European Parliament adopts a resolution on Tibet and the Commission finds Chinese policy in Tibet is inconsistent

Visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the European Parliament. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Elmar Brok MEP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (31 May 2006)

Brussels: Yesterday afternoon after a heated debate with the participation of thirteen Members of the European Parliament, condemning Chinese People’s Armed Police for its brutal murder of an unarmed seventeen year old nun crossing the boarder, the European Parliament adopted unanimously a resolution on Tibet, noting in particular of the incident happened at Nangpa Pass.

The members thanked the Finnish EU Presidency for issuing an official statement condemning the Chinese Government on 20 October 06 and rejected the official Chinese version of the incident as a self defence after seeing the evidence of a video footage filmed by the Romanian TV cameraman, showing the refugees being shot in the back.

Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development reads out a statement on behalf of the European Commission External Relations.

Following is the full text of the statement of the European Commission External Relations and the adopted EP resolution:

The Commission fully shares the concerns expressed by the honourable Members of the Parliament regarding the recent shooting of the China’s People’s Liberation Army of Tibetan refugees at the boarder between the People’s Republic of China and Nepal, the subsequence death of one and the following imprisonment some of these refugees.

The matter has been formally taken up by the EU in the framework of the last session of the EU-China Dialogue on Human Rights held in Beijing on 19 October 06, as rightly mentioned by the Honourable Member from Finland. On that occasion, the EU refuted the claim by China the shooting had been in self-defence, urged the Chinese Government to undertake a thorough investigation of the incident and insisted that the imprisoned refugees to be treated in compliance with international humanitarian standards.

More generally, the Commission is very concerned about the human rights situation in Tibet and in particular, the preservation of the cultural, religious and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people. This issue has been regularly addressed in the framework of the bilateral dialogue on human rights as well as the highest level such as the bilateral summits.

The EU is particularly concerned about the number of Tibetans from religious background, who are in prison on political reasons and has repeatedly asked for their immediate release. Several of these persons are on the lists of individual cases which are regularly submitted to the Chinese authorities on the margins of these dialogues.

The Commission believes that the China’s policy in Tibet is not consistent with the provisions of the International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights. The early ratification by China of this Covenant ranks among the top priorities of the EU in the field of human rights and we have left China in no doubts as to the need to fully respect the spirit of that covenant, once it has been signed and even before it is ratified.

As part of its overall policy vis-ŕ-vis Tibet, the EU has consistently taken the view that establishing a direct dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities was the only realistic way to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the questions of Tibet. We have therefore welcomed and closely monitored the five rounds of talks so far held between the special envoys of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government.

The Commission urges both sides to continue this dialogue and use these talks to try to make a substantive progress.

EP Resolution on Tibet

The European Parliament,

• having regard to its previous resolutions on Tibet and the human rights situation in China,
• having regard to its resolution on EU-China Relations of 7 September 2006,
• having regard to the lack of progress in the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue,
• having regard to the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held in Havana, Cuba between 27 August and 7 September 1990,
• having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights,
• having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
·
• having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

• whereas on 30 September 2006 more than 70 Tibetans were attempting to cross the glaciated Nangpa Pass in the Himalayan region of Tibet, approximately two hours" walk from the Nepalese border, in order to seek refugee status in Nepal,
• whereas against the rule of international law the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (PAP) fired upon those unarmed Tibetan civilians, who included women and children; whereas video and photographic evidence of the incident shows that the Tibetan group was moving slowly away from the Chinese forces firing upon them, did not approach the Chinese forces and did not represent a threat to the Chinese forces,
• whereas Kelsang Namtso, a seventeen-year-old nun, was killed during the shooting by the Chinese PAP; whereas there are unconfirmed eyewitness accounts of more than one death; whereas a group of Tibetans, including children, were arrested after continuing to flee,
• whereas the Chinese State News Agency, Xinhua, has reported an incident in the region as "self-defence" despite video and photographic evidence to the contrary; whereas the Chinese authorities have thus far not officially recognised that the incident at Nangpa Pass took place or that any individual was killed by Chinese forces,
• whereas since September 2002 formal contacts have been re-established between the Chinese authorities and the representatives of the Dalai Lama in order to restore mutual trust and confidence,
• whereas, despite these contacts and the importance attached to the meetings by the central Chinese authorities, there have been frequent cases over the past years of abuses and violations of human rights perpetrated against the Tibetan population, and in particular against Tibetan monks,

1. Condemns the excessive use of force by the Chinese People's Armed Police (PAP) in firing upon unarmed Tibetan civilians, including children;
2. Strongly condemns the killing of an unarmed civilian who, being below 18 years of age, was also considered a child under international law;
3. Expresses its dismay at the imprisonment of Tibetan civilians whereof 9 of them are children;
4. Urges the Chinese authorities to guarantee that the Tibetans detained during the incident will not be ill-treated in detention, and that international human rights and humanitarian law standards are being respected;
5. Urges the Chinese authorities to immediately release all children detained during the incident;
6. Urges the Chinese authorities to conduct a full investigation into the events at Nangpa Pass and ensure that those responsible for any crimes committed there are brought to justice;
7. Calls on the Council and the Commission to closely monitor, through its representations in Nepal, the situation of those Tibetans from the group who have reached Nepal and to make strong representations to the Chinese authorities on this issue within the framework of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue;
8. Calls on the Council and the Commission to reiterate its position that only dialogue between the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Representatives of the Dalai Lama can contribute to a peaceful and sustainable settlement for Tibet that both sides agree upon;
9. Calls on the Government of the PRC to continue the dialogue with the Representatives of the Dalai Lama in order to improve the respect of religious, cultural, linguistic and political rights in the Tibet Autonomous Region;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN Secretary General, the Government of the People's Republic of China.

Bureau de Tibet, Brussels

  (www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.)

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