 

Another important issue is the relationship between Tibetans and the Dalai Lama, which has not been publicly aknowledged by China even though that Dalai Lamas had been political and religious leaders of Tibet for more than 300 years. This is the reason who led scores of Tibetans, both inhabitants of Lhasa and refugees from other Tibetan areas fleeing from persecution by Chinese army, to surround the Potala palace in February 1959 and protect him. In fact, the figure of the Dalai Lama has a huge symbolic importance for Tibetans since he is the embodiment of a vision on their culture, identity and religion. A month later, the Dalai Lama fleed to India while Tibetan citizens resorted to the defence of Lhasa on the eve of a bloody battle that resulted to almost 5,000 casualties and the destruction of very important heritage in less than 48 hours, according to Chinese historian Li Jianglin. 

After the Dalai Lama fleed, Chinese authorities appointed the Panchen Lama, the second most important Lama, to a leadership position. However, he would later be seen as an enemy of the people by Mao after reporting the nature of the control that China was exercising in Tibet, so he spent the next 14 years in prison and under house arrest. At this point, Robert Barnett notes that he was the person that firstly noticed the closure of many monasteries even before the Cultural Revolution, as well as an attack towards everyone who seemed likely to be dissident. In fact, scores of Tibetans would be unfairly jailed, some of them dying in prison camps. Tibetan writer Jamyang Norbu gives further details on the massacre that took place there before 1966, especially the concerns raised by the Panchen Lama on the situation in Golok, Amdo (Guolo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) where a huge massacre took place. 

This harsh situation for Tibet would get even worse during the Cultural Revolution, damaging Tibetan culture and religious institutions all across the Tibetan plateau. In fact, Hu Yaobang would state in 1980 that the region needed a real autonomy, bringing a new hope to its inhabitants. The end of such a tight control on religious and social life of Tibetans would also lead to an unprecedented social stability. However, the same people who ruled Tibet during the Cultural Revolution remained in their positions, making the reforms introduced by Hu last too short and provoking a new way of protests in 1987. Barnett highlights the importance of the demonstrations of October that year as people dared to speak out against those hard-line policies. The government reacted declaring martial law and attacking the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, the holiest place for Tibetan buddhism, drawing the attention of the international community on the calls for freedom for Tibet. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize because of his nonviolent struggle for Tibet's independence. 

For Robert Barnett, there is a parallelism between the situation after October 1987 and following the Tibetan uprising of March 2008. In fact Chinese government resorted to even harsher policies, losing an opportunity to adress the concerns raised by demonstrators. However, the control would be even harsher in 2008: Chinese cadres would be permanently installed inside monasteries and the military would be ostensibly across Tibet, paving the way for a discriminating and aggressive behaviour towards Tibetans. That is also the present situation all across the Tibetan plateau. 

The documentary later focuses on the commitment taken by the Dalai Lama to begin talks with Chinese authorities in 1988, in order to seek solutions for the tense situation in Tibet. Eventually, the idea of Tibet with greater cultural and religious autonomy within China would be firstly proposed at that time. The talks which started soon afterwards have been always unsuccessful because of the unwillingness of Beijing to discuss anything else but the personal status of the Dalai Lama. Furthermore, the closure of such talks would have a very negative impact amongst Tibetans. At this point, several scenes of a documentary called Leaving Fear Behind, recorded jointly by jailed Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen and missing monk Jigme Gyatso (also known as Golog Jigme), are displayed and show ordinary people from Tibet demanding the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. 

The documentary links all the frustration accumulated by Tibetans due to Chinese policies to the spate on self-immolations by the spring 2012. However, the profile of self-immolators had changed: they would not be only monks and nuns but also lay people from different social backgrounds. They are not limited to Sichuan province anymore, but have been extended throughout Tibet. By stating that, Marshall dismantles the official version issued by China and shown on the documentaries analysed above. However, Wang Lixiong notices that most Han Chinese people are not aware of the spate on self-immolations because of the informative blockade on this issue. In fact, people spreading the word on that are often harassed by the police or government officials. 

Another reason that has prompted many Tibetans to set themselves on fire is the fact that Chinese language is replacing Tibetan as the primary language at school. For instance, 20-year-old student Tsering Kyi set herself alight at a vegetable market in Machu county, Amdo (Ch. Maqu, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province) on 3 March 2011 after telling some friends that her life would be meaningless if she does nothing for the cause of Tibet. But far from easing the clampdown on Tibetans, the situation for them has become even worse, with checkpoints deployed across the plateau. As Woeser reports, police ask Tibetans for a permission to enter their own land. Moreover, Wang blames the thight controls on Tibet to the mantainment of policies closer to the Cultural Revolution. The spate of self-immolations would finally reach Lhasa on 27 May 2012, when 25-year-old Dargye and 19-year-old Dorjee Tseten set themselves on fire in front of Jokhang Temple. 

