Written evidence submitted by Free Tibet
Campaign
Free Tibet Campaign stands for the Tibetans'
right to determine their own future. It campaigns for an end to
the Chinese occupation of Tibet and for the Tibetans' fundamental
human rights to be respected. It is independent of all governments
and is funded by its members and supporters.
RECOMMENDATION 1
Make a public commitment to promote direct contact
between Hu Jintao and the Dalai Lama in the course of all bilateral
contacts and multilateral fora involving China
— The UK and EU should aim to secure
from China an undertaking to drop all pre-conditions to negotiating
a settlement on Tibet with representatives of the Dalai Lama,
and should promote the inclusion of all areas with Tibetan autonomous
status, as designated by China, in any negotiations.
— The UK should develop a set of criteria
that will allow the EU to evaluate the progress of formal contact
between China and the Tibetan Government in exile. The UK should
ask by what criteria China assesses the progress of these talks,
and how they decide when future meetings will take place.
— The UK should encourage the Chinese
government to refrain from personal attacks against the Dalai
Lama or his attempts to reach a negotiated solution, since these
only serve to undermine any advancement that might be made as
part of the dialogue process. Whilst the Tibetan Government in
exile is placing great emphasis on the dialogue as the best means
to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Tibet issue, and exercising
great diplomacy in its communication about the dialogue, there
has been no reciprocal effort on China's part.
— The EU should appoint a Special Representative
for Tibetan Affairs to facilitate dialogue in order to resolve
the long-standing issue of Tibet.
Background to formal contact between China and
the Tibetan Government in exile
Summary: Formal contact between the exiled Tibetan
leader and China re-opened in 2002, following a decade of stalemate.
Tibetan envoys and their aides have visited Beijing and Tibetan
areas on three occasions since September 2002 and a fourth meeting
took place in July this year in Berne, Switzerland. There is,
however, little indication so far that Chinese leaders are genuine
in wishing to work towards real negotiations; a cynical interpretation
is that these visits are a political expediency to silence critics
of China's Tibet policy. The meeting between Tony Blair and Hu
Jintao during the State Visit is a major opportunity to persuade
China to authenticate the talks as a valid process, and a request
that Hu Jintao (with his background in Tibet) meets the Dalai
Lama, would be the single most effective way of breaking down
the distrust of the Dalai Lama's moderate position.
Although both sides have indicated that the
talks are considered constructive and should continue, China's
pre-conditions to substantive negotiations still stand. These
are:
(a) The Dalai Lama must abandon his
claim for the independence of Tibet and stop all "splittist"
activities. (This he has done for the last decade.)
(b) The Dalai Lama must openly recognise
Tibet as an inalienable part of China.
(c) The Dalai Lama must recognise Taiwan
as one of China's provinces.
(d) The Dalai Lama must recognise the
government of the People's Republic of China as the country's
sole legitimate representative.
Background to proposal for Special Representative
for Tibetan Affairs
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly called on the
EU to appoint an EUSR for Tibet, following the move by the US
Administration to appoint a Tibet Special Co-ordinator in 1997.
An EUSR for Tibet would add another dimension to dialogue between
the EU and China outside the already existing human rights mechanisms.
The appointment of an EUSR for Tibet would demonstrate the EU's
interest in the political dimension of the Tibet problem and would
be a practical way to help implement EU policy objectives.
Note: There was an attempt to achieve consensus
over the appointment of an EU Special Co-ordinator for Tibet during
2002. The UK appeared to be supportive, but the initiative appears
to have been blocked by EU Ambassadors in Beijing. It is time
for the matter to be discussed again. In the meantime the EU should
mandate Javier Solana's Personal Representative for Human Rights,
Michael Matthiessen, to dedicate a significant proportion of his
time to promoting dialogue between Tibet and China.
RECOMMENDATION 2
Adopt a Priority Initiative to eradicate Torture
in Tibet
(Note: Chinese officials have said that torture
would be at the top of the Procuratorate's list of priorities
for 2006.)
— The UK should extract clear commitments
from China concerning their proposals to address torture. Specifically
to consistently outlaw the use of torture to extract "confessions"
from detainees.
— China to properly implement the Convention
against Torture, which it ratified in 1988, and withdraw its reservations
to the Convention (in which it does not recognise the competence
of the Committee against Torture, as provided for in Article 20).
— The UK to secure from China an agreement
to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against
Torture (CAT) which allows unannounced visits to prisons and other
institutions of concern. In the interim, for China to allow all
UN Special Representatives and Working Groups unhindered access
to Tibet to investigate human rights concerns. China should guarantee
that a visit by Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture,
will take place this year (the visit was cancelled in 2004 but
is thought to be planned for November 2005.)
