UCS 06/10/06: Chinese army kills Tibetan refugees

Chinese Army kills Tibetan refugees

 

Urgent Campaign - 6 October 2006

Body of Tibetan nun shot by Chinese border patrols at Nangpa Pass on 30 September 2006. 
(c) Pavle Kozjek/ExplorersWeb

A Tibetan nun and youth were shot dead by Chinese border security forces on 30 September as they attempted to flee from persecution in Tibet. They were in a group of approximately 70 Tibetans making the perilous journey into Nepal over the Nangpa la Pass, situated at 19,000 feet and 20km west of Mount Everest.

 The incident was witnessed by at least 60 western climbers who were at the Cho Oyu Advance Base Camp. Eyewitness accounts from the climbers are consistent in saying that they saw Chinese armed personnel kneel down, take aim and open fire at the Tibetans, among whom were at least 14 children, some as young as six years old.

Reports that up to eight bodies were buried by Chinese soldiers after the shooting have yet to be verified.

Video footage can be found here

 

BACKGROUND

Approximately 2,500 Tibetans annually flee over the Himalayas into exile, escaping the brutality of China's occupation. It is difficult to know how many are caught or shot by the Chinese border authorities. Previous similar allegations have remained uninvestigated.

MountEverest.net, a climbers' website, was the first to report the killing and quoted a "trusted source" (a western mountaineer who was climbing at the time) as reporting that he witnessed the Chinese Army shoot at a line of Tibetan refugees as they made their way to the Nangpa La Pass at the border with Nepal.

The shooting by the Chinese border guards is in violation of the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1990), which requires that "Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life." (Principle 9).

TAKE ACTION

Please write to the following officials calling for the UN agencies and the international community to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of Tibetan refugees fleeing into Nepal and launch an independent and transparent investigation into the killings:

 

  1. Name: Antonio Guterres
    Position: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
    Address: Case Postale 2500
    CH-1211 Geneva 2 Depot
    Switzerland
    Salutation: Dear High Commissioner
    Fax: +41 22 739 7346

     

  2. Name: Louise Arbour
    Position: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
    Address: OHCHR, Palais de Nations
    8-14 Avenue de la Paix
    CH-1211 Geneva 10
    Switzerland
    Salutation: Dear High Commissioner
    Email: tb-petitions@ohchr.org
    Fax: +41 22 917 9022

     

  3. Name: Margaret Beckett
    Position: Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
    Address: King Charles Street
    London SW1A 2AH
    Salutation: Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP
    Fax: 020 7008 2144
     
  4. Write to your MP asking that s/he raise the recent killings and the issue of safety of Tibetan refugees with the Foreign Secretary.

    [Name of your MP]
    Address: House of Commons
    London SW1A 0AA
    Fax: 020 7925 0918
    Tel: 020 7276 3000
    You can find the name of your MP and send them a free message via www.writetothem.com

(Please send us copies of any replies you receive as this helps us to monitor the situation.)