This report, authored by a coalition of Tibet-related NGOs who are Member Groups of the International Tibet Network, addresses issues of concern in the context of China's forthcoming Universal Periodic Review that are specific to the human rights of the Tibetan people. Our references to Tibet encompass the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures under the Provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan.

In this submission we provide information under sections B, C and D as stipulated in the General Guidelines for the Preparation of Information under the UPR:

 In Section B we outline a number of deteriorations in human rights in Tibet since China's first cycle UPR, which can be seen as an escalation of the major crackdown of 2008. New areas of concern include freedom of movement, independence of the judiciary and lack of due process, and increased use of ‘patriotic re-education’.

 In Section C we raise specific concerns in relation to the Tibetan self-immolation protests and exacerbating features of China's response, freedom of assembly and association (with emphasis on disproportionate use of force in response to mass gatherings, contraventions of the right to freedom of expression and limitations on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights (with emphasis on the right to adequate food including access to land)

 In Section D we make a number of recommendations for action by China.

China’s policies in Tibet, over the last 60 years have failed to protect the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people, and are thereby undermining the Human Rights Council on which China sat during the reporting period. Rather than “[m]ake more widely available to the world its experience in combining a strong state with ethnic regional autonomy”2 , China must accept that new, constructive strategies need to be adopted in Tibet which have at their heart the human rights of the Tibetan people. China must implement immediate changes and work to make concrete positive progress in Tibet’s human rights situation, in line with its stated commitments as well as rejected recommendations from its first cycle UPR.

Due to internet censorship, surveillance, and restrictions on media freedoms, timely information about the situation in Tibet is extremely difficult to obtain. However, this report is based on credible and reliable information obtained by research-based human rights monitoring organisations, including authors of this submission

To download the report, please click here.