Dharamshala: - Political prisoners in Tibet are “frequently subject to torture, beatings, and denial of medical care,” an exiled Tibetan rights group Saturday said, adding that “137 Tibetans were either detained or sentenced in 2014” alone.
“Despite the promised reforms, the human rights situation in Tibet is continuing to deteriorate,” Ms Tsering Tsomo, head of Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) told reporters at a press conference in Dharamshala, India, on February 7, 2015 to launch their 2014 annual report.
According to the Human Rights group, that there are currently “2,110 known political prisoners” in Tibet, including “137 Tibetans who were either detained or sentenced in 2014.”
“In all three areas the treatment of Tibetans has deteriorated substantially,” the group said while highlighting “death in detention, collective punishment, and restrictions on the right to freedom of assembly and association.”
“Tibetan prisoners are frequently subject to torture, beatings, and denial of medical care. In 2014, an increasing number of Tibetans died because of their treatment in detention,” Ms Tsomo said.
“The PRC expanded the scope of its punishment of Tibetans by announcing that entire families and villages would be punished if there was a self-immolation protest or a person attended religious festivals,” she said.
“Tibetans who protested against arbitrary arrests or illegal mining in Tibet faced violent reprisals for exercising their right to freedom of assembly,” she added.
The report also said that the “health care in Tibetan areas is worse than almost anywhere else in the PRC. Similarly, Tibetans receive less school and that schooling is generally ineffective and inefficient.”
Responding to the PRC’s claims that it has improved life in Tibet, the 206-page report stated that “education and heath care for Tibetan has fallen behind other parts of the PRC.”
TCHRD is a non-governmental organisation based in Dharamshala. It says their annual reports address the violations of civil and political rights of Tibetans inside Tibet, including the right to economic social and cultural rights.
