The forty two Tibetan marchers who left Kathmandu six days ago were apprehended by the Nepalese police . On June 27th, another group of nine Tibetans also left Kathmandu to reach their ancestral home, Tibet. No one can stop our determination to be free again! The police can try and stop us but there will be another batch ready to non-violently protest against China’s occupation of Tibet and continue on the march home!

Information provided by Phayul

Marchers arrested near Tibet-Nepal border
http://phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=21810&article=Marchers+arrested+near+Tibet-Nepal+border

Phayul[Tuesday, July 01, 2008 15:55]
By Tenzin Sangmo

New Delhi, July 1 - The forty two Tibetan marchers who left Kathmandu in the wee hours of the morning six days ago have been apprehended by Nepalese police officials some seven kilometers from Dram.

The peace marchers had shed their cover of mountainous trails and jungle routes by walking in the open on the main road leading towards the Tibet-Nepal border earlier today. This made them vulnerable to possible police blockade. After walking on the highway for some four kilometers their path was blocked by the police who insisted they retreat. With the border well within reach the peace hikers/walkers were forced to end their march to Tibet.

Though pro-Tibet rallies have taken the world by storm after the March unrest with Nepal in the lead given its close proximity to China, this is the first protest of its kind in the region where Tibetan refugees have attempted to take the same route to Tibet which many of them have once tread to escape a brutal regime.

Talking to Phayul on the phone from the Barabesi check post where they are currently held, core marcher Jamyang Tenzin said, “We were about seven kilometers from Dram when some 30-40 Nepalese police officials blocked our way and detained us. We are being taken back to Kathmandu and the officers have not disclosed what will become of us once in the Capital or whether we will be charged with any offence. The officers did not use any physical force or treat us violently this time around.”

In what could be termed as a continuing chapter in their peaceful resistance against China, a small group of nine Tibetans left Kathmandu on their mission to Tibet on June 27. The second group comprising of one monk, a twenty year old girl and others left the Nepalese Capital at 04:00 am that day and traveled 200 kilometers by vehicle to avoid police opposition in and around Kathmandu. They have since covered 90 kilometers on foot and are traversing through the hilly and steep tracks which their predecessors navigated not many days ago. They choose to remain tight lipped about their location and the Tibet-Nepal border which they intend to cross over into in the coming days.

Kelsang Tashi from the second group says, “Given the harsh physical conditions of the climb and the rocky path which some of us are not used to, we anticipate to reach the border in the next ten days. Unlike other marches, we have to carry our own luggage and sleeping bags among other utilities. The extra effort clubbed with severe challenges presented before us during the course of the walk slow us down but we remain adamant nonetheless and will strive to succeed in our endeavor.”

Tibetans across the world aim to protest peacefully until peace is restored in Tibet and a resolution is put across through significant talks between envoys of the Dalai Lama and China. The seventh round of official dialogue between the two parties began today in Beijing.

During the European Championship Semifinals, a Team Tibet supporter surprised the football fans with a message: “Tibet is not China.” Moments after he was tackled by the security guards and taken away but our Team Tibet fan had already won our hearts.  Go Team Tibet!

For Rangzen,

Yingsel

Pro-Tibet protester runs onto field during Euro 2008 semifinal match

AP[Thursday, June 26, 2008 09:55]

(AP Photo/Murad Sezer) BASEL, Switzerland - A pro-Tibet protester ran onto the field late in Germany’s 3-2 win over Turkey on Wednesday in the European Championship semifinals. The man was wearing a T-shirt with the words “Tibet is not China,” and he ran on the field at St. Jakob Park moments after Turkey had scored an 86th-minute equalizer. He made it across most of the field before a security guard tackled him inside the opposite area. Several guards then surrounded him and carried him off the field. China’s communist leadership has faced a public relations disaster since protests of its rule of the Himalayan region turned violent March 14 in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, sparking waves of unrest in surrounding provinces. That was followed by protests at the Olympic torch-lightning ceremony and on several of the relay routes around the world.

IOC is telling China not to politicize the Olympics after Zhang Qingli, the Chinese Communist party secretary in Tibet said, “In order to bring more glory to the Olympic spirit, we should firmly smash the plots to ruin the Beijing Olympic Games by the Dalai clique and hostile foreign forces inside and outside of the nation.” Wait a minute, wasn’t the Chinese government telling everyone else not to politicize the Olympic games? Now that’s what I call “Irony.”

