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Two Tibetan Nuns
Detained
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KATHMANDU, April 27,
2008—In a rare challenge to China's massive security presence in
Tibet, two Buddhist nuns have staged a public protest in Sichuan
province before being taken into custody, according to several
witnesses have told Radio Free Asia (RFA).
The nuns, identified as Bumo Lhaga, 32, and Sonam Dekyi, 30,
belong to the Drakar nunnery in Kardze [in Chinese, Ganzi]
prefecture, Sichuan province. On April 23, around 1 p.m., they
handed out leaflets in Kardze town center calling for the return
of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, the sources
told RFA's Tibetan service.
"They began by distributing handwritten flyers calling for the
Dalai Lama to return to Tibet and saying that Tibet is
independent. Chinese security officers saw the flyers and began to
collect them, demanding to know who had distributed them," one
source said.
"The nuns were observed on a street-corner shouting slogans
calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and for freedom for
Tibetans. They were quickly detained and taken away in a police
vehicle. Even while being taken away, they continued to shout,"
the source said.
Sonam Dekyi's mother, contacted by phone on April 26, said her
daughter was fully aware of the risks involved in staging such a
demonstration, six weeks after the largest and most violent
anti-Chinese protests in Tibet in almost five decades.
"My daughter, Sonam Dekyi, fulfilled her purpose in life," her
mother said. "She made her own decision to protest, knowing fully
the risk and danger that she would face. I am not worried at all.
If she doesn't survive Chinese torture, I have no regrets...As His
Holiness wished, she protested peacefully and didn't resort to any
kind of violence."
An official at the Kardze Public Security Bureau office cast doubt
on the witness accounts. "No nuns were arrested," the official
said, adding: "I don't know."
Another source who witnessed the protest said the two nuns "were
fully prepared for the eventualities that would follow. They were
dressed warmly and bundled themselves to face both beating and
cold during detention. There were armed Chinese police everywhere
but they couldn't see them protesting for quite some time, and
then later when they came for the second round, the police saw
flyers."
"When police asked who had distributed the flyers, they showed
themselves and shouted slogans in the presence of police."
The two women are believed to have been taken to the local Kardze
detention center. Their flyers indicated that they were acting on
their own and that the Dakar nunnery wasn't involved in the
protest, the sources said.
In Lhasa, as in other Tibetan areas, residents report tight
security and an oppressive police presence.
"We are in Hell now. When we go out to shop for groceries, we have
to have two IDs: a residence permit and an ID issued by the Lhasa
municipal government," one Lhasa resident said. "We have been told
not to leave [Lhasa] or to move around until the end of May. We
are being forced to criticize the Dalai Lama."
"Many of us who rent shops or homes have been warned that if we
have links to separatists, or if protesters are found on our
properties, the property owners will be detained and punished. So
it is Hell here in Tibet."
Chinese authorities have made numerous arrests and launched a
"patriotic education" campaign aimed at Tibetans in the wake of
rioting that began in Lhasa in mid-March but spread to other
Tibetan areas as well.
Beijing says 19 people were killed in the rioting. Tibetan sources
say scores of people were killed when Chinese paramilitary and
police opened fire on crowds of demonstrators.
Chinese authorities have blamed the Dalai Lama for instigating the
protests and fomenting a Tibetan independence movement. The Dalai
Lama rejects the accusation, saying he wants only autonomy and
human rights for Tibetans.
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that
broadcasts news and information in nine East Asian languages to
listeners who lack access to full and free news media. The purpose
of RFA is to provide a forum for a variety of opinions and voices
from within these Asian countries. Our Web site adds a global
dimension to this objective. RFA is funded by an annual grant from
the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Sarah Jackson-Han
Media Relations Director
Radio Free Asia (RFA)
jacksonhans@rfa.org
202 530 7774 direct/202 907 4613 mobile
www.rfa.org
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