Item 9 of the provisional agenda

Oral Statement of the Society for Threatened Peoples
Question of the violation of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in any part of the world

Tenzin Samphel Kayta
Human Rights Officer
Tibet Bureau, Geneva

Mr. Chairman, I am delivering this statement on behalf
of the Society for Threatened Peoples.

China has been trying to compromise the issue of human
rights with the international community by releasing a
few high profile political prisoners of conscience a
month or so before the commencement of its annual UN
Commission on Human Rights. Thus far China has found
this policy effective in deflecting international
criticism at the UN Commission on Human Rights and in
bilateral dialogues. However, in the recent concluded
high-level segment, Under Secretary of State for
Global Affairs, USA Ms. Paula J.Dobriansky said " This
body should stand up for those who seek freedom around
the world, such as the Tibetans who seek cultural and
religious autonomy,........."

Because, there are serious concerns about a wide range
of human rights issues in China, including the use of
the death penalty, the treatment of dissidents,
freedom of religion, the use of arbitrary detention
and torture, freedom of expression, and the situation
in Tibet.

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, "Human Rights
situation in Tibet have a distinct character of
preventing Tibetans as a people from asserting their
own identity and culture. The violations are a result
of policies of racial and cultural discrimination and
religious intolerance."

Mr. Chairman, as Mr. Bill Rammell, MP and Minister of
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom said
in his statement at the High Level Segment of the 60th
session of the Commission on Human Rights.

"But, there are times when the level of violations so
high, when the consequences for the victims, the
region and the world are so great, and when the
political will to tackle the problems, alone or in
cooperation, is so manifestly absent, that we have to
take more immediate action. In these situations, we
must sometimes rely on pressure - peer pressure - as
the only means left by which to promote and protect
those human rights which underpin the freedom, justice
and peace to which we all aspire."

The classic case is that of Lobsang Dhondup who was
summarily executed on 26 January 2003 under closed
trial for alleged involvement in a series of bombings.
At the same time Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a respected
Buddhist scholar in Tibet, was sentenced to death with
two-year suspension for a crime he did not commit.
Despite growing international concerns, it is feared
that Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche could be executed in
December 2004.

The Dalai Lama further said, "The current situation
in Tibet benefits neither the Tibetans nor the
government of the People's Republic of China. The
development projects that the Chinese Government has
launched in Tibet - purportedly to benefit the Tibetan
people - are however, having negative effects on the
Tibetan people's distinct cultural, religious and
linguistic identity. China is undergoing a process of
deep change. In order to affect this change smoothly
and without chaos and violence I believe it is
essential that there be more openness and greater
freedom of information and proper awareness among the
general public. We should seek truth from facts -
facts that are not falsified."

"I am hopeful that China will become more open and
eventually more democratic. I have for many years
advocated that the change and transformation of China
should take place smoothly and without major
upheavals. This is in the interest of not only the
Chinese people but also the world community."

However, we welcome the recent release of Phuntsok
Nyidron, a Tibetan political prisoner of conscience
who was released last month - one year before the
completion of her sentence on medical parole. She was
given 17 years of prison sentence. We call upon China
to release other prisoners of conscience as well.

Mr. Chairman, in conclusion we call upon the
Commission, to urge China to allow all Thematic
Special Rapporteurs of the UN Commission on Human
Rights, government monitoring agencies, journalists
and NGOs to freely visit Tibet. Further, the
Commission should call on China to release all
prisoners of conscience, including Tenzin Delek
Rinpoche and Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the reincarnation
of the 10th Panchen Lama, who is the youngest
political prisoner in the world today.

Thank you.