tibet news - 15/01/10

TibetInfoNet - www.tibetinfonet.net
News Digest 02. Jan 2010 - 15. Jan 2010
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- 2 Tibetan nuns sentenced in Kardze
- Six years for Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen
- China withdraws films in protest over Dalai Lama documentary
- The Dalai Lama defends his stance on Shugden worship
- Two Machu schools shut down
- Man from Ngaba sentenced to 6 years
- US to protest to China over Google

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05. Jan 2010
2 Tibetan nuns sentenced in Kardze
(VOT) Dartsedo (Chin: Kanding) Intermediate People's Court, in Kardze (Chin:
Ganzi) TAP, Sichuan province, gave two Tibetan nuns sentences of two and three

years imprisonment on 17 November 2009, according to Voice of Tibet (VOT) radio service. Nordon and Lhawang Dekyi, both nuns of Nyima Getsul nunnery in Dartsedo, were arrested on 17 March 2009 for holding a "peaceful protest" in

Kardze. Nordon received two years, while Lhawang Dekyi got three. The two nuns
were among the 15 Tibetan political prisoners who were paraded on 05 April 2009
through the streets of Kardze. The prisoners had their heads shaven, and their
hands and legs chained.

06. Jan 2010
Six years for Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen
(Tibet.net) The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala has announced
that the Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen has been sentenced to six years in
prison. The sentence was pronounced on 28 December 2009, according to the
report, but it is not known where he was tried. Dhondup Wangchen, and his
assistant Golok Jigme or Jigme Gyatso, were arrested by the Chinese authorities
on 23 March 2008 while making the film "Leaving Fear Behind" in Tibet. Jigme
Gyatso was released on bail seven months later saying he had been tortured in
detention. Wangchen's lawyer, Li Dunyong reported that his client had also been
tortured in order to extract a confession and that some of the injuries he
sustained as a result were still painful a year later. Wangchen has been
suffering from hepatitis B, for which he said he has been denied adequate
medical treatment

07. Jan 2010
China withdraws films in protest over Dalai Lama documentary
(CBC) Two Chinese films have been pulled from the 21st Annual Palm Springs
International Film Festival in protest over a documentary about the life of the
Dalai Lama. Representatives from the Chinese government met with festival
director Darryl Macdonald to request the cancellation of the film 'The Sun
Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom', by Tibetan filmmaker Tenzing
Sonam and his Indian wife Ritu Sarin, according to a statement on the festival
website. When Macdonald refused to pull the film, the Chinese withdrew the films
'City of Life and Death' and 'Quick, Quick, Slow'. Macdonald said he was
saddened by the decision but that agreeing to the Beijing's demands would have
set a bad precedent. He said: "We cannot allow the concerns of one country or
community to dictate what films we should or should not play, based on their own
cultural or political perspective".

09. Jan 2010
The Dalai Lama defends his stance on Shugden worship
(Tibet Post) Before a ceremony in Bodhgaya, the Dalai Lama spoke briefly about
the Shugden/Dolgyal controversy. He advised his devotees to resist the worship
of Shugden/Dolgyal as a potentially divisive practice, which he claimed would be
"harmful to the teacher-disciple relationship". He explained to his Chinese
devotees: "In Taiwan and China, the Dolgyal followers are trying to have
influence with the help and support of Chinese government. They use it [their
practice] as a tool against me, claiming that the Dalai Lama was censoring them.
When some Tibetan monasteries tried to stop the practice for a while, the
Chinese government didn't allow them, and then slowly it became a political
issue".

12. Jan 2010
Two Machu schools shut down
(VOT) VOT radio service reports that an intermediate school (Tib: Lobding) and
an elementary school (Tib: Lobchung) in Machu (Chin: Maqu) county Kanlho (Chin:
Gannan) TAP, Gansu province, have been closed down due to "fear of protest". An
education seminar on Tibetan language by a noted Tibetan scholar, Dong Yonten
Gyatso, was to be organised jointly by 'Bhoerig Lobda Dringwa', 'Mangtroe Phakey
Tsokpa' (a group for preservation of Tibetan Language) and 'Mani Tsokpa'. The
seminar's name - "Bhoemii Kyiduk Nyamnyong" ("Tibetan people's happiness and
suffering experienced together") - is derived from a slogan used in 2008 by
protesting students in the county.

15. Jan 2010
Man from Ngaba sentenced to 6 years
(Phayul) Phayul reports that a Tibetan man, Dolma Namgyal, who was arrested in
2008 for alleged links with "separatist forces of the Dalai clique" has been
sentenced to six years' imprisonment. According to the report, his family had no
information about his whereabouts, since his arrest in Chengdu in April 2008,
until 14 January 2010, the day his sentence was passed. The Emergency
Coordination Committee, of Kirti monastery in Dharamsala said that Namgyal is
currently being held in a prison in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

15. Jan 2010
US to protest to China over Google
(BBC) The US state department says it will make a formal protest to China over
alleged cyber-attacks on the internet search giant, Google. A spokesman said the
US would demand an explanation. Google has threatened to pull out of China
because of what it said were hacking attacks and censorship; Beijing has tried
to play down the threat. Another US internet giant, Yahoo, is also reported to
have been targeted by hackers in China. "We will be issuing a formal demarche to
the Chinese government in Beijing on this issue in the coming days", said state
department spokesperson PJ Crowley. Google had stated that cyber-attacks
originating in China aimed at rights activists, and increased web censorship,
might force it to end its China operations. Google announced that it was no
longer willing to censor its Chinese search engine - google.cn. In response to
Google's concerns, China has said that foreign internet firms are welcome to do
business there "according to the law". Jiang Yu, a Chinese foreign ministry
spokeswoman, insisted the internet was "open" in China.

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