(TibetanReview.net, Sep01’21) – The 38th International Day of the Disappeared, which falls on Aug 30, was commemorated with Tibet activists holding a protest outside the Chinese embassy in London and Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) saying it had recorded almost 40 known cases of enforced disappearances in Chinese ruled Tibet over the last three years.
In the London protest, members of the Tibetan Community and their supporters chanted “Release Rinchen Kyi”, “Release the Political Prisoners”, “Tibetan Culture – in Tibet”, “Free Tibet”, and “China Out of Tibet”, noted the ANI news service Aug 31.
Rinchen Kyi was, most recently, taken away by Chinese police in Golog Prefecture of Qinghai Province on Aug 1 for expressing anguish at the closing down of a local Tibetan medium school where she was a teacher. The protesters held a vigil for her.
The protest was organized by London-based Free Tibet and Global Alliance for Tibet and Persecuted Minorities with the support of the Tibetan Community UK and International Tibet Network, the report said.
Representatives from Free Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet were stated to have addressed the gathering, condemning China’s ongoing assaults on Tibetan people, their language and culture.
Dharamsala-based TCHRD said Aug 30 that it had recorded almost 40 known cases of enforced disappearances from across occupied Tibet over the last three years despite severe information blockage by China.
The centre called on China to ratify the UN Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances. It also demanded that China release all Tibetan political dissidents subjected to enforced disappearance and notify families on their whereabouts and conditions.
The Tibetan Women’s Association at Dharamsala carried out a poster-campaign to remember Tibetan political prisoners disappeared by the Chinese government.
In his message for the occasion, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Enforced disappearance deprives families and communities of the right to know the truth about their loved ones, of accountability, justice, and reparation.”
He called the UN convention on enforced disappearance, adopted on Dec 21, 2010, an indispensable help “to tackle this cowardly practice.”
“On this International Day, I reiterate my call to all States to ratify the Convention and to work with the United Nations Committee and Working Group on Enforced Disappearances. Together, we can and we must end all enforced disappearances,” He said.
