Tibet

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Fifteenth Session (September 2010)

Item 2: General Debate – Opening Statement of High Commissioner for Human Rights

Statement by Mr. Tenzin S. KAYTA on behalf of

Society for Threatened Peoples / Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker

Mr. President,

We welcome that the High Commissioner’s Opening Statement to this session of the Council has highlighted the challenges that human rights defenders are facing today in many countries, including in totalitarian states and conflict regions. To recall, the High Commissioner stated: «The curtailment of civil society’s scope of action and social activism with ad hoc laws or other restrictive measures in countries such as Bahrain, Belarus, China, Egypt, Libya, Panama, Syria, and Tunisia is disturbing.‘

Mr. President,

Human rights defenders’ movement is growing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), despite the great challenges, pressures and restrictions they face are immense. With regard to registration of NGO in China, Chinese delegate this morning said that NGO can register according to laws. However, the reality on the ground is, according to Yu Fangqing, a Chinese lawyer and rights advocate described the situation as « Because of the rigorous administration of NGOs, only those with government background are able to register. Some NGOs – such as Disabled Persons‘ Federation, Women’s Federation, National Labor Union, etc. – all have governmental background. These organizations are called „GONGO“ in China. Some of the staff of these NGOs are even on the government payroll. These „GONGOs“ have long monopolized the philanthropic resources of China, including their funding, human resources, social trust …»

Mr. President, in joining the High Commissioner’s call that the Human Rights Council and the international community «to support squarely and vocally human rights defenders,» we wish to alert the Council about a recent case of a Tibetan environment defender whose work was once much acknowledged and paraded by the Chinese authorities, including at UN conferences.

Karma Samdup, aged 42, a prominent businessman, environmentalist and respected philanthropist known as the „King of Heavenly Beads” is today serving a 15-year sentence for a charge that was dropped by the Chinese authorities in 1988. He is the founder of the Snowlands Three Rivers Environmental Protection Group. He told the court that he had been severely tortured in detention but the judge dismissed his testimony as „irrelevant.”[1] Karma Samdup’s wife in a blog described his physical condition as: «… I just didn’t recognise him. How could his tall and upright body become thin and small? The body that passed me looked like one of a slim and fragile college student. » [2]

Mr. President,

A striking part of Karma Samdup’s case is that within a year, six members (three brothers and three cousins, all male) of a single family were arrested, sentenced, and reportedly tortured. Four are serving prison or „re-education through labor” sentences and the whereabouts of two remain unknown.[3]

In conclusion, Mr. President, we urge the Chinese authorities to end the arrest, harassment and violence against human rights defenders and Tibetan Intellectuals; to take into account the High Commissioner’s statement; to implement the recommendation put forward by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and that by the Committee Against Torture.

Thank you, Mr. President.