Once arriving at this point, the documentary resumes the fundamental issue of the videos broadcast by CCTV: the involvement of the Dalai Lama in such protests. It claims that the Dalai Lama has not made any statement encouraging self-immolations despite the accusations issued by Chinese authorities, and has always requested Beijing to adress the concerns shown by Tibetans. However, he admitted that he could do nothing to prevent people from setting themselves on fire because of the lack of alternatives. 

The programme then narrates the self-immolation of nun Palden Choetso, who would become the second woman to set herself alight on 3 November 2011 in Tawu county, Kham (Ch. Daofu, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province). According to Lobsang Jinpa, a neighbour of her, she was aware of the increasing surveillance and repression by the Chinese govenrment on Tibetans. 

Subsequently, the documentary analyses the impact that the self-immolation protest staged by Lama Sobha, a revered monk who set himself on fire in Darlag County, Amdo (Ch. Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) on 8 January 2012. The other one which would not fit any official version issued by the Chinese government would be that by Tamding Dorjee, the grandfather of a young reincarnated lama, who set himself on fire in   Tsekhog county, Amdo (Ch. Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu) on 23 November 2012. His funeral would draw the solidarity of many Tibetans as part of a large-scale show of solidarity for self-immolators inside Tibet, as Dhondup Tashi Rekjong shows. In fact, people from other neighbouring areas gather to pay respect for a self-immolator, evidencing that those acts of protest are related to whole Tibet.

After those analysis on self-immolations, the documentary resumes the accusations made by Chinese government and media, who constantly blame the Dalai Clique and foreign forces for the spate of these protests. According to Hong Lei, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, self-immolations are motivated by Tibetan separatism and masterminded by the Dalai Clique. Those claims were quickly refuted by Lobsang Sangay, the elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, who stated that anyone in exile was encouraging self-immolations and requested China to improve the situation in Tibet. However, some hints question whether the government is really interested in improving it. According to Wang Lixiong, Chinese government tries to avoid any responsibility on self-immolations and to take advantage on them as well, in order to justify an expansion of its power. 

The increase on self immolations in November 2012, when 27 people set themselves on fire, prompted the international community to put pressure on China in order to redress the situation. According to Navi Pillar, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, social stability in Tibet will never be achieved through heavy security measures and suppresion of human rights. Barack Obama urged China to resume talks with the Dalai Lama in order to end self-immolation protests. However, Beijing would declare Tibet a core interest for the nation, claiming that the government has made huge investments in order to improve people's livelihood, something that Robert Barnett recognizes on the documentary. This economic development also brings negative consequences to Tibet since it is damaging the environment. In addition, development cannot replace cultural or religious tensions related to the position by the Communist Party of China towards religion and minorities. Wang Lixiong also supports this teory, stating that economic development does not matter for Tibetans if the Dalai Lama is not allowed to return to Tibet. 

In a display of irony, the documentary refers to the accusations launched against Voice of America by a survivor of a self-immolation protest whose account is collected by the CCTV programme called Guidebook to Self-Immolation: the evil hands behind the scenes. In fact, a boy called Samdel claimed that he set himself ablaze after seing a photo report where self-immolators were praised like heroes. It also reports the attempts to blame people for having incited those protests. In fact, Chinese government criminalizes not only self-immolations but also any form of solidarity towards those who have committed suicide. Regarding the nature of the Tibetan issue, Steve Marshall appoints that the CCP and Tibetan citizens have opposed visions: the first ones try to vanish any relation between the situation in Tibet and human rights, whereas the second ones see it as a conflict related precisely to human rights. That would be the reason which prompts China to blame the so-called Dalai Clique for the self-immolations in Tibet, identifying people who are allegedly inciting people to self themselves alight. 

The Tibetan Government in Exile has always been careful when stating the causes of those protests, in contraposition to others both inside and outside Tibet who, as Jamyang Norbu does, claims that people are setting themselves on fire for independence, citing the words left by Sangay Dolma before her self-immolation as an example. In addition, Wang Lixiong warns that, if they really set selves alight for independence, self-immolation will be very difficult to stop in the future since any efforts to stop them would be seen as a betrayal and will also be critical to the relationship between Tibetans and Han Chinese. The documentary shows a video footage in which Ngawang Norphel, who self immolated on 20 June 2012, justifies his protest because of the lack of freedom in Tibet. He died 10 days later. 

