Tibetans in Switzerland, Liechtenstein call for UN action to end China's cultural genocide

The Tibetan community of Switzerland and Liechtenstein recently submitted a five-point appeal to the UN which includes calls to end China's cultural genocide in Tibet, its interference in Tibetan religious beliefs and traditions, among others. According to ANI, the community staged a protest in front of the UN Human Rights Office and chanted slogans against the deteriorating human rights situation and decades of oppression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Tibet. While addressing the gathering, the Representative of Tibet Bureau Geneva Chhimey Rigzen reiterated Tibet Bureau's efforts in bringing Tibet agenda in the UN human rights protection mechanisms.

Rigzen also urged all Tibetans to shoulder the responsibility in initiating and participating in the Taliban freedom movement as Tibetans are being forced to leave the country on “political grounds, not due to natural calamities”, according to the news agency. He added that until a peace lasting solution is achieved, the movement for peace, freedom and justice in Tibet should remain alive. 

Tibetan community urges UN to break the silence 

Meanwhile, the president of the community Karma Choekyi accompanied by Tibet Bureau Geneva staff Kalden Tsomo met a representative from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. They submitted a four-page appeal letter addressed to Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In the letter, they called on the UN to break the silence on Tibet, speak against the egregious human rights violations and urge China to stop the ongoing cultural genocide in Tibet.

The appeal letter also urged for China to stop meddling in the religious beliefs and traditions of Tibetans, to release Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and share his whereabouts, and to stop the torture and arbitrary detention of Tibetans and release the Tibetan political prisoners. It further also asked China to stop the forceful resettlement of Tibetan nomads and the militarised forced labour camps in Tibet. 

44 nations express concern over ‘Uyghur genocide’  

The letter from the Tibetan community comes amid international condemnation of various human rights abuses by China. Earlier, Canada also delivered a joint statement on behalf of 44 countries at the UN Humans Rights Council, expressing grave concerns over the "Uyghur genocide" in China's Xinjiang province. Canada’s statement was backed by major countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Britain, Spain and the United States, among others. It urged China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers. 

The remarks highlighted reports of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children from their parents by authorities. The US State Department estimates that since 2017, up to two million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities could have passed through the camp system, which China calls vocational training centres designed to fight extremism. Reports by Western media have also revealed that Chinese authorities were deliberately sending Uyghur woman of childbearing age into forced abortions, intrauterine injections and sterilisation in the region.

(With inputs from ANI)