This information is from ABC/AFP

Keep politics out of Olympics, IOC tells China: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/25/2286084.htm?section=sport

Posted 3 hours 28 minutes ago

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reminded China to draw a line between sports and politics, after a Communist party official lashed out at independence sentiment in Tibet during the Olympic flame relay there.

“The IOC regrets that political statements were made during the closing ceremony of the torch relay in Tibet,” it said, reacting to Saturday’s remarks (local time) by Zhang Qingli, the Chinese Communist party secretary in Tibet.

“We have written to BOCOG (Beijing Olympics Organising Committee) to remind them of the need to separate sport and politics and to ask for their support in making sure that such situations do not arise again,” it added, in an email from its headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Zhang Qingli

In his remarks Saturday about striving for “the glory of the motherland,” Mr Zhang accused supporters of the Dalai Lama of trying to destroy the Olympics that open on August 8 in the Chinese capital.

“In order to bring more glory to the Olympic spirit, we should firmly smash the plots to ruin the Beijing Olympic Games by the Dalai clique and hostile foreign forces inside and outside of the nation,” he said.

Tighter security was in place as the Olympic flame made its final stop in front of the Potala Palace, the one-time home of the exiled Dalai Lama, in a ceremony that was shortened for reasons that were not disclosed.

The global running of the Olympic flame has been mired in controversy and headline-grabbing incidents since riots broke out three months ago in Lhasa and prompted a harsh crackdown on Tibetan opponents of Chinese rule.

Tibetans in exile claim 203 people have died as the result of what they call Chinese government “repression”.

Beijing counters than 21 have died at the hand of “rioters,” and that it had suppressed a Tibetan “rebellion”.

Meanwhile Chinese organisers have cancelled the international legs of the Paralympic torch relay.

The torch was scheduled to visit Olympic host cities of London, Vancouver and Sochi, as well as Hong Kong before the start of the Paralympics in September.

However it will now be restricted to mainland China.

Many Chinese citizens believe that the Fuwa(lucky) mascots are actually unlucky. The recent earthquakes, floods, and uprise in Tibet has made the Chinese citizens rethink how lucky their mascots really are.

This interesting article is from the Telegraph UK

 

Beijing Olympic Fuwa mascots ‘have cursed’ China in unlucky 2008

By David Eimer in Beijing,

Last Updated: 10:22AM BST 21/06/2008

Olympic mascots are supposed to be a merchandising dream: cute, cuddly and designed to promote friendship and peace ahead of the Beijing Games.

EPA

The Beijing 2008 Olympic mascots were unveiled in 2005

But the five official Olympic mascots, which are known as Fuwa, or “good luck dolls”, in Chinese, have now acquired a far more sinister reputation.

Although four of the five mascots were drawn to represent China’s favourite animals, and the fifth to embody the olympic torch, many Chinese now believe each one was a portent for the disasters the country has suffered this year.

Despite the efforts of government censors to delete online references to the “Curse of the Fuwa”, the rumours about the ill-starred mascots have continued to spread across China by text messages.

The claims appeared first in the wake of the earthquake that devastated Sichuan Province last month, with people pointing out that one of the Fuwa, Jingjing, is a panda, the animal native to Sichuan.

Since then, bloggers have linked the protests that dogged the Olympic torch relay’s progress around the world to Huanhuan, who represents the Olympic flame, and the unrest in Tibet to Yingying, a Tibetan antelope. Nini, a swallow who looks like a kite, has been tied to a deadly train crash in Weifang, known as ‘kite city’, in Shandong Province on April 28.

But it was when the worst floods for 50 years swamped much of southern China last week and forced over 1.6 million people to evacuate their homes that the rumours about the cursed mascots went into overdrive. Beibei, the fish-shaped Fuwa, took the blame. “I am in Shenzhen. There is heavy rain for two days and no sign it will stop….now the curse of the final ‘fish’ has been proved correct. What shall we do?” was one, widely circulated, online comment.

For all its shiny new buildings and rampant modernisation, China remains a deeply superstitious country. Fortune tellers continue to thrive. And last year hundreds of thousands of couples rushed to have children in the year of the Golden Pig, thought to be an especially lucky year to be born in.

There is now a widespread belief that 2008 is an ill-fated year.

