Not an isolated case

 In October 2007, a year after the tragic deaths at Nangpa La, another defenceless group of Tibetan refugees was shot at by Chinese border guards in the same location. This time fortunately nobody died.

Eleven-year-old Guru Kyab (left) provides an eyewitness account of the recent shootings.

“When we heard the shots, most people tried to run up the mountain. Three monks ran up to the left side. The guide and some others ran up on the right side. We heard Chinese voices yelling at us to “lie down”. There was the sound of bullets hissing over our heads.

“I just lay down when I heard the bullets. I thought I would be killed by the soldiers. My legs went numb and I couldn’t move fast. The guy leading me thought I’d been shot. He was attempting to pull me up, but I managed to stand up by myself.

“We ran for our lives. I thought it would be impossible to outrun the army and thought I should stop, so maybe I could find my parents. I could hear my heart pounding. After we stopped at a safe point, I could taste blood in my mouth. Some of the others said they could also taste blood in their mouths. Three monks were arrested and taken away by soldiers. One of the monks, whose name is Tsultrim, was from Amdo. It was the third time he was arrested by the army for trying to escape. Later we found out eight of us were arrested: four monks, my parents, my sister and a little girl.”

Chinese border guards are not the only lethal threat to Tibetan refugees. Whereas once crossing into Nepal meant reaching safety, the Nepalese government is under increasing pressure from China to capture and return fleeing Tibetans.

Kunchog, a young monk, fled from Tibet in 2001. If he thought his group of 28 were safe when they reached Nepal, he was wrong, as he testifies.

“I decided to come to India with the aim of getting blessings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to pursue my education so that one day I could build a school in Tibet. I did not tell my parents about my plans to go to India because they would try to stop me, but I did tell my childhood friend K. He wanted to come with me, so we made our journey to Lhasa. We didn't have any official documents to come to India so we had to escape. We were in a group of 28, accompanied by two guides. On the 28th day of our tireless travel, we ran short of food and money.

“When we reached the Nepalese area Zeri, we were arrested by Nepalese soldiers. We were taken to the local police station and imprisoned there for two days. All our belongings were snatched from us. When we were released we hired a vehicle to continue our journey. Halfway there our driver stopped to chat with a truck driver he knew. A policeman on a motorbike arrived and talked to our driver. We didn’t understand the conversation, but when it was over the policeman took us straight to an army camp.

“When we arrived, my heartbeat quickened I became terribly scared, thinking we would be handed over to the Chinese or maybe killed by the Nepalese. Everyone was so terrified we jumped out of the vehicle and tried to scatter. The Nepalese soldiers surrounded us. Some of us took up stones to defend ourselves and the Nepalese soldiers commanded us to put down the stones. Some of the Tibetans at the back did not hear the command so they kicked and beat us with the butts of their rifles. Soon the soldiers left and we started to head down the road.

“Fifteen minutes later, the Nepalese soldiers started to chase us. They began shooting and one of the monks was shot in the leg. I turned to look back and was hit by a bullet under my left arm. The bullet came out of my back and I became unconscious. When I came round I had no idea where I’d been hit and I thought I was about to die. I wanted to get up to make a supplication to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. As I tried to lift myself I passed out again from the pain. The next time I regained consciousness, K was supporting me. He had been shot twice. Another friend had been shot in the face. A girl had been shot in the foot and blood was oozing out. One of the soldiers rushed up and kicked my friend away from me. The soldier stepped on my neck and pointed his gun at my head. I was dragged and thrown into a truck like a corpse.

“We stopped on the way to Kathmandu for a rest. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. The soldier sitting at the back of the truck came over and kicked me. The local people and the doctor were too frightened by the soldiers to try to help us. We reached Kathmandu just before dark and were taken to the hospital. I was there for three months, receiving generous care from the doctors and from the nurses at the Reception Centre. Because they didn’t think I would survive the shock they did not tell me for a long time that my childhood friend died before we reached the hospital. When they did tell me, I was so shocked that for almost 10 days, I could not eat, and I almost went mad.

“I tried to stay sane by reading the lectures of His Holiness and that did help. After I was discharged from I had to spend a day at the police station before I was handed over to the Reception Centre. When I got to India, my health was so poor that I could not even lift my own bag.”

These are only three incidents of flagrant violations of international laws protecting the rights of refugees. Western climbers witnessing and filming the atrocity in Nangpa La Pass led to international protests, but little if anything has changed. The apparent shoot-to-kill policy of the Chinese military continues unchecked.