Tibetan body releases annual report on human rights

Dharamsala, Jan 23 (ANI): The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has released its 2009 annual report which focuses on various spheres of human rights violations in Tibet: Civil and Political Liberties, Right to Education, Development and Religious Freedom.

The TCHRD is the only NGO of Tibetans-in-exile that monitors human rights inside Tibet.

"We are here to release the annual report of the centre. We release the annual report documentation of human rights violations taking place inside Tibet and 2009 you know marked the 50 years of the illegal occupation of Tibet by the Chinese and for 50 years the Tibet people have suffered a lot and then continuous human rights violations are talking place inside Tibet," said Ugyen Tenzin, TCHRD Director.

Over 300 people have received sentences varying from three to 15 years and there are also some cases of execution of death sentences.

During 60 years of Chinese rule, the TCHRD says, the Tibetan people have suffered a lot and continuous human rights violation is taking place in Tibet.

In 1950, the Chinese troops marched into Tibet and occupied it. An estimated 134,000 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in India and Nepal.

Sympathizers of the Tibetans have accused China of repressing the religious aspirations of the Tibetans, specially, the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. (ANI)