Civil society organisations continue to plead to the UN officials to stop the human rights violations in Tibet. They sent a letter on 19 March to the UN Chairperson of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures Gay McDougall to “express concern” in a statement over the present human rights violations in Tibet and seek a fact-finding mission in the region.
Ms. Gay McDougall
Chairperson
Coordination Committee of Special Procedures
Human Rights Council
in the “Tibet Autonomous Region” and other Tibetan areas of China
Dear Ms. McDougall,
We requested a meeting with you this afternoon in view of the massive violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms taking place in “Tibet Autonomous Region” and other Tibetan areas since 10 March after more 20 demonstrations took place to date.
As we remain deeply alarmed by the situation, more than 30 NGOs from Asia have appealed to the President of the Human Rights Council that “it is imperative that the Human Rights Council as the principal human rights organ of the United Nations take urgent measures by convening a special session to address the current situation in China.” We urged the Council to swiftly call upon the Chinese authorities to receive a joint mission of Special Procedures mandate-holders on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution and other relevant mandates such as the Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Special Representative of Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders.
We note with satisfaction that many relevant Special Procedures have been following the situation in Tibet for the past more than 15 years and several even conducted fact-finding missions to the region, including that by the Special Rapporteur on Torture. At the current session of the Council we are encouraged in the reports of many Special Procedures that they continue to intervene on Tibetan cases.
In view of the current human rights crisis in the “Tibet Autonomous Region” and Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan Provinces of China, we appeal to all relevant Special Procedure mandates of the Council to:
- Immediately issue a Joint Statement to express concern on the situation faced by the Tibetan people;
- To seek a joint fact-finding mission to all Tibetan areas of China without further delay.
We thank you for your immediate attention to this appeal.
Sincerely,
Suhas Chakma, Asian Centre for Human Rights, India
Giyoun Kim, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Thailand
Ngawang Choephel, Tibetan UN Advocacy, Switzerland
