Recognise Tibet as occupied nation, G-20 countries urged

Dharamsala, September 8

Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Speaker of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, has written to the leaders of G-20 nations to bring their attention to Tibet. It has made a 10-point appeal to the leaders of G-20 nations being hosted by India in New Delhi.

The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile has urged the G-20 nations to recognise Tibet as an occupied nation with its own independent and sovereign past. It has also urged the G-20 nations to desist from endorsing China’s false narrative by labelling Tibetans as a minority, referring to Tibet’s occupation as an internal issue of Beijing, and proclaiming Tibet as a part of China, thereby aiding China’s colonisation of Tibet and the subjugation of Tibetans.

The G-20 nations should call on the People’s Republic of China to re-engage in a substantive dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama without preconditions to resolve the Tibet-China conflict through the middle way policy of seeking genuine and meaningful autonomy within the framework of the China’s constitution, the letter stated.

It called upon the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to launch scientific research studies on the Chinese government’s policies of exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources and its negative impact on global climate change.

Pressure should be exerted on China to ensure access to independent human rights organisations to monitor and report on the human rights situation, and likewise extend standing invitations to UN Special Rapporteurs, in particular those focusing on freedoms of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, and human rights defenders, facilitating their visits to Tibet as soon as possible, the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile said in the letter.

It also urged the Chinese government to unconditionally release all Tibetan political prisoners, including Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, whose whereabouts and well being remains unknown since May 17, 1995.

It urged the G-20 nations to place the human rights situation in Tibet in the context of the nature of the Tibet-China conflict as international and unresolved. World leaders should join in displaying concern over human rights violations and religious repression in Tibet and urge the governments to adopt a Magnitsky Act to put Chinese officials on the national list of sanctions.

It also urged the G-20 nations to call upon China to end forced relocations and the colonial boarding school system, and cessation of mass DNA collection of Tibetans in Tibet.