Dharamshala — The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has published a report on its "2024 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in Tibet" and a report on "If Gyalmo Ngulchu Could Feel: Crimes Against Humanity in Driru". They stated that the Chinese white paper claims that "Tibet is a paradise", but this is not true, Tibet is a hell, and we can prove it by the reports.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) released two reports on April 4, 2025, at Norbu House, Mcleod Ganj, Dharamshala, HP, India. One was the "2024 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in Tibet" and the other was a report on "If Gyalmo Ngulchu Could Feel: Crimes Against Humanity in Driru", Driru is a County, in Kham Region of eastern Tibet, but Chinese government divided it into so called Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).
They also organised a pannel discussion on the situation in Driru and how the people of Driru have protested against the Communist Chinese from 1958 to 2022, particularly in 1958 and in 2013 by large numbers of Tibetans against the illegal occupation of Tibet and the oppressive policies in Tibet. The speakers were Tsering Tsomo, Director of Research at the TCHRD, Kunchok Rinchen, lawyer, Tenzin Kalden, independent researcher, and Lobsang Tendar, Vice-President of RTYC France, and Tenzin Thinley, researcher at the TCHRD, who moderated the discussion.
Tsering Tsomo said that the Chinese government has recently published a whitepaper on Tibet in which it claims that Tibetans in the TAR are living happily and stably.But in reality this is not what it claims. Driru is the TAR and this report on Driru clearly shows how Tibetans have been and are being oppressed, detained, arrested, tortured and killed by the Chinese authorities in the region. In the space of three months in 2013, the Chinese authorities arrested, tortured and killed 1300 Tibetans, which constitutes a crime against humanity. It is our responsibility to reveal the facts about the real situation in Driru County.
Tenzin Kalden explained how Tibetans in Driru protested against the Communist Chinese when they invaded their home in 1958 and how they entered Four Rivers, Six Ganges (Chushi Gangdruk), Tibetan freedom fighters who fought against the so-called Chinese liberation army in 1959. "At that time 46 Tibetans were shot in front of their own families in one place and the Chinese army let the family members to dance while they were killed, all horrible things done to Tibetans," he said.
Lobsang Tendar said that Driru is an example, that these events have occurred in all three regions of Tibet, Tibetans have been killed, arrested, tortured and imprisoned for years simply for protesting against the CCP's repressive policies in Tibet. He urges the Central Tibetan Administrations, members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Tibetan activists and freedom fighters to consider this report as evidence of the Chinese government's inhumane treatment of Tibetans and to show the leaders and people of the world when they will advocate for Tibet in the future and let the world know the true situation in Tibet.
Kunchok Rinchen explains that they started writing this report four years ago, but it was very difficult to get information from Driru. The Chinese government claims that Tibetans in the TAR are living happily and stably, but Driru is hell. The Chinese police have arrested a large number of people in Driru, but because of the tight flow of information, it is difficult to know exact number, but one told me said that 600 Tibetans were in a cell in Drapchi Prison, the number one prison or the biggest prison in Tibet, so how many Tibetans were arrested and tortured, even killed, many fathers of my friends were killed by the Chinese police, this is the reality in Tibet. This is a crime against humanity, and I call on the Tibetan government and Tibetan organizations to sue the Chinese government for the crimes against Tibetans in Tibet and especially in Driru.
They then inaugurated the report entitled “If Gyalmo Ngulchu could feel: Crimes against humanity in Driru”. The 89-page report “If Gyalmo Ngulchu Could Feel: Crimes Against Humanity in Driru” details the widespread and systematic human rights violations committed by the Chinese authorities in Driru between 2012 and 2022. The report provides extensive evidence of crimes against humanity, including persecution, arbitrary detention, torture and extrajudicial killings, which are part of a state-directed policy to suppress Tibetan resistance and identity.
The report highlights the violent crackdown that began on 28 September 2013, when local Tibetans in Diru dumped five-starred Chinese flags into the Gyalmo Ngulchu (Nujiang/Salween) river in protest against a coercive flag-flying campaign. The campaign sought to force Tibetans to hoist Chinese flags on their rooftops-traditionally reserved for prayer flags-under threats of denial of education, healthcare, state subsidies, and economic opportunities. When Tibetans resisted, security forces responded with aggressive force, arbitrary detentions, and torture, and deadly force, leading to a complete security lockdown in the region.
On October 6, 2013, Chinese security forces opened fire on unarmed Tibetan protesters, injuring at least 60 people, including four critically wounded individuals. This was followed by mass arrests, severe restrictions on movement and communication, and long-term punitive measures against Tibetans accused of dissent. Tibetans in exile remain cut off from their families, with those in Driu banned from contacting relatives abroad under threats of imprisonment and persecution.
The report also exposes the long-term socio-economic and cultural devastation caused by these policies including forced separation of families and mass surveillance leading to psychological trauma and social fragmentation; suppression of Tibetan language education undermining cultural preservation; and economic exploitation including restrictions on the harvesting of the prized yartsa gunbu (cordyceps fungus), a major livelihood source. Despite these overwhelming human rights violations, China has never conducted any investigation into the abuses in Driru. Since China is not a party to the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court (ICC) cannot intervene, but the international community still has avenues to hold perpetrators accountable.
TCHRD states, "the findings in this report make it clear that the situation in Driru is a human rights crisis that demands immediate international attention. The ongoing persecution and repression of Tibetans must not be ignored."