The documentary finished giving some clues of the self immolations. 

A same issue, three versions
The three documentaries aim to analyse the same issue from different perspectives, thus highlighting some aspects while hiding others. In the case of both videos broadcast by Chinese State-run television, they try to present self-immolations as a phenomenon limited to a specific geographical area because of the instigation made by Tibetan separatists and the so-called Dalai Clique. In contrast, the documentary issued by VOA demonstrates that the spate of burning protests has been widespread across the Tibetan plateau as a result of  the brutality of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The last one does eventually give more indications on the reasons that have prompted more than a hundred Tibetans to commit suicide in such a dramatic way.
Moreover, the first, and especially the second documentary analyse the issue without giving any features on its historical background, making it difficult to be understood for people without previous knowledge on Tibet's issue. Therefore, this would be the only way to make the involvement of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan authorities in exile a credible hypothesis.
Another issue that has drawn my attention is the fact that the Chinese official version describes the personality and circumstances of those who committed self-immolation in a very biased way, presenting them as simpleminded or naive people who blindly follow the indications given by the so-caled Dalai Clique. However, when someone takes a look on the list of self-immolations published by some advocacy groups like "Free Tibet", the reality is another: they were ordinary people who felt outraged by China's policies on Tibet and decided to use this form of protest.

By the way, the only documentary which gives indications regarding the history of the Tibetan issue is the one broadcast by Voice of America, which takes a look on the history of Tibet since 1950 by displaying rare historical photo and video footages and supporting this review with statements by scholars, writers and even a congressman. However, it fails to explain properly the increase of frustration among Tibetans due to the implantation of the "Middle Way Policy", which advocates for a genuine cultural and religious autonomy for Tibetans. In fact, the democratically elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan Government in Exile), Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, admitted in a statement before the Council on Foreign Relations that he was not challenging the communist rule in that hypothetic "genuinelly autonomous" Tibet, adding that its autonomy should be limited to a specific period of time. His statement is accurately analysed here.
Another issue which deserves to be noticed is that neither Guidebook on Self-Immolation nor Fire in the land of snow are able to analyse whether the appointment of Xi Jinping as the General Secretary of the Permanent Committee of the Communist Party of China on November 2012 had something to do with the dramatic spate on self-immolations that took place that month, seing as many as 27 Tibetans setting themselves on fire. Furthermore, the first documentary does not even mention this fact, despite giving a large coverage on the violent clashes that took place in Drango county during the same year.
To sum up, it is quite evident that the documentary broadcast by Voice of America is the only one which analyses in depth the phenomenon of self-immolations in Tibet, situating it within a specific historical and geographic background which the others fail to establish. From my personal point of view, this circumstance and the others which I have remarked above give that documentary and its version regarding this issue more credibility that the others have.
As many as 119 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since Tapey self-immolated on 27 November 2009, including a woman who committed suicide yesterday in Tawu county. They are not just numbers and, regardless the attempts to manipulate the justifications behind those acts, the reality is that all of them chose that way of protest to draw attention to the situation in Tibet. This is something that everybody should be aware of.

  

Lhasa, desagertzear dagoen hiria

Tibeteko hiriburua da Lhasa, gaur egun Txinaren menpeko Tibeteko Eskualde Autonomoko (TAR, ingelesez) hiri nagusia. Tibetarrentzat, antza, Ü-Tsang probintziako hiriburua eta hiri sakratua da, Songtsän Gampo enperadoreak VII mendean inperioko gobernuaren egoitza han finkatu zuenetik. Izan ere, gaur egungo Qinghai probintzia ia osoak, Sichuan probinziaren erdiak eta Gansu eta Yunnan probintzien zati batek historikoki Tibet izan dena osatzen dute, aintzinako Amdo eta Kham eskualdeak hain zuzen.

 

Esan bezala, Songtsän Gampok eman zuen Lhasa eraikitzeko agindua, Yarlung ibaiaren bailaran zegoen Rasa (ahuntzen lurra) herriaren gainean. Kondairak dioenez, bera ere izan zen Jokhang tenplua eraikitzeko agindua eman zuena. Inperioa amaitu ondoren bere garrantzia mantendu zuen, batez ere V. Dalai Lamak Potala jauregia eraiki eta bere gobernuaren egoitza han finkatu zuenetik. Hura ere bada budismo tibetarrarentzako leku santua, Tibeteko monastegi nagusiak (Sera, Drepung eta Ganden) haren inguruan kokatzen direlarik. Horregatik, milaka tibetar abiatu izan dira harantz peregrinazioan Kora delakoa burutzeko, bai Ü-Tsang-ekoak baita Amdo eta Kham-ekoak ere.