“So many disasters and bad things happening in such a short space of time, it’s really rare,” said Zhang Xiaoyun, a customer services manager in Beijing for a telecommunications company. “I felt a bit scared when I heard about the curse. It’s hard to say if it is true or not. In general, I don’t believe those sorts of rumours but this year there really have been a lot of events that matched them.”

Nor is the ruling communist party immune from superstition, despite the fact that Mao Tse-tung banned fortune telling as an anachronistic hangover from the old feudal China. With ‘eight’ more commonly regarded as the luckiest number in China, the Olympics will start at precisely 8pm on August 8. As China’s leaders watch the opening ceremony, they might well have their fingers crossed that nothing else happens.

 He y Freedom Fighters,

As the pilgrims return to Potala Palace on Monday June 23, 2008 they realized that mostly all monks in Lhasa have disappeared. Where are all the monks? What has happen to them? Why are they missing? Ever since the crackdown took place in Tibet, there has been severe restrictions. “There are police stationed at the exits of the monasteries, and they check the IDs and register them. It is deterring a lot of monks.” said Tsering Shakya, a prominent Tibetan writer and professor at the University of British Columbia. As the torch went through Tibet’s capital this Saturday, only few selected journalist were allowed to see the whole relay. As the Torch paraded through Tibet this past week, more and more  fellow Tibetans have been missing. I am deeply worried for those who are missing due to the tight security the Chinese Government has put on in Tibet, and I call on the International Olympic Committee to hold the Chinese government to their promise of unrestricted media access in Tibet.

Love and Rangzen

Yingsel    ““““““““““““““““““““

Lhasa’s monks all but vanish in Chinese crackdown

The Globe and Mail, Canada[Monday, June 23, 2008 15:29]

Severe restrictions, including checkpoints and surveillance, imposed since wave of anti-government protests in March, exiles say By GEOFFREY YORK LHASA, June 23 — The pilgrims returned to the Potala Palace yesterday, spinning their prayer wheels and prostrating themselves in front of the Dalai Lama’s ancient palace on a mountaintop in Lhasa. For two days, the Buddhist pilgrims had been pushed to the sidelines to make room for the Olympic torch relay in Lhasa. The traditional pilgrimage route at the Potala Palace was unceremoniously shut down, in one of many security measures by Chinese authorities, even though a month-long Buddhist festival has drawn thousands of pilgrims to the Tibetan capital. But as the pilgrims returned, a mystery remained: Where are Lhasa’s monks? A visit yesterday to the Sera monastery, the second-biggest Buddhist monastery in Tibet, found that its 550 monks had virtually disappeared from sight. Most buildings and outdoor areas at the monastery were nearly empty, and only about 10 monks could be seen. Three days of travel around Lhasa - the first permitted visit by a Canadian journalist since the Tibetan uprising in March - found that the monks were almost entirely gone from the city streets, even in the historic quarter around the Jokhang temple, the holiest temple in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan exiles, who have contacts in Lhasa, say the monks have been subjected to severe restrictions for most of the past three months, since the wave of anti-government protests that erupted in March. “There are checkpoints and random checks of identification cards throughout Lhasa,” said Tsering Shakya, a prominent Tibetan writer and professor at the University of British Columbia. “There are police stationed at the exits of the monasteries, and they check the IDs and register them. It is deterring a lot of monks.” Lhasa residents are finding it difficult or impossible to phone the Sera monastery to reach relatives who are monks there, Mr. Shakya said. “It’s a security measure. The monks were the most vocal in the protests, and they are the targets of the current campaign. They’re under careful surveillance.” Lobsang Choepel, a 77-year-old monk who heads the government-controlled administration at the Sera monastery, denied there were any restrictions on the monks. “They can go downtown to do shopping and they can go to the market to buy vegetables,” he said yesterday. But he didn’t explain why so few monks were visible on the streets or in the monastery itself. After giving brief answers to five questions from foreign journalists, the monk was hustled away by Chinese officials, who refused to permit further questions. They told the journalists to hurry to the next event on the government-sponsored visit. No other access to the monks was permitted, aside from a guided tour of the monastery’s historical relics. Sera monastery, whose monks helped lead the protests that began in Lhasa on March 10, has remained under tight security control since then. Several uniformed policemen were posted at the monastery’s entrance yesterday, carrying radios. China deployed a massive security operation in Lhasa on the weekend as it sent the Olympic flame on a two-hour dash through the city. Invited guests were allowed into the opening and closing ceremonies, but most ordinary Tibetans were kept far away from the Olympic flame as it was carried on a shortened run through the Tibetan capital on Saturday morning. Thousands of paramilitary police and regular police kept a close eye on the event, which passed without incident, despite government reports that Tibetan separatists were trying to sabotage it. Much of the city, aside from the torch route, was almost deserted. Residents were told to stay inside their homes, unless they had a special pass allowing them to cheer for the torch. Hundreds of shops along the torch route were shuttered for the day. Tibetans who ventured outside were kept behind steel barriers on side streets. A small group of foreign journalists, invited to attend the relay, were not permitted to see any of the nine-kilometre run, except the beginning and end. They had to pass through a barbed-wire checkpoint and other security checks before they were permitted to attend the opening ceremony. At the end of the relay, the Olympic flame was greeted by a carefully choreographed display of ethnic dancing and rhythmic flag-waving from thousands of schoolchildren and other hand-picked spectators. Chinese officials took advantage of the Olympic event to launch another verbal blast at the Dalai Lama, whom they blame for the unrest in Tibet. “We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique,” Zhang Qingli, the hard-line boss of the Tibetan Communist Party, said in a speech to the crowd at the end of the torch relay. He spoke through an interpreter because he is not fluent in the Tibetan language. His attack on the Dalai Lama was the latest sign that Beijing has no intention of negotiating seriously with the Tibetan spiritual leader, whose representatives held preliminary talks with Chinese officials last month. The second round of talks has been postponed at China’s insistence. Another senior Chinese official fired a fresh salvo at the Dalai Lama this weekend. “He has been hiding the truth from the Tibetan people,” said Palma Trily, executive vice-chairman of the Tibetan regional government, at a press conference in Lhasa. “His real aim is to turn Tibet back into a system of feudal serfdom. He has not brought any benefit to the Tibetan people in the past, nor will he bring them any benefit in the future.” Critics said the Chinese authorities had put Lhasa virtually under martial law. “With the way it has militarized the Tibetan capital, China might as well parade the Olympic torch through Lhasa atop a tank,” said Han Shan, an activist with an exile group, Students for a Free Tibet. Human-rights groups also were critical of the decision to parade the torch through the Tibetan capital. “This provocative decision - with the blessing of the International Olympic Committee - could aggravate tensions and undermine the fragile process to find a peaceful long-term solution for Tibet and the region,” Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. “The government’s insistence on parading the torch through Lhasa can only undermine the respect and trust required for a genuine dialogue process with the Dalai Lama.”

