Human rights situation worsened in Tibet: report

Dharamshala, Jan 13 (PTI) The human rights situationhas deteriorated in Tibet after the Chinese government crackeddown on artists and environmentalists, an NGO for Tibetanexiles said today.

"The Chinese government laid policies to enforce asystematic crackdown on influential Tibetans like singers,writers and environmentalists," Ugen Tenzin, executivedirector of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy(TCHRD), said here.

The repression of Tibetans had intensified last yearyear as till "Dec 30, 2010, there are 831 known politicalprisoners in Tibet, of whom 360 are known to have been legallyconvicted by courts and 12 are serving life imprisonmentterm," Ugen said citing a TCHRD report ''Tibet''s 2010 AnnualHuman Rights''.

"During 2010, 188 known Tibetans have been arrestedand detained, of whom 71 have already been sentenced by thecourts," the report claimed.

It said since 2008, more than 60 Tibetan writers,bloggers, intellectuals and cultural figures have beenarrested. The 90-page report also criticised the Chinesegovernment''s plan to replace Tibetan with Mandarin as themedium instruction in Tibet.

"The state should have a bold vision in resolving theissue of Tibet through dialogue with the Dalai Lama in orderto ensure a stable environment wherein the people of Tibet andChina live harmoniously," the report appealed.

TCHRD is a Tibetan NGO that investigates into thehuman rights situation in Tibet and presents its reportinternationally at various forums.