Tibetan nun shot dead; other Tibetans feared killed on way to Nepal

[Wonk]

International Campaign for Tibet
October 5th, 2006

A Tibetan nun in her mid twenties was shot dead by Chinese border patrols and at least one other Tibetan may have been killed while on their way into exile in Nepal on the Nangpa pass five days ago, according to eyewitness reports. Tibetans traveling with the nun were unable to bring her body, with evident wounds from several rounds of bullets, with them because they feared arrest before entering Nepalese territory. There are reports that up to seven more Tibetans may have been killed after the group was fired upon by Chinese armed personnel, but these could not be confirmed. The incident took place on the glaciated Nangpa Pass at 18,753 ft, just a few kilometres west of Mount Cho Oyu, and was witnessed by a number of international mountaineers at advance base camp, who saw Chinese military personnel kneel down, take aim and open fire on the Tibetans, some of whom were children as young as ten.

One of the climbers summiting Cho Oyu, which is approximately 20 km west of Mount Everest at the border between Tibet and Nepal, said in an email communication by satellite that the shooting happened in the early morning of September 30: "I saw a line of Tibetans heading towards the start of the pass - a common sight. Then, without warning, shots rang out. Over, and over and over. Then the line of people started to run uphill. Watching the line snake off through the snow, as the shots rang out, we saw two shapes fall. The binoculars confirmed it: two people were down, and they weren't getting up."

(snip)

There were more than 10 large expeditions at Cho Oyu at the time of the shooting on Saturday, and one source estimated that as many as 100 people could have witnessed the shooting on September 30.

(snip)

International law requires that the use of firearms by border patrols be done only as a last resort and when life is at risk. Reports indicate that the Chinese border patrols' use of force in this case was both unlawful and disproportionate. The International Campaign for Tibet calls upon the United States and other members of the international community to make official complaints to the Chinese government condemning its flagrant violation of human rights which resulted in the shooting and at least one death.



Much more at these links.
http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1036
http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15149

[Wonk]

1. Update: more climbers speak out about what they saw

http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15159

(MountEverest.net) Romanian Alex Bagan summited Cho Oyu on October 2

(snip)

“While I was up the mountain, pursuing my personal dream, other people were trying to pursue theirs...some 80 tibetan people were trying to cross Nangpa La into Nepal and from there to Dharamsala, India, on a pilgrimage to see the Dalai Lama,” reported Alex. “They were men, women and children, barely wearing decent winter clothes. After an actual human hunt, 8 of them won’t live to see their dream fulfilled. They have been killed in cold blood by the Chinese militia after a snitch between them. This happened in front of many expedition teams. The dead were simply buried in the glacier and left there without any memorial symbol.”

”Big expedition outfitters like HiMex, Jagged Globe, Adventure Consultants or Alpine Ascents will never speak about that. Otherwise they will be banned from the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. And this will mean no more bucks for them anymore. And they don't want that, of course. It has indeed nothing to do with the spirit of mountaineering (which has been lost in those commercial outfits) but with the basic human values.”

”China, a country to host the Olympic Games in 2008, is slaughtering its citizens.”

”I've been here, I saw that: Tibet is a country under communist occupation. Tibetans are slowly losing their identity – which is exactly what Chinese intend. Tibetans are treated as a sub-human race in their own country. If one speaks or wears upon a portrait of the Dalai Lama, one is put in jail.”

more
http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15159

[sui generis]

9. ”China,[...]host the Olympic Games in 2008, is slaughtering its citizens.

. . . the sick part is hearing some fuckwad of a soldier who knows that what he did was wrong lie to cover up the fact that he thought that picking off helpless humans was a good thing to do to pass the time.

There is something broken in those brains.

[otherlander]

2. kick

[Wonk]

3. Another climber reports in, with pictures.

Cho Oyu Base Camp

more
http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15167

[Wonk]

7. Chinese border guards: "We killed in self-defence"

(MountEverest.net) China admits to the Nangpa La shootings but claims self-defense. A Xinhua report quoted by AP said that the people trying to cross the border attacked the soldiers, who were then "forced to defend themselves." One person was reported killed and 2 were injured, including one who died later of altitude sickness.

(snip)

Mountaineers forced rare response?

The Times writes that such an official confirmation is rare and that the government in the restive region of Tibet may have felt forced to respond by mountaineers' witness statements.

The Times also writes that the official version did not clarify why armed border guards, who are often equipped with semi-automatic rifles, would need to shoot to defend themselves in a country where firearms are banned among civilians.

The refugees were mostly kids led by a young nun who was shot dead and a number of young adults. Out of the group of 70 people, 40 escaped but 30 still remain unaccounted for.

more
http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15177
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2401899,00.html

[Wonk]

8. New report: Video proves the Chinese are lying about that.

http://www.protv.ro/filme/imagini-n-exclusivitate-din-himalaya-cu-execu-ia-unui-tibetan.html#4200
http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?news=15182

[Vidar]

4. Not unlike what we did to the Indians--very sad.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. When... will? it ever end.

The answers are here. They're in everyone. All we have to do is accept it.

[Mnemosyne]

6. Free Tibet! Oh wait,

they never joined the UN which rendered their suffering invisible to the rest of the world; except China@.


This is hysterically ironic - "make official complaints to the Chinese government condemning its flagrant violation of human rights" - two words; Tiananmen Square.


On edit - Please excuse my snarkiness, just so disgusted that the world has ignored Tibet for so long simply because they never felt the need to join a group.

Terrible incident, one of many.

[Jamastiene]

10. From what I have heard, the Tibetans are a peaceful loving bunch

of people. If that is so, and I believe it to be so, this is sad news. My heart goes out to them.