Hey Beautiful Freedom Fighters. I am very worried about my Tibetan brothers and sisters after reading about Lhasa’s tight security in Tibet. Some foreign media outlets were allowed in Lhasa but were under strict scrutiny by the Chinese police.  “Lhasa is a city of fear and intimidation whose residents live under constant surveillance,” Phelim Kine of the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch said. China promised unrestricted media access for the Games but have not kept their word. We (Tibetans and supporters) want free media access into Tibet! If the Chinese government wants to be seen as a true world player, they can’t keep misleading the global community in such a blatant fashion. China needs to keep its promise and must allow unrestricted media access to Tibet and China during and before the Olympic Games. Love and Rangzen Yingsel Tibet capital under tight guard for Olympic torch

This information is by Reuters[Friday, June 20, 2008 18:40] By Chris Buckley A police officer stands guard outside the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region June 19, 2008. REUTERS/Joe Chan LHASA, June 20 - Tibet’s capital Lhasa was under tight security on Friday as it readied to host the Olympic Games torch in a concerted display of China’s hold over the restive region. As a group of foreign journalists arrived in Lhasa to observe the relay, police stood on guard every 200 metres. Trucks full of troops and riot police could also be seen. Slogans on billboards and village walls both welcomed the Olympics and urged locals not to cause trouble for the torch relay that will pass through Lhasa at 3,650 metres (12,000 feet) above sea level on Saturday before strictly vetted crowds. “Protect social order and stability,” read one sign. “Harmoniously greet the Olympic Games,” read another. The ancient centre of Tibetan Buddhist civilisation will be on show over three months after anti-government protests and then deadly anti-Chinese riots erupted there in March, sparking waves of protest across Tibetan areas that were quelled only by a massive troop influx. While authorities have spared no efforts to ensure fresh anti-China gestures do not upset the Olympic flame’s procession this time, the stark security surrounding it will be a constant reminder of the tensions left after the recent unrest. Security forces are seen on a street as a media convoy makes its way from the airport to the hotel in Lhasa, Tibet June 20, 2008. REUTERS/Nir Elias China blamed the “clique” of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader revered by most Tibetans, for instigating the unrest to upset the Olympics in August. The Dalai has denied that claim and said he supports the Games. But many exiled Tibetans oppose the Games, and especially the Tibet torch relay. “Since this is a proud moment for the people of China, the Dalai Lama has appealed to Tibetans not to protest,” Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the Dalai Lama, said from Dharamsala, the home of Tibet’s government in exile. Contrary to China’s vows to allow unimpeded media access in the lead-up to the Games, only a selected group of journalists accompanied by officials was allowed to Lhasa for the relay, and the city remains off bounds to free reporting. Exiled Tibetans and international rights groups have denounced the Tibet torch leg as a slap in the face that will only further alienate Tibetans. “Lhasa is a city of fear and intimidation whose residents live under constant surveillance,” Phelim Kine of the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in an email. “To run the torch through Lhasa under such conditions is a grotesque insult to the Olympian movement’s dedication to ‘fundamental ethical principles’.” Authorities have told Lhasa residents that they “are ready and willing to ’severely punish’ and ‘give no indulgence’” to any attempted disruption of the torch run, Kine said. Many Chinese people, however, were outraged by the rioting in Lhasa on March 14-15, and even more so by the subsequent protests against their government’s presence in Tibet that upset the Olympic torch relay in Paris, London and San Francisco. With patriotic sentiment fired up even more after the nation’s response to the devastating earthquake on May 12, many Chinese will look to the Lhasa leg of the torch as a proud show of their nation’s role in modernising the mountain region. (Additional reporting by Bappa Majumdar in New Delhi; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Two Exile Tibetans ( Chime Youngdung and Konchok Yangphel) protested at the Indo-Tibet boarder at the eve of the torch relay. This was documented by Legdup Tsering. All three were arrested and detained at Shipkila boarder by Indian boarder forces. The two protesters help a banner that read, “Free Tibet Now.” We will surely Free Tibet if we keep up our dedication such as these three activists.

