Refworld Case Law Collection Survey
China: Two Tibetan women stage protest in Ngaba town
| Publisher | Radio Free Asia |
| Publication Date | 16 November 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Asia, China: Two Tibetan women stage protest in Ngaba town, 16 November 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5848120dc.html [accessed 3 January 2017] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
2016-11-16
Two Tibetan women in Ngaba carry photos of the Dalai Lama in a public protest, Nov. 16, 2016. Photo sent by an RFA listener
Holding up photos of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, two young Tibetan women staged a protest in Sichuan's Ngaba town on Nov. 15 challenging Beijing's rule in Tibetan areas, according to information received by RFA's Tibetan Service.
The two women are shown in a video clip, copies of which were sent on Tuesday to RFA and to exile Tibetan news services, walking on a main road near Kirti monastery in Ngaba's (in Chinese, Aba's) county seat and calling out "Long live the Dalai Lama."
The women's identities and present whereabouts are still unknown, and RFA could not immediately reach other sources in the region for confirmation.
In a statement released on Nov. 16, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said that two India-based Kirti monks with contacts in Ngaba had not heard if the two women were detained.
"But we know that the local authorities in Ngaba have never ever spared any peaceful demonstrators in the streets since 2008," the two monks said, quoted by ICT.
"Even on the remote chance that they weren't arrested at the time, armed forces would be deployed to hunt down those protesters."
"Tensions are still very high in Ngaba," they said.
Ngaba town has been the scene of repeated self-immolations and other protests by monks, former monks, and nuns opposed to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas.
Authorities raided Ngaba's Kirti monastery in 2011, taking away hundreds of monks and sending them for "political re-education," while local Tibetans who sought to protect the monks were beaten and detained, sources said in earlier reports.
Reported by Lhuboom for RFA's Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Link to original story on RFA website
