Chilean parliamentary commission briefed on Tibet issue

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Tsewang Phuntso, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Latin American Region, giving a formal briefing on the current human rights situation to the members of the Commission of Foreign Relations of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. (Photo courtesy: Tibet.Net)
Tsewang Phuntso, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Latin American Region, giving a formal briefing on the current human rights situation to the members of the Commission of Foreign Relations of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile. (Photo courtesy: Tibet.Net)

(TibetanReview.net, Aug25, 2018) – A briefing on Tibet with particular reference to the human rights situation in the Chinese ruled territory was held in Chile’s parliament on Aug 21, addressed by the Central Tibetan Administration’s Brazil-based representative for the Latin American Region Mr Tsewang Phuntso. The hearing was held by the Commission of Foreign Relations of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile’s parliament.

The panel and audience of around 20 at the briefing was stated to include the Chairman of the Commission on Foreign Relations Vlado Mirosevic Verdugo, besides Deputies Luis Rocaful Lopez, Jaime Naranjo Ortiz, Manuel Matta Aragay, Issa Kort Garrica, and Pablo Vidal Rojas.

Mr Tsewang Phuntso has spoken to the commission members about the ever-worsening human rights situation in Tibet especially after the 2008 uprising protests there. This, he has said, had led to protest self-immolation by a total of 151 Tibetans from all walks of life since Feb 2009.

He has spoken of the Tibetan people’s determination to seek a solution to the issue of Tibet by the middle way goal of seeking autonomy, not independence, for Tibet despite China’s continuing intransigence on holding talks on it.

During the discussion, Deputy Jaime Naranjo Ortiz, a former Vice President of the Chilean Senate who held that office when the Dalai Lama visited the country in 2006, was stated to have recalled how aggressively the Chinese Embassy had put pressure on his county and on him personally, demanding that they did not receive the exiled Tibetan leader in the Congress building.

He has spoken of Chile’s determination to resist China’s pressure to protect the country’s integrity. He has spoken of looking forward to a future visit of the Dalai Lama to Chile.

Chile’s former two-term President Ms Michelle Bachelet, who held that post during the Dalai Lama’s 2006 visit, has recently been appointed as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She takes office as the UN’s most senior human rights official on 1 Sep 2018.

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