Tibetan Information Office (TIO) is based in Canberra.

Update on Tibet Demonstrations, 21 Jun 2008

18 June 2008: Lhasa – Protests seemed to have occurred in Drepung and Sera monasteries

A gunshot was fired in Drepung monastery, in Lhasa, on 18 June or 15th day of the 4th month of Tibetan lunar calender which is considered the most holy day of the year.

Our local source received this information through an eyewitness. It is reported that the People’s Armed Police (PAP) had opened fire in the air to warn the monks from protesting in the Drepung monastery. No further details available.

During the same night, the PAP arrested 12 monks from Sera monastery, in Lhasa. Details are also not available.

14 June 2008

Karze (Ch: Ganzi) County, Karze “TAP”, Kham (incorporated into Chinese province of Sichuan) – A monk from Khangmar monastery severely beaten and arrested for staging a peaceful protest

Yeshi Palden, age 27, from Khangmar (Gaeden Samdupling) monastery in Karze County, was severely beaten with metal batons and arrested by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) for staging a peaceful protest in front of the county PSB office on 14 June.

During the protest, he shouted slogans such as “release all the political prisoners”, “His Holiness the Dalai Lama must be welcomed to Tibet”, and also wished “long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama”.

An unidentified Tibetan has also carried out a protest in Karze county on 15 June. Details are not available.

9 June 2008

Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County, Ngaba “TAP”, Amdo (incorporated into Chinese province of Sichuan) – Many monks fled the Se monastery

On 9 June, many pro-independence posters were found pasted at roadside near the Se monastery in Ngaba county. The Tibetan flag was also found hoisted there. As a result, the PAP surrounded the monastery and heightened its restrictions on 11 June. A thorough raid was also conducted in the monastery. Such repressions forced many of its monks to flee the monastery.

2 June 2008

Barkham (Ch: Ma’erkhang) County, Ngaba “TAP”, Amdo (incorporated into Chinese province of Sichuan) – Gyalrong Tsodun Kirti monastery in critical situation

A contingent of the PAP arrived at the Gyalrong Tsodun Kirti monastery in Barkham county and hoisted a Chinese flag on the monastery on 2 June. However, the monks secretly destroyed the flag with its pole the next night.

As a result, the PAP has heightened restrictions, and no one is allowed to leave or enter the monastery campus. More numbers of PAP have been deployed in the monastery. The monks are being interrogated to find out who committed this “serious crime” of destroying the Chinese flag and the pole. The monastery is reported to be in a critical situation.

No Specific Date

Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County, Ngaba “TAP”, Amdo (incorporated into Chinese province of Sichuan) – “Patriotic re-education” being forced intensely in Kirti Dhongru monastery

The monks of Kirti Dhongru monastery in Ngaba county are severely being harassed as they are forced by the Chinese authorities to undergo the “patriotic re-education” in full intensity. The PAP, which has camped near down the monastery, imposed heavy restrictions on the movement of monks.

Five of its monks, who were arrested in March, are now transferred to Kakhog (Ch: Hongyuan) county prison from Maowun (Ch: Maoxian) county prison. Members of their families or relatives are not allowed to meet them.

Lhasa – Details of one more person, who was shot during a Lhasa protest, identified

Sonam, a woman, was shot in her neck when the PAP opened fire at the protestors on 14 March in Lhasa. On third day of her medical treatment at the Tibetan Medical and Astrology Institute, she was arrested by the PAP in their attempt to arrest all those wounded with gunshots. She was released at the end of May after having been interrogated a number of times.

When she was shot, her daughter Choelak (full name not available), who is a school graduate from China, was arrested and severely beaten by the PAP. Though she was also released at the end of May after being detained for over two months, her health has deteriorated due to torture. Both the mother and the daughter were born in Lhasa.