(TibetanReview.net, Jan17’23) – China said Jan 16 that its security and crackdown measures had resulted in sharp decline in “crimes endangering national security” and other violent crimes in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) over the past five years.
China considers any activity by Tibetans not approved by it in the area of independence, human rights, religious freedom, cultural and linguistic identity, or environmental protection, or any display of devotion to or respect for their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as separatist warranting persecution for endangering national security. Such Tibetans usually disappear due to the secrecy surrounding their arrest and are tried in secret if they survive their interrogation torture.
“Tibet has cracked down on crimes endangering national security and seriously endangering people’s lives and property. In the last five years, more than 6,400 criminals were arrested, with more than 12,900 people prosecuted,” the official chinadaily.com.cn Jan16 quoted Xia Keqin, TAR’s procurator-general, as saying while delivering the work report of the procuratorate to the ongoing first session of the 12th People’s Congress of the region.
He has said the number of arrests had dropped by 7.5%, and the number of prosecutions increased by 54% from the previous five years.
He has suggested that as a result of decline in crimes endangering national security, there has been increase in other types of crimes.
“Between 2018 and 2022, major changes have taken place in the legal structure. The number and types of crimes, including drunken driving and telecom fraud, have increased,” he has said.
Xia has reported that over the past five years, the region wrapped up 59,108 legal supervision cases. And in 2022, it handled 13,875 criminal cases of all kinds, an increase of 0.45% year-on-year, he has added.
Around 400 people were stated to have been prosecuted during the five-year period for involvement in various crimes of destroying environmental resources.
Besides, a total of 241 people were stated to have been prosecuted and more than 46 million yuan ($6.8 million) of wage arrears involving more than 3,300 migrant workers redressed in the region’s fight against organized crime.