Hala, mendeetan zehar bere izaera sakratua eta tibetarrentzako nagusitasuna kontserbatu zuen, unean uneko egoera politikoa edozein zelarik ere. Berean iraun zuen guda zibilei edota atzerriko okupazioei aurre eginez, harik eta Qing dinastiak XVIII. mendean Tibet lehen aldiz menperatu zuen arte. Dinastia horren gainbeherak ahalbidetuko zuen Tibetek independentzia berreskuratu izana. Izan ere, Taping matxinadak, Opioaren gerrateek izandako ondorioak eta txinatarrek Qing dinastia atzerritartzat hartu izanak Txinako populazioarengan herra piztu baitzuen, 1912ko Xinhai-ko matxinadak hura erortarazi eta errepublika finkatu zuen arte. Egoera hori aprofitatuz, XIII. Dalai Lama Indiatik Tibetera bueltatu zen, Txinarekiko gatazkak 1910ean hara erbesteratzera behartu zuen ondoren. Orduan, Tibeteko gobernua indartu eta 1913an independentzia aldarrikatu zuen. Herrialdea de facto independentea izan zen 1949an Mao Tse-Tungek eta haren armadak Txinako Herri Errepublika aldarrikatu eta Tibeten okupazioari ekin zioten arte. 1959an, gaur egungo Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso buru zuen matxinada jazo zen Lhasan; hori izan zen Txinak Tibeten aurkako errepresioa indartzeko arrazoia. Horren ondorioz, Dalai Lamak Indiara ihes egin behar zuen ehunka tibetarrekin batera. Bertan geratu zirenentzako egoera ankerra izango zen, batez ere Iraultza Kulturalaren garaian. Eta horretan dirau...
Tibetek azken 60 urteotan bizi duen egoera kontutan hartuta, norberak imajina dezake tibetarrek euren herrian jasan duten jazarpena. Iraultza Kulturalak haien ondare erlijioso eta kulturalaren adibide ziren eraikin asko eta askoren suntsipena ekarri bazuen ere, gaur egungo "garapenak" haientzako ingurumenaren eta tibetarrren antzinako bizimoduaren desagerpena ere dakar. Horren adibide argia Lhasa hiria jasaten ari den eraldaketa bortitza litzateke. Izan ere, Tibeteko hiriburua turistentzako erakargarria izan daitezen moldatzen ari dira, hango ondare kulturala suntsituz. Horrela, Jokhang tenplua inguratzen duen Barkhor kalean, herrialdeko leku guztietatik hara erromesaldian joaten direnek igaro beharrekoan hain zuzen, zenbait merkatal gune eraikitzen ari dira, aparkaleku eta guzti. Gainera, Lhasako alde zaharreko zenbait auzotan bizitzen zen jendea (tibetarrak batez ere) hiriko beste auzuneetara kanporatzen ari dira hiria "garatzeko" beste zenbait proiektu direla medio. Egoera latz hori azaleratzen duten argazkiak Tsering Woeser idazle eta ekintzaile tibetarrak bere blogeko argitalpen batetan ikusgai daude. Testua ingelesez irakurri nahi izanez gero, High Peaks Pure Earth webgunean eskuragai dago.
Garapenaren izenean, herri oso baten nortasuna ezabatzen ari dira. Gainera, indar okupatzaileek hango biztanleak preso balira bezala tratatzen dituzte. Izan ere, Lhasatik kanpo jaiotako tibetarrek hainbat dokumentu eskatu behar dituzte hara joateko; behin hara heldu direnean, hainbat kontrol pasa behar dituzte, non dokumentuak erakutsi beharrean daude. Jakina, txinatarrek edonondik hara joateko eta hirian barrena mugitzeko askatasun osoa dute, hango populazioaren gehiengoa Han etniakoa izateraino. Hara joaten den jendea, besteak beste, laguntza ekonomikoa jasotzen du Tibeten bizitzearen truke, migrazio mugimendu hau erakargarri bilakatuz. Tibetarrentzat, aitzitik, ez dago laguntzarik haien bizimoduari eta hizkuntzari uko egiten ez badiote: marginalitatea besterik ez zaie gelditzen.

