China jails 17 over Tibet riots

BBC[Tuesday, April 29, 2008 16:10]

A court in Tibet has jailed 17 people for taking part in riots in the capital Lhasa last month, Chinese state media has said.

The prison terms are reported to range from three years to life.

Anti-China protests led by Buddhist monks began in Lhasa on 10 March and gradually escalated into rioting.

China says at least 19 people were killed by the rioters - but Tibetan exiles say that nearly 100 were killed by the Chinese security forces.

A court in Lhasa handed down the verdicts at an "open trial" attended by more than 200 people, including Buddhist monks, medical workers and "masses from all walks of life", state television reported.

"Arson"

Seven schools, five hospitals and more than 100 homes were set on fire in the violence, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

The court said that one of the two men sentenced to life imprisonment had been convicted of "arson and disrupting public services." It said the other had attacked fire engines and police stations and assaulted firemen.

Chinese authorities have blamed the Dalai Lama for orchestrating the unrest in an attempt to sabotage this summer's Beijing Olympics and promote Tibetan independence. He has strongly denied this.

The European Parliament has urged EU leaders to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, unless China starts talks with the Dalai Lama.

On Friday Beijing announced it would resume talks with his representatives. But it says the details of the contact "have still to be discussed".

Tibet and the surrounding provinces where the protests took place have been closed to foreigners since the unrest.

It is unclear how many people are facing prosecution across China for their role in the rioting.

Den norske TIBET-komité

Den norske Tibet-komité er en partipolitisk uavhengig, landsomfattende organisasjon som er dannet for å arbeide for tibetanernes rettigheter. Tibet-komitéen ble stiftet våren 1989 og har ca 1500 medlemmer. Det finnes tilsvarende støtte-organisasjoner for Tibet over hele verden. Den norske Tibet-komité er en av de største og mest aktive. Våren 1994 arrangerte vi i Norge en konferanse for de europeiske støttegruppene.

Norge og nordmenn har fått en spesiell stilling blant tibetanere etter at deres religiøse og politiske leder, Dalai Lama, i 1989 mottok Nobels fredspris. Flere av de tibetanerne som kom til Norge på 60-tallet, bor her fortsatt, og de er aktive i komitéen. Våren 1996 begynte radiostasjonen Voice of Tibet med sendinger til Tibet, og Norge har igjen styrket sin posisjon i tibetanernes bevissthet.

Tibet ble okkupert av Kina i 1950, og tibetanernes situasjon blir stadig forverret. Fundamentale menneskerettigheter brytes, og den rike tibetanske kulturen står nå i fare for å bli utslettet.

Den norske Tibet-komité har som formål å:

• Få norske myndigheter til anerkjenne Tibet som et okkupert land
  
• Informere om brudd på menneskerettigheter, økonomisk utbytting og diskriminering av tibetanere
  
• Gjøre Tibets rike kultur kjent i Norge