Exile Tibetan administration appeals UNHRC to hold Special Session on Tibet

Phayul[Saturday, November 03, 2012 18:42]

Thubwang Kyab, 23, sets himself ablaze on the main street of Sangkog town in Sangchu on October 26, 2012 protesting China's continued occupation of Tibet. Thubwang Kyab succumbed to his injuries at the protest site. The exile Tibetan administration has made an open appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council to convene a Special Session on Tibet in light of the deteriorating human rights situation inside Tibet, heralded by the ongoing wave of self-immolations. The Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration in a release today appealed to the 47-member states of the UNHRC to convene a special session on Tibet in view of the “desperate and unprecedented spate of self-immolations by Tibetans due to China’s repressive policies and the continued intransigence of the Chinese leadership to the relentless efforts of UNHRC.” The appeal comes a day after the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged China to “promptly address the longstanding grievances that have led to an alarming escalation in desperate forms of protest, including self-immolations, in Tibetan areas.” Pillay said she was disturbed by "continuing allegations of violence against Tibetans seeking to exercise their fundamental human rights," and urged China to allow independent and impartial monitors to visit and assess the actual conditions on the ground, and to lift restrictions on media access to the region, as a confidence-building measure.  The elected head of the Tibetan people Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay today said the CTA is “encouraged” by Pillay’s powerful statement and considered the statement as “true recognition of the urgent and tragic situation in Tibet.” The critical situation inside Tibet had received attention during the 21st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council held this September in Geneva at the behest of numerous countries, the European Union, and NGOs. While the EU said it remains “seriously concerned” about ongoing reports of human rights violations in China, the US accused Beijing of silencing dissent through arrests, convictions, forced disappearances, and extralegal detentions. The Human Rights Council last held a Special Session on June 1 on the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria, making it the Council’s nineteenth Special Session and its fourth Special Session on Syria. In order for a Special Session to be convened, the support of one-third of the membership of the Council (16 members or more) is required. 62 known Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in Tibet, protesting China’s continued occupation and demanding freedom and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. The month of October alone witnessed ten self-immolation protests.