Peace and Rangzen,

Yingsel

This information by Tibetans Peoples Uprising Movement

Exile Tibetans protest at Indo-Tibet border on eve of torch relay

TPUM[Thursday, June 19, 2008 17:21]

Three detained at Shipkila border post after staging protest; 38 others detained in Pooh, Reckong Peo and Rampur Free Tibet banner at Indo-Tibet border Shimla, June 19 – Two exile Tibetans were detained by Indian border forces at approximately 10:30am today as they attempted to cross the Indian border into Tibet near Shipkila Pass in Himachal Pradesh. With Tibet in view, the two Tibetans staged an iconic protest, raising a Tibetan national flag, calling for an end to China’s occupation, and denouncing China’s plans to take the Olympic torch into Tibet. Chime Youngdung, President of the National Democratic Party of Tibet, aged 33, along with Konchok Yangphel, Public Relations Officer of Tibetan Youth Congress, aged 29, held up Tibetan flags and a banner reading, “Free Tibet Now,” and started marching the last ten kilometers toward Tibet when they were arrested by Indian border forces. Legdup Tsering, 20, who helped document the incident, was also arrested a few hours later. “We came to demonstrate to China, and to the world, that Tibet belongs to Tibetans and we will never give up in our fight for freedom,” said Chime Youngdung. “We have taken this action today to show our solidarity with our six million Tibetan brothers and sisters who are living under siege and being brutally oppressed by the Chinese authorities.” The protest at the Indo-Tibet border comes just days before the Chinese authorities plan to take the Olympic torch to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital rocked by protests in March, as well as Gormo and Kokonor, areas of Eastern Tibet’s Amdo province (Chinese: Qinghai province) where a majority of the recent protests occurred. After postponing the Tibet leg and refusing to provide details of the new dates and route, Chinese officials announced on Tuesday that the torch will go to Lhasa on Saturday. “The Chinese government is using the Olympic torch as a political tool in an attempt to legitimize its rule in Tibet and the International Olympic Committee has now endorsed this cynical propaganda scheme,” said Konchok Yangphel, who was born in Tibet but fled to India to escape China’s oppression. “Tibetans will keep up our struggle long after the Beijing Olympics have ended, and we will never give up until we stand as free people on Tibetan soil.” The two men detained for protesting at the Indo-Tibet border today are part of the March to Tibet coordinated by five leading Tibetan NGOs that set out from Dharamshala on March 10th – the same day when the most recent uprising throughout Tibet began in the Tibetan capital Lhasa. On June 4th, following a 13-day standoff with hundreds of Indian police at their camp at Baanspatan, 265 Tibetans on the march were arrested at Berinag, approximately 150 kilometers from the Indo-Tibet border area in Uttarakhand state. On June 17th, the final 50 Tibetan marchers were arrested at Dharchula, the last Indian township before the Tibetan border. At 6:30 am today 21 Tibetans were arrested in Reckong Peo in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, located approximately 100 km from the Indo-Tibet border post. The detainees have started a hunger strike in jail, refusing to eat and drink until they are released and allowed to continue the march. Another 10 were arrested in Rampur later in the morning. Yesterday seven others were arrested in Pooh (also spelt Puh) which is the last Indian township before entering Tibet. Pooh is located 35 km from the Indo-Tibet border post at Shipkila. Tibetans living in exile in India launched the March to Tibet as part of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement. On the same day that the march was launched, monks from monasteries in Lhasa, as well as in eastern Tibet, led nonviolent demonstrations, shouting slogans supporting the Dalai Lama and independence for Tibet. Chinese authorities brutally suppressed peaceful protests that continued for days, leading to rioting in the capital and a wave of large public demonstrations that have rippled across the country. The March to Tibet and the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement aim to revive the spirit of the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959, and engage in nonviolent direct action to bring about an end to China’s illegal occupation of Tibet. Contact: Tsewang Rigzin: +91 9805247259 Dr. B Tsering: +91 9418792810 Tsering Choedup: +91 9816486253 / 9418221605

