Dharamshala: - The Central Tibetan Administration condemned China's dismissal of the recent UN statement on Tibet as interference in its internal affairs, and its allegations that the Tibetan leadership is behind the current protests in Tibet. "The blame and solution for the present tragedy in Tibet lies entirely with Beijing.
"We welcome representatives of the Chinese government as well as that of any independent international body to investigate these allegations by visiting our offices in Dharamshala, India" states Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the democratically-elected leader of the Tibetan people and political successor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
"We applaud, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay's, urging to the Chinese government to "promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas." As noted by Pillay, China should accept "the 12 outstanding requests for official visits to China by UN Special Rapporteurs on various human rights issues." Like Hon. Gary Locke, U.S. Ambassador to China, we urge other ambassadors and members of the press to visit Tibetan areas and investigate the present human rights situation.
Six more Tibetans set themselves on fire across Tibet since Wednesday, November 7th, taking the total number of self-immolations to 69. Almost all the self-immolators belong to the generation brought up since China's occupation of Tibet which began in 1949.
The Central Tibetan Administration affirms that the reasons for the self-immolations are self-evident: political repression, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation. Chinese leaders selected during the 18th Party Congress must recognize that China's hardline policies in Tibet have utterly failed and only through dialogue can a peaceful and lasting solution be found. "We firmly believe that an end to repression will effectively end the cycle self-immolation" says Dr. Sangay.
