TCHRD’s call to end enforced disappearances in Tibet on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, TCHRD stands in solidarity with the victims and families of those who have been subjected to unlawful, Chinese state-sanctioned repression through enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, beatings, torture, and inhuman treatment merely based on one’s own religious beliefs or cultural identity.
The Chinese government has flagrantly overlooked its consistent human rights violations and, in direct deflection of international criticism of its human rights records, has covertly legalised enforced disappearances through amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law. During the March 2012 annual session, China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), approved changes that facilitated the continued use of enforced disappearances to target critics of government policies. Article 73 of the revised law authorises the secret detention of Tibetans charged with vague, trumped-up charges, ‘legally’ allowing the Chinese state to suppress dissent and criticism by detaining Tibetans deemed threats to the People’s Republic of China’s unity and stability.
Due to the stringent controls on information flow, including censorship and the Great Firewall, even limited official statistics reveal an alarming estimate: between 53,000 and 90,000 individuals were subjected to Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) from 2013 to 2021. Tibetans continue to endure severe oppression and disappearances, and China shows no signs of halting its repressive practices. Instead, the human rights situation has worsened, with China aiming to erode Tibetan identity through the sinicisation of Tibetan religion by infusing it with Communist elements, depriving Tibetan children of education in their native language, and tearing apart Tibetan society and families through trumped-up charges and collective punishments, all amounting to gross human rights violations.
Over the past four years, TCHRD has documented more than 63 known cases of Tibetans subjected to enforced disappearance in Tibet. The relatively low number of registered cases highlights a disturbing trend of underreporting, which is often associated with fear of reprisals.
In February this year, Tibetan singer Gegjom disappeared hours after the police summoned him to the local police station following his performance of a song titled ‘Peaceful Deluge of a Sorrowful Song’ that echoed common grievances held by the Tibetans against Chinese rule in Tibet.
The following month, Tibetan monk Pema from Kirti Monastery was arbitrarily detained and subjected to incommunicado detention by the local Public Security Bureau Officers for simply staging a peaceful solo protest by holding a portrait of the Dalai Lama on the stretch of a road known to the local Tibetans as “martyrs’ road” in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County. Local witnesses reported hearing Pema shout slogans calling for the “Return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “Religious Freedom in Tibet,” among others. Following this incident, Chinese security forces allegedly intensified their control and restrictions in Ngaba County, especially in the village of Soruma and the Kirti Monastery, and there has been no information on his current whereabouts.
Expressing concern about China’s widespread use of enforced disappearances against human rights defenders, particularly in Tibet, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (UN WGEID) highlighted in its annual report on 26 July 2024 that a request to visit China was made on 19 February 2013, with multiple reminders sent up until 12 March 2020 which China continuously disregarded. Additionally, any visit permitted by the Chinese state to Tibet would be subject to extensive surveillance, monitoring, and prior orchestration.
The United Nations and civil societies around the world must urgently press China to end all forms of enforced disappearances and to create conducive conditions for victims and their family members to pursue truth, justice and repatriation. The Chinese government must ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance without any delay.