Egoera hau bidezkoa al da? Zer egin behar dugu hau gerta ez dadin? Bidegabekeria hau lehenbailehen saihestu beharrean gaude denak, ez Txinako gobernua soilik. Lhasa bezalako hiri baten galera gizateriaren kalterako izango litzateke, milaka urteetako kultura galduko baitzen.

Continua la paranoia xinesa a Rebkong

Quan tot just ha acabat la vigència del decret que limitava i regulava la venda de combustible a la Prefectura Autònoma Tibetana de Malho (Huangnan), al Tibet Oriental (regió tibetana d'Amdo, actualment inclosa dins la província xinesa de Qinghai), les autoritats xineses del comtat de Rebkong (Tongren, en xinès) han posat en circulació una llista de 13 comportaments "prohibits" per als tibetans, els quals seran reprimits. La finalitat d'aquesta circular seria la de prevenir manifestacions independentistes i, especialment, immolacions en aquesta zona, segons la notícia publicada per diversos mitjans com Radio Free Asia el 28 de març. D'altra banda, el govern de la prefectura busca frenar la difusió de qualsevol possible protesta que tingui lloc al territori, així com evitar que es pugui dur a terme qualsevol acció que suposi una amenaça contra el domini xinès sobre el Tibet.

Una còpia d'aquesta circular va arribar a la redacció de la secció en llengua tibetana de Radio Free Asia, tot i que no se n'ha publicat cap traducció en llengua anglesa. La versió original del document va ser publicada en tibetà i difosa per totes les poblacions de Malho.

Entre les activitats prohibides destaca la filmació de les immolacions que puguin tenir lloc a l'àrea, amb la clara finalitat d'impedir que les imatges de qualsevol mena de protesta puguin arribar a l'exterior. D'aquesta manera volen aïllar més el Tibet i continuar transmetent al món una imatge d'harmonia i estabilitat al territori. De fet, l'altiplà tibetà (no només la zona corresponent a l'actual regió autònoma, sinó les regions tradicionals d'Amdo i Kham) és territori vedat per a diplomàtics i reporters internacionals des de l'esclat de la revolta de març del 2008. D'igual manera, l'accés de turistes estrangers és limitat i restringit amb freqüència. D'altra banda, es relaciona la difusió de filmacions o fotografies de qualsevol acte "subversiu" amb la incitació al separatisme, encoratjat segons la Xina pel Dalai Lama i el govern tibetà a l'exili.

També cal destacar la voluntat de les autoritats xineses de perseguir la recaptació de fons entre tibetans, incloses les aportacions solidàries. Tot i ser una acció aparentment inofensiva, la realitat és que es salta els canals oficials impulsats pels ocupants xinesos i fomenta la cooperació entre els propis tibetans. Aquest és un dels eixos centrals del moviment conegut com a Lhakar (literalment "dimecres blanc", en tibetà), el qual lluita  contra l'assimilació lingüística i cultural per mitjans de resistència passiva. Entre les actituds prohibides en relació amb aquesta vessant solidària també s'inclouen les aportacions econòmiques destinades a la protecció del medi ambient i la llengua tibetana, dos dels principals pilars de l'autoafirmació del poble tibetà. Així mateix, la celebració de reunions multitudinàries i pregàries que no comptin amb autorització expressa de les autoritats xineses també és motiu de càstig, especialment si el seu objectiu és protestar o honorar aquells que s'hagin immolat.

En tercer lloc, també es prohibeix qualsevol comportament vers els oficials xinesos que pugui ser considerat "intimidatori" o que suposi una amenaça per a la correcta realització de la seva feina. Així mateix, es considera il·legal impedir que les forces de seguretat recuperin el cos d'una persona que s'acaba d'immolar, així com la "incitació" d'aquesta mena de protestes. De fet, ja són uns 11 els tibetans detinguts sota acusacions d'haver encoratjat d'altres perquè es calessin foc o evitar que el seu cos fos lliurat a la policia.

Com hom haurà pogut percebre, una de les principals preocupacions de les autoritats xineses a tot el territori tibetà és impedir que es produeixi cap autoimmolació ni se'n difongui que cap persona s'ha calat foc en protesta per l'ocupació xinesa del Tibet. Això revela la impotència dels ocupants a l'hora de frenar un acte considerat com la forma més extrema de protesta pacífica: el sacrifici de la pròpia vida. 

