Ask the UN to End Torture in Tibet!

Volker Turk
Call on the UN to seek justice for Tenzin Nyima and all Tibetans impacted by the Chinese government’s torture and mistreatment. Sign our petition today:

Mr.

Volker

Türk

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Dear High Commissioner,

I am appealing to you regarding the case of the 19-year-old Tibetan monk Tenzin Nyima, who died after being beaten in Chinese police custody in January 2021. This young Tibetan monk is the latest in a series of deeply worrisome cases of Tibetans either dying in police custody or being released from prison terminally ill, only to pass away soon afterward. I am deeply concerned about this latest case of Tenzin Nyima and others like him.

Tenzin Nyima passed away shortly after being released from prison, Human Rights Watch reported on January 21, 2021. Chinese authorities initially detained him on November 9, 2019, two days after he and three other monks from a local monastery in Wonpo, Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, distributed leaflets and briefly shouted slogans calling for Tibetan independence outside the local government office. The protest occurred during an ongoing campaign by local officials to pressure forcibly resettled nomads and local residents to publicly praise the government’s “Poverty Alleviation” program.

The death of Tenzin Nyima is part of a pattern of torture and mistreatment in Tibet. In May 2020, the Tibetan monk Choekyi died after torture in custody. In August 2020, the 36-year-old mother of three Lhamo died in custody after apparent beatings. In 2015, the International Campaign for Tibet documented the cases of 29 Tibetans who suffered torture and mistreatment while in custody, 14 of whom died as a result. In 2015, the Committee Against Torture concluded in its review of China that “the practice of torture and ill-treatment is still deeply entrenched in the criminal justice system.”

Dear High Commissioner, the widespread torture in Tibet must end. Those responsible for these egregious rights violations must be held accountable. As the Chinese government refuses to investigate the many reports about torture in Tibet and continues, as a state party to the Convention Against Torture, to be in breach of international law, the United Nations and the international community should urgently address this lack of accountability, transparency and commitment to international law.

I therefore kindly ask you, as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to undertake the following steps:

-	Publicly condemn the cases of torture and mistreatment of Tibetans in police custody during sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council
-	Raise directly with the Chinese government the cases of the Tibetans Tenzin Nyima, Lhamo and Choekyi and others and urge a full and impartial investigation that holds those responsible accountable
-	Support the recommendations of United Nations experts from June 2020, calling for an impartial and independent United Nations mechanism and a special session of the Human Rights Council on China
-	Hear testimony of Tibetan human rights defenders and survivors and those who advocate for human rights in Tibet 
-	Include Tibetan areas in your planned visit to the People’s Republic of China

Dear Human Rights Commissioner, Tibetans deserve justice. Torture in Tibet must end, and your office can help bring about the change Tibetans are longing for. Thank you.

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