US Breaks Promises On Tibet Rights
(by Thubten Samphel | tibet.com | March 3, 1994)
Only days before the voting on a draft resolution on human rights in China by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the United States has reversed its earlier position on Tibet. Contrary to assurances given to Tibetan officials in Washington in the past months, the US is insisting that Tibetans be referred to only as a "minority" in China before they will support the European Union sponsored resolution on human rights in China. Several weeks ago, the State Department was proposing strong language on the threat posed by China's population transfer policy in Tibet and on the need for China to enter into negotiations with Tibetans. Today, one senior US official intimated that with the draft text insisted on by the State Department is really seeking to "reassure China."
In the face of strong US pressure, European Union diplomats are admitting they have to accept the US position. "This is not the first time we have lost an opportunity to obtain a resolution which would address the situation in Tibet due to US double dealing" said one experienced lobbyist who preferred not to be named so as not to jeopardize his contacts. The reference is to the very damaging role played by the US two years ago when the European Community proposed a strong resolution on the "Situation in Tibet." Largely due to mixed signals from the US, then actively opposed to the proposal, even a weakened text on the "situation in China/Tibet" failed.
In a letter to the Head of the US delegation to the UN Commission on Human Rights, Mrs Geraldine Ferraro, Mr Gyaltsen Gyaltag, the Representative of the Dalai Lama, today expressed shock at the US attitude: "It is one thing to have to struggle at the Commission to overcome the efforts of the Chinese government and its friends to prevent a resolution from being adopted. It is quite another to have to oppose the efforts of those governments who consider themselves sympathetic to the struggle for human rights, democracy and freedom of the Tibetan people."
The Chinese government is trying to reduce Tibetans to a minority in Tibet itself by population transfer. The Tibetan Government-in-Exile believes the US is helping China to legitimize these efforts. The policy of the US Congress is that Tibet is an "occupied country."
Among the 53 countries that are members of the Commission, most recognize the gravity of the human rights situation in Tibet. Yet Chinese pressure, and now US obstruction, will make it virtually impossible to put the issue on the agenda of the United Nations for yet another year.
The draft resolution will be submitted to the Commission on Thursday March 3. It is scheduled to be voted on March 8. "We are deeply disappointed, says Kalon Tashi Wangdi, foreign minister of Tibet in exile, who flew to Geneva to meet with diplomats gathered there. "We thought that US would support us as they promised. Only last week, I attended a hearing in the US Congress in Washington, where the State Department reaffirmed its commitment to our reasonable objectives. The Administration is losing is credibility."
Tibet was invaded by Communist China in 1949, and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's head and spiritual leader escaped to India following the crushing of a popular uprising against China in 1959. Human rights violations have been widely reported. The Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Laureate, continues to insist that Tibetans only use Gandhian non-violence and calls on China to enter into negotiations, without pre-conditions. This position is supported by the EU, the US and many other governments. But China, so far, has refused.
Friends of Tibet (INDIA),
PO Box 16674, Bombay 400050
www.friendsoftibet.org