Additionally
— Reforms that China should carry out
include:
— Ensuring that all detainees are granted
immediate access to lawyers, family, friends and medical personnel
within 24 hours of arrest.
— Introducing a training programme for
police and prison personnel in Tibet, in order to eradicate the
use of torture and ill-treatment.
— Institute a system for prisoners to report
incidences of torture, and a procedure for investigating and prosecuting
those who commit acts of torture.
Background to Torture in Tibet
Despite China being a signatory to the Convention
Against Torture, torture remains endemic in prisons and detention
centres throughout China and Tibet. In January 2005 a suspended
death sentence against Tibetan religious leader Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche
was commuted to life imprisonment. The case against Tenzin Deleg,
who was accused of "splittist activities" and taking
part in "causing explosions", has never been made public,
but was based on a "confession" by his co-accused, Lobsang
Dhondup. Dhondup publicly withdrew this confession, alleging he
had been tortured. Dhondup was executed in January 2003.
Successive United Nations Special Rapporteurs
on Torture have made considerable efforts to visit China and Tibet,
but China refused to agree to the terms of such a visit until
2004. China then asked that the visit be postponed. It will finally
take place later this month (November 2005).
RECOMMENDATION 3
Reinvigorate efforts to gain access to the 11th
Panchen Lama of Tibet, who has been in "protective"
custody for ten years
Background to the case of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima
The 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet is a 16 year-old
boy, called Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. He and his family were abducted
on 17 May 1995, two days after the Dalai Lama officially recognised
him as the reincarnation of the much-loved 10th Panchen Lama,
who had died in 1989. Despite repeated requests by national governments
and the United Nations, no foreigner has been permitted to visit
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima or his parents, to establish their well-being.
China maintains that that family remain in custody at their own
request.
In September 2005 China must report to the United
Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child, and will be expected
to respond to concerns raised about the Panchen Lama.
RECOMMENDATION 4
Timelines must be introduced against the benchmarks
for the EU/China Human Rights Dialogue
— Objectives for the Dialogue should
be publicly linked to a timeframe for compliance by China. The
objectives should be specific and should relate to action by China,
rather than merely agreements to talk about an issue, provide
information or accept visits from partners. Additionally:
— Dialogue should be conducted by high-level
officials on both sides and include Ministerial exchanges. The
UK should support the creation of a permanent secretariat in the
EU to oversee the dialogue and ensure better continuity.
— Evaluation of the UK/China Human Rights
Dialogue should be undertaken by Parliament. Regular evaluations
should incorporate submissions by NGOs. 2007 will be the tenth
anniversary of the UK's own dialogues with China, and this important
yardstick offers an opportunity for a substantive review. However,
no sensible review is possible unless there are timeframes of
against the UK's benchmarks (see above).
— Specific criteria should be articulated
for the circumstances under which dialogue would be suspended
or terminated. The continuation of dialogue at any cost should
be abandoned as an operating principle.
— Dialogue sessions should include independent
social groups, experts, scholars, lawyers and other individuals.
NGOs should be self-selecting and be guaranteed the right of free
expression. Dialogue partners should try to encourage the Chinese
government to engage in dialogue domestically, rather than only
internationally.
— The dialogue should strengthen the authority
of UN human rights standards and mechanisms rather than undermining
them. (The EU—including UK—erroneously still appears
to regard the dialogue as being incompatible with critical resolutions
at the Commission for Human Rights.)
RECOMMENDATION 5
Tony Blair, members of his government must raise
with Hu Jintao Chinese leaders regularly the need to take urgent
steps towards freedom of the media, which has yet to improve despite
the promises made in 2001 by the Beijing 2008 Olympic bid Committee.
The UK Government should further commit to a special initiative,
in tandem to its planned cultural exchanges, that will secure
a negotiated settlement for Tibet and improve human rights in
China before the Beijing Games of 2008.
RECOMMENDATION 6
FCO must make efforts to introduce strong human
rights elements in trade and business relations with China. In
particular, Trade Ministers and business leaders must ensure that
all future business deals with China adhere to an agreed code
of corporate principles, including protecting individuals who
are exercising freedom of speech in China. In April Chinese journalist
Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison after Yahoo! in Hong
Kong provided China with information about his use of a private
email account to send details abroad about an internal government
memo concerning the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Alison Reynolds
Director
Free Tibet Campaign
7 November 2005
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