D'altra banda, que les autoritats de la província de Qinghai hagin implementat tota una sèrie de mesures destinades a prevenir protestes al comtat de Rebkong no és casual: és una de les zones on s'han produït més immolacions des que Tapey, un jove monjo, es calés foc prop del monestir de Kirti, a la veïna regió de Ngaba (actualment, dins la província de Sichuan) el 27 de febrer del 2009. Des de llavors, ja són 115 els tibetans que han protestat d'aquesta manera per demanar la llibertat del Tibet i el retorn del seu líder espiritual, el Dalai Lama, exiliat a la Índia des del 1959. Malauradament, la situació per als tibetans no ha parat d'empitjorar, amb un augment brutal de la repressió contra la seva cultura, la seva llibertat i els drets humans més elementals. El que ha quedat reflectit aquí n'és només un exemple.

El pla de la Prefectura de Huangnan (Malho) per prevenir immolacions al Tibet

Llegint la traducció a l'anglès d'un tuit publicat aquest matí per la blocaire i activista tibetana Tsering Woeser al seu compte de Twitter he arribat a una pàgina web impulsada pel Departament de Comerç de la província xinesa de Qinghai (territori corresponent a la regió tradicional tibetana d'Amdo, ocupada per les tropes xineses des de la invasió del Tibet de 1950). En ell hi ha un article que m'ha cridat especialment l'atenció, publicat el 20 de desembre passat. Aquesta és la traducció anglesa del text, extreta del Traductor de Google:

Counties doing business bureau, Huangnan Branch of PetroChina, Sinopec Huangnan:

According to the Office of the state commission, the state government office "on the issuance of Huangnan to carry out anti-self-immolation special struggle against the implementation of the program (yellow do hair [2012] 56 号) Wen spirit, depth anti-self-immolation special struggle, resolutely curb the self-immolation of the multiple momentum maintaining social stability, according to the maintenance of stability deployment of the headquarters of the state commission, the state government and the state, decided from now until April 15, 2013, to carry out the gas station special work statewide. Related matters are hereby notified as follows:

First, set up a leading group. Counties from the high politics, special work of great importance to the gas station, set up gas stations the special rectification leadership group, deploy specialized personnel, organization the relevant units specifically responsible for the special work gas station.

Second, the regulation of content. Special rectification of all gas stations in the area, according to the spirit of the state commission, the state government "to carry out the fight against anti-self-immolation special embodiment Huangnan on the issuance of the notice" to strengthen the safety and security of the gas stations, excluding gas station security risks specification gas station purchase channels, and resolutely put an end to the gas station on the non-motor vehicle holding a bucket, filling, bottle and sell refined oil, the gas station on the builder's sales of refined oil products to the real-name registration.

Third, standardize finished oil business enterprises behavior, resolutely shut down illegal gas stations. Refined oil market management approach, "according to the Commerce Department, to investigate and deal with the illegal behavior of the oil enterprises in a timely manner, shall be given a warning and ordered to stop three times the illegal gains, or less than $ 30,000 fines; remediation failed enterprise, shall order rectification, rectification still failed enterprises, reported to the Department of Commerce to revoke its refined oil business qualifications.

Fourth, to carry out a special inspection of the farm shop. To strengthen the management of the "Ten Thousand Villages Market Project" farm shop, farm shop shops selling bulk gasoline, diesel, kerosene and other flammable items are not allowed.

Counties, and the enterprises should conscientiously develop special rectification program to quickly convene a special meeting, to unify their thinking, and levels of remediation tasks to ensure that the gas station special work to carry out in-depth. Counties and related businesses in the December 20, I appointed Commercial Division reported to the remediation program, the end of each month and reported to the remediation work.

December 14, 2012

Hom pot percebre que es tracta d'una disposició emesa des del govern provincial de Qinghai i destinada a la sucursal de la petroliera estatal PetroChina a la Prefectura Autònoma Tibetana de Huangnan (Malho, en tibetà), la finalitat de la qual és frenar d'alguna manera l'espiral d'immolacions que s'ha viscut arreu del Tibet des de l'any 2009. Cal tenir en compte que moltes d'aquestes protestes s'han produït en aquesta prefectura, concretament al comtat de Rebkong (Tongren, en xinès). Així doncs, el principal objectiu és mantenir l'estabilitat a la regió i evitar que els tibetans poguessin calar-se foc.
Què proposaven fer per evitar les immolacions? Portar a terme inspeccions a totes les estacions de servei de la prefectura i impulsar una sèrie de mesures per limitar l'accès al combustible. També s'urgeix una reunió dels caps dels comtats i de les empreses proveïdores de benzina per unificar el seu criteri i assegurar-se que les mesures dutes a terme tinguin èxit. Així mateix, decreten una sèrie de sancions per als qui desobeeixin el decret i venguin productes inflamables de manera il·legal.
Entre les restriccions, és destacable la prohibició de vendre benzina, querosè i altres productes inflamables a les botigues de les àrees rurals. També es prohibeix la venda de combustible a tots aquells que no vagin en vehicles motoritzats, per la qual cosa els empleats de les estacions de servei no poden omplir els bidons de tots aquells que ho demanin. A més a més, els interessants en adquirir qualsevol derivat del petroli hauran d'identificar-se amb el seu nom real. Els proveïdors de combustible que incompleixin aquesta normativa hauran de fer front a quantioses sancions, així com al tancament de totes les benzineres que no tinguin llicència d'obertura ni operin seguint la normativa.
Les limitacions que el Partit Comunista estableix en aquest document han estat acompanyades per mesures de tota mena, destinades també a prevenir qualsevol forma de protesta al Tibet (incloses les immolacions). En comptes d'intentar resoldre una situació cada cop més complicada, els ocupants xinesos han optar per imposar un control encara més estricte sobre les vides dels tibetans, impedint-los comunicar-se amb l'exterior i detenint-ne desenes de persones per "provocar" immolacions i col·laborar en la difusió d'informacions a l'exterior. Mentrestant, la colonització, l'ocupació i l'assimilació continuen. Fins quan?

Escaping from flames

This is the English translation of a reportage published by Zigor Aldama on "Igandea", the Sunday supplement of the Basque newspaper Berria. The original title is "Garretatik ihesi" and it reflects the impact that repression and self-immolations have been among Tibetans, many of whom have no other alternative but going into exile.

Escaping from flames

Repression is worsening in Tibet; in the last 4 years, 107 people have set themselves on fire and, for many, fleeing the highest country in the world is the only alternative.

Zigor Aldama. Dharamsala.

Sonam and Rinchen were only 17 and 18 years old, but last week they decided to set themselves on fire in Aba (Ngaba) Prefecture, Sichuan Province (Tibetan region of Amdo), one of the Tibetan-majority areas. They had been classmates at school, and they decided to commit suicide together to denounce that Beijing stifles the Tibetan people increasingly harshly. Shortly afterwards, as usual, the army took the streets and closed the most troubling villages. Already 107 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009. Dripping immolations have become a nightmare for those who seek to provide a friendlier face of the communist regime.

"The soldiers do not carry guns, but fire extinguishers", said Tenzin Chokey, general secretary of Tibetan Youth Congress. China claims that hers is a terrorist organization which stimulates suicides, but Chokey denies it. "These samples of extreme desperation are a sign of the failure of Chinese propaganda", because those who have set themselves on fire have been born under this propaganda. However, nobody knows certainly what is happening in Tibet, as the access of international journalists to the region is banned and the information issued by Beijing and activists is partial.

A forbidden territory

Despite all this, a Tibetan nun called X.T does not add any ideological bias to her history as she explains without adjectives the suffering she lived along with two more nuns. “We came to Dharamsala in 2011 because we wanted to talk with the Dalai Lama”. This is the city that hosts the Tibetan spiritual leader as well as the exile government. “Everything was right until we tried to come back to China. The Chinese detained us for allegedly having tried to cross the border illegally and jailed us for twenty days”, she reminded. “We had been warned of the risks, but we thought that they were only rumors and we tried”.

She has not wanted to give more details but another colleague has taken over the narration, shedding tears. “Firstly, they took our shoes off to make us feel cold and finally we were stripped of all. They put us in solitaire confinement and we were interrogated night and day. They wanted us to give them the names of people we did not know, those of the activists persecuted by the police who helped Tibetans fleeing. They did not let us sleep neither speak with anyone but the police. They did not even remove our handcuffs and shackles. They also prevented us from going to the toilet and we were forced to make our needs in the same cell. They just gave us flour and tea to eat”.

After those twenty days, when the authorities realized that the nuns had nothing to do with any resistance movement, the women were left in Nepal. They were undocumented, so that they could not prove their citizenship from the People’s Republic and, through treaties between the two countries, the nuns were held to Nepalese police. “We spent a month in prison and the guards stole us everything we had”. A United Nations Organization agency managed to take them away to a shelter. Then, they went back to Dharamsala, aware that they would never return home.