They are delaying their torch relay ceremony to only a day when they were supposed to do it for three days. I wonder what changed their mind? Maybe they heard about our June 18th, Global Day of Action for the torch relay. Maybe they heard that our brave Tibetans inside Tibet will also rise up against the torch ceremony. Whatever it is, it has made China become a lot more careful especially when it comes to media. Either way I know that my Tibetan brothers and sisters in and outside of Tibet will protest on June 21st(Saturday) to let the Chinese Government know that we want “Free Media in Tibet” and “No Torch in Tibet”

 

Love and Rangzen,

Yingsel

This information is from AFP
15 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — China has scrapped its original plans for a three-day Olympic torch relay tour of Tibet and will send the flame there just for one day this weekend, a Beijing Olympic official said Wednesday.

Zhu Jing, a spokeswoman at the Beijing Games organising committee, said the decision to cut short the relay and run it through the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday was taken following last month’s earthquake in Sichuan province.

“Following the earthquake on May 12, BOCOG has announced adjustments to the domestic legs of the torch relay,” Zhu said.

“The Tibet leg of the relay will be on June 21, with the relay taking place in Lhasa.”

The torch was originally scheduled to tour Tibet for three days from June 19 to 21 as part of its long international journey to the Games being hosted by the Chinese capital in August.

The news came as the official Xinhua news agency said foreign tourists would be allowed back into Lhasa “very soon”, quoting the city’s vice mayor Chen Zhichang.

A firm date would be announced after the end of the Tibet leg of the torch relay, it said, but it was unclear whether other parts of the Himalayan region would also be re-opened to foreign travellers.

Tourists were banned following anti-Chinese government riots that erupted in the city on March 14.

Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in a government crackdown on the unrest.

China has reported killing one Tibetan “insurgent” and says “rioters” were responsible for 21 deaths.

The torch is currently travelling through Xinjiang, a largely Muslim region in China’s northwest, on a three-day, four-city tour scheduled to end Thursday.

The stops in Xinjiang and the Tibetan regions of China are regarded as the most sensitive of the domestic relay route, which runs for thousands of miles (kilometres) over three months through every part of the country.

China accuses Muslim separatists in Xinjiang of plotting terrorist attacks on the Games and stepped up security in the region ahead of the relay.

Tibetans are also accused of targeting the Olympics following the crackdown in Lhasa.

Despite the unrest China stuck with its original plan to take the torch relay to the top of Mount Everest on May 8 using a separate flame from the one used on the relay route through the rest of the country.

The ascent took place under tight security and triggered protests from exiled Tibetan groups who said it was a provocation and politicised the torch relay.

