The Tibet Post
October 24, 2009

The US Congressional-Executive Commission on
China has released its 2009 Annual Report on
human rights and the rule of law in China,
together with case records of 1,279 political
prisoners currently detained or imprisoned there.

The wide-ranging report found that, since the
2008 uprisings in Tibet, the Chinese authorities
have increased the repression of Tibetans’
freedom of speech, religion, assembly and association.

It said that, in the past year, China has "used
institutional, educational, legal and propaganda
channels to pressure Tibetan Buddhists to modify
their religious views and aspirations," and
"escalated its efforts to discredit the Dalai
Lama and transform Tibetan Buddhism into a
doctrine that promotes government positions and policy."

The report also found that the level of
harassment of human rights lawyers and advocates,
and restrictions on Chinese reporters in Tibet,
has increased, and that "extralegal detention’
remains a serious problem, with petitioners,
peaceful protesters, and ‘undesirables’ being
arbitrarily detained in ‘black jails,’ ‘law
education classes,’ and psychiatric hospitals for nonmedical reasons."

The Commission’s Political Prisoner Database
contains 670 records of Tibetans detained on or
after 2008’s March 10 uprising- "a figure certain
to be incomplete" -- for exercising their human rights.

The Commission called for the release of Chinese
citizens confined, detained, or imprisoned in
retaliation for pursuing their right to freedom
of religion. It cited the case of Phurbu Tsering,
a Tibetan Buddhