Source : phayul.com, May 25, 2012

DHARAMSALA, India: The US State Department in its Annual Country Reports on Human Rights 2011, released yesterday, said that Tibet continued to remain under “increasingly intense and formalized system of control” of the Chinese government.

The report has documented a detailed account of human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese government, such as repression of freedom of speech, religion, association, movement, extrajudicial killing, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention and house arrest.

The report said that Chinese authorities’ repressive measures to control the Tibetan religious freedom has created ” cycles of repression that resulted in increasingly desperate acts by Tibetans, such as a series of self-immolations by Tibetan Buddhist clergy and laypersons in China’s Tibetan areas”.

The report further noted the Chinese authorities’ restriction on media, saying “The government strictly controlled information about, and access to, the TAR and Tibetan areas outside the TAR, making it difficult to determine accurately the scope of human rights abuses”.

Source: tibet.net

Dharamsala, 22-05-2012, In the recent days, there has been considerable media attention concerning reports of a possible security threat to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The security of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a matter of great concern.

On 8 May 2012, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave an interview to the Sunday Telegraph in Dharamsala, India, during which the interviewer commented on the security surrounding His Holiness. In response, His Holiness remarked that the concerned security agencies have taken his security very seriously ever since his first arrival in India. He mentioned that some time ago the officials responsible for his security received reports from a Tibetan working for the Chinese security establishment inside Tibet that Tibetan women were being trained to poison him by applying poison to their hair and to traditional greeting scarves. When His Holiness meets with Tibetans, they often present him with such scarves and bow their heads to receive his blessing. However, His Holiness also made it quite clear to the interviewer that there is no way to verify such reports. Although His Holiness takes security threat to his person lightly, there are a variety of threats to his well-being that the security agencies are obliged to take it seriously.

DHARAMSHALA, May 21: To mark the countdown to the 100th Anniversary of the historic 1913 ‘Tibetan Proclamation of Independence,’ declared by the Great 13th Dalai Lama, a re-creation of the Proclamation will be unveiled in the Tibetan exile headquarters of Dharamshala on Wednesday.

Students for a Free Tibet, in a release, said the public launch of the historic document is in the “celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence.”

“Our goal is to have this scroll distributed in 100 cities – delivered to Chinese Embassies, presented to world leaders, plastered on global landmarks – by March 10, 2013,” the release said.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, May 17: Tibetans in the exile headquarters of Dharamshala and all over India today organised various campaigns demanding the Chinese communist regime to release Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the boy recognised by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995.

Thursday marked 17 years since the Chinese authorities secretly abducted Gendhun Choekyi Nyima along with his parents on May 17, 1995, three days after His Holiness the Dalai Lama declared him to be the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama. He was only six years old then.

Despite repeated international pressure, the Chinese government has refrained from disclosing the well-being and whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who turned 23 last month and his family.

The Tibetan Women’s Association launched a new post card campaign titled ‘Mother’s call for their son: Panchen Lama’ urging the Chinese government to provide information on Panchen Lama’s wellbeing and whereabouts.

Source : phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, May 16: A Tibetan teen is among a group that won a nationwide rocketry challenge held in The Plains, Virginia, United States last week.

Tashi Aruktsang was among the four-member team from the Madison West High School that clinched first prize at the 10th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge.

The winning team of Meng Lou, Hanwook Chua, Tashi Aruktsang, and Suzanne Hanle also won themselves an all paid trip to London to compete in the July 15 Farnborough International Air Show to defend America’s 2011 championship title, competing with the UK and France.

Source : tibet.net, 16-05-2012

DHARAMSHALA: The Central Tibetan Administration rejected allegations against His Holiness the Dalai Lama on self-immolations in Tibet showed in a documentary aired by China Central Television (CCTV), China’s official broadcaster.

Responding to a query from The Associated Press, Mr Tashi, spokesman of the Central Tibetan Administration, repudiated the allegations that His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the exiled Tibetans have been instigating the self-immolations. Instead, he said, Beijing’s policies are causing the protests.