China’s rule over Tibet was a major rallying cry for protesters who dogged the torch’s month-long global journey in April before it came here.

Pro-Tibet activists have argued that the leg in Lhasa should be cancelled due to the unrest.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Chinese authorities were using the relay as a propaganda tool and had been carrying out arbitrary arrests to prevent protests during the relay.

“It is irresponsible for the Chinese government to deliberately send a torch into a powder keg, and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and Olympic sponsors should ask Beijing to cancel this part of the relay,” the group said in a statement.

BOCOG said that 50 journalists from 31 news organisations would be allowed to cover the relay in Lhasa, which has been off limits to foreign reporters and tourists since the crackdown.

“We will make proper arrangements for media coverage of the relay in Lhasa,” said Zhu.

She declined to say whether scrapping the original three-day torch leg was connected to security fears in the Himalayan region following the unrest.

“The adjustment to the Tibet leg of the torch relay is because of the earthquake, which has caused us to make several changes to the original route,” said Zhu.

The torch is then due to pass through neighbouring Qinghai, which also has a sizeable ethnic Tibetan community, from Sunday to Tuesday, Xinhua reported, quoting Qinghai Sports Bureau head Feng Jianping.

 It’s amazing how the marchers had all these setbacks yet they never gave up and kept fighting for our country. This gives me pride to be a Tibetan antelope. I keep the marchers in my heart and in my prayers. We all will meet again in a Free Country,Tibet. 

 Tibetan Peoples Uprising Movement                                                                                                                                    Leaders declare March will continue despite temporary setback

Marchers walking through Berinag market

Nainital , June 9 - At approximately 2:30 PM today, the March to Tibet restarted from Berinag after overcoming a temporary setback suffered last week when 265 of the marchers were arrested. The marchers broke into song and joy as they saw the snow-capped Himalayan ranges in the horizon. The leaders of the March, who had been jailed for 11 days in Hardwar jail and released on Sunday June 8th, led a group of 50 Tibetans on what is expected to be the most difficult leg of the march. The five presidents and the March Coordinator had been jailed by Indian police since May 27th, charged under Indian Penal Code Section 151 and CRPC sections 116 and 107.

“China’s long arm is oppressing us even in a free country like India,” said Chime Youngdung, President of the National Democratic Party of Tibet, soon after his release from jail. “The Olympics was supposed to bring more freedom to China and Tibet, but instead China is exporting its oppression to the free world in this Olympic year.”

“India has shown us the highest degree of hospitality for the past 50 years and we are grateful for it,” said Tsewang Rigzin, President of the Tibetan Youth Congress. “But now we want to return to Tibet and work in solidarity with our brothers and sisters back home to end China’s illegal occupation of Tibet.”

The march from Berinag to Tibet is expected to take more than a week during which the 50 marchers will traverse approximately 180 kilometers along the historical Himalayan trade route. They will reach Tibet around the time when China’s controversial Olympic torch is expected to pass through Lhasa. In April, a chain of global protests in London, Paris, San Francisco and New Delhi turned China’s Olympic torch relay into a colossal failure.

“It will be a long and arduous journey to Tibet,” said Shingza Rinpoche, looking at the Panch Chuli mountains in the distance. “But we will get there eventually. Even the Himalayas can’t stand between us and our brothers and sisters inside Tibet.”

The 265 marchers detained at Berinag were dropped off at Paonta Sahib, at the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where they received a warm welcome from the local Tibetan communities.

The March to Tibet started on March 10th from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and reached Banspatan after traversing through many states. Tibetans living in exile in India launched the March to Tibet as part of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement. On the same day that the march was launched, monks from monasteries in Lhasa, as well as in eastern Tibet, led nonviolent demonstrations, shouting slogans supporting the Dalai Lama and independence for Tibet. Chinese authorities brutally suppressed peaceful protests that continued for days, leading to rioting in the capital and a wave of large public demonstrations that have rippled across the country.

The March to Tibet and the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement aim to revive the spirit of the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959, and engage in nonviolent direct action to bring about an end to China’s illegal occupation of Tibet.

This is from the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Demcracy.

TCHRD[Monday, June 09, 2008 19:29] The Chinese security forces severely beat and then arrested a nun of SamtenLing Nunnery in Drango County, Kardze “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture” (’TAP’) Sichuan Province, following her act of defiance by staging a peaceful solo protest in Drango County, by raising pro-Tibet slogans and distributing pamphlets calling for ‘the swift return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “freedom in Tibet”, according to confirmed information received from reliable sources by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).