They are not the only ones. About 600 Tibetans flee every year, and they are hosted at the shelter that the Tibetan exile government has established in Dharamsala. According to Norbu-La, director of the centre, most of them do not escape from Chinese security forces but from the repression exercised by Beijing in a complex system of social assimilation, called “cultural genocide” by the Dalai Lama. With the economic benefices that they give to Han, the main ethnic group in China, so that they move to Tibet, the central government has managed to become Tibetans an ethnic minority in their own territory. The wealth is in the hands of the Chinese and the locals remain poor. Those who flee want the education that Beijing denies them. They want to learn Tibetan and English, not Mandarin. And they want to live freely besides their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

T.L. is a good example of the situation that Tibetans live in their own country. “My dream since I was young was to be a nun, but I was not allowed by my nomadic family. My work was essential for all of us to survive. I had a very hard youth because I could not take the idea off my head. Once I reached the adulthood I committed to a monastery and I decided that I would dedicate myself to religion. Then I realized that I needed to be authorized by the government and to learn Chinese. I had to meet standards that did not fit my view on Buddhism, which were against the Dalai Lama, and I feel a great devotion for him because he is the reincarnation of Buddha. Beijing says that we can practice our religion freely, but that is a lie; we have to follow the beliefs they have imposed”.

She decided to start her journey to freedom in January. It took her a month for walking the distance between the sacred mount Kailash and the Nepalese border. “I knew that I might die if I did the journey on foot and without documentation. But I am 45 years old, I have no money or training and no longer have my family by my side. What could I lose?”

A mother who has arrived illegally in India with her two 7 and 12 years old daughters nods while listening to the story of T.L. They have left Tibet because she does not want her daughters to end up as the nun. “They say that the education is free in China, but I have to pay 9,000 yuan –more than 1,000 euros—a month so that my daughters could go to school and, in spite of this, they are not taught Tibetan language. It is our language and I want my daughters to acquire writing and speaking skills. Most of our people do not go to school because they cannot pay for it. This is positive for China, the poor and the illiterate are easier to manipulate by their propaganda. As much as many tell us otherwise, Tibetans in Tibet are not happy”.

No international help

But it is increasingly difficult to escape. According to Norbu-La, the situation has worsened after the unrest which took place in Lhasa on March 2008. “Immediately after that, we had a wave of refugees; about 3,000 a year. They only came to Dharamsala for a while before, intending to return to Tibet. But China stepped up border controls and started torturing those who had crossed it illegally. Those who risk are increasingly fewer, and they no longer think about the way back”.

It is noteworthy that, although the situation has worsened, the international community pressure on China to solve the situation in Tibet through peaceful means has not increased. In contrast, economic growth has become a powerful muzzle. “When we settled in India –China occupied Tibet in 1959—, our case was widely reported in a world steeped in Cold War, because it was necessary to stop communism; then the situation of Tibetan refugees caught the attention of the international community; after the Tiananmen massacre and the fall of the Soviet Union, the concept of human rights acquired a great strength and everyone pressed China; but now the economic growth moves the world and China holds the reins in its hands”, Tashi Phuntsok recognized. He is the general secretary of the International Relations Department, the head of the office that serves as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the exile government.

“We are about 100,000 people against 1,300 million; thus we are aware of the difficulties to go ahead with our cause and to stop the drama of Tibet. But we have been working on it for nearly half a century and, if the situation changes, we are willing to do it”, Phuntsok added. Nevertheless, the responsible for international affairs recognized that there is no type of contact with Beijing; he does not think that the policy on Tibet will change after Xi Jinping is named president of China. “He cannot stop overnight the direction set by his predecessors”. For this reason, he thinks that self-immolations, “exponents of civil disobedience”, will continue.

Those who arrive in the shelter after fleeing from Tibet either want to talk about suicides. “They are afraid”, Norbu-La explained. “China is against the relatives and friends of those who have fled and those who self-immolated”. Therefore the face of any interviewed for the realization of this report has been photographed and their names have been kept secret. With these safeguards, some of them dare to say that the bleeding must be stopped and the frustration must be aimed “against aggressors”.

Thus, many share the concern of Chokey: that suicides become murders. “We advocate for nonviolence, but we are aware that everything has its limits and repression is just unbearable”. Some in the shelter share the same point of view. “Some young people are frustrated because they see that self-immolations do not meet any of their goals and it is imperative to seek other paths, including violence”, the mother of the two girls admitted. “We do not understand why the international community sends weapons to Libya or Syria, conflicts which provoke thousands of deaths, whilst it does not support those who seek a peaceful solution to our problems”, asked Tashi Phuntsok. “This is a very dangerous message”.