Tsering Tsomo, 27 years old nun of SamtenLing Nunnery

On 8 June 2008, at around 9:00 AM (Beijing Standard Time), Tsering Tsomo, 27 years old nun of SamtenLing Nunnery a.k.a Watak Nunnery, originally from Chakra Village, Drango County (Ch: Luhuo Xian) Kardze “Tibet Autonomous Prefecture” (’TAP’) staged a peaceful solo protest in Drango County by raising Pro-Tibet slogans and distributing pamphlets calling for “swift return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “freedom in Tibet” among the people. After a short stint of her solo protest, Tsering Tsomo was known to have been surrounded by the security forces and was severely beaten and tortured by pounding her with iron rods, kicked and punched her indiscriminately. The county PSB officials later took her away to the county Detention Centre for further questioning.

The news of Tsering Tsomo’s arrest and torture reached her nunnery. In gesture of solidarity and support calling for her release, at around 5:00 PM, more than two hundred nuns of SamtenLing Nunnery staged a peaceful demonstration and headed towards Drango County headquarters. Before reaching their destination, the security forces stopped the protesting nuns at a place known as Gogaythang from further proceeding with their protest. The security forces used brute force to stop protesters from moving forward. Besides indiscriminate kick and punch, even electric prod and iron rod were used on the peaceful demonstrators, severely injuring scores of them. Ten protesters were seriously injured and were known to have been taken to nearby hospital for treatment. Scores of protesters were detained by the security forces and took away in waiting military trucks to the County Detention Centre. According to source, the family members and relatives of those injured and hospitalized were not allowed to meet their love ones. There is no further information on the current condition of those injured and detained by the Chinese security forces. The Centre is highly concern about the safety of those injured and detained. The Centre has been vigilant on the recent series of protests, arrests, detentions, tortures and disappearance of Tibetans and will continue to monitor the situation particularly in Kardze “TAP” which has witnessed a series of peaceful protests and will update as and when more information surfaces from the area.

Yet in another incident, on 6 June 2008, three monks belonging to different monasteries in Drango County, Kardze “TAP” staged a peaceful protest in front of the county government headquarters, according to confirmed information received by the Centre. The three monks unidentified as Tsewang Dakpa, 22 years old from Jangtha Township, Drango County, Kardze “TAP”, Thupten Gyatso(age unknown) from Tawu County, Kardze “TAP” and Jangsem Nyima, 22 years old from Dzatoe County, Jyekundo (Ch: Yushu/Jiegu) “TAP” Qinghai Province staged a peaceful protest calling for the “quick return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “Freedom in Tibet”. According to eyewitness accounts from the site of the demonstration, three monks were indiscriminately beaten with electric prod, kicked and punch by the Chinese Security forces that all three require urgent medical attention. Tsewang Dakpa in particular sustained multiple and severe injury from the torture that eyewitness recounted slight chances of his survival. They were known to have been critically injured and taken to Drango County hospital for treatment that day.

However, according to the latest information received by the Centre this morning, there has been rumor of Tsewang Dakpa’s death spreading in Drango County following indiscriminate beating suffered at the site of demonstration. However, it cannot be confirmed at the moment. Two other monks were known to have been in critical condition and were shifted to another hospital. There has been no information on their physical condition and current whereabouts following their hospitalization.

TCHRD condemns in strongest terms the Chinese security forces’ brutal use of force on the peaceful Tibetan demonstrators. TCHRD also call upon the PRC government to release all those Tibetans who have been arrested and detained for exercising their fundamental human rights enshrined in the UDHR, constitution and many other international covenants and treaties that she is party to. The government of the PRC should ensure that they are not subjected to further ill treatment and torture which are common features in Chinese administered detention centres and prisons in Tibet.

TCHRD is highly concerned about the safety of those detained and critically injured by the security forces and seeks the support of human rights groups and the international community in securing their early release unconditionally. The Centre deems the case as an outright clampdown on the freedom of opinion and expression in Tibet. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human rights which is a prerequisite to the enjoyment of all human rights. Article 35 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) guarantees “freedom of expression, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.” Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. The Centre calls upon the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo, to intervene on their case and others who were earlier arrested for their peaceful exercise of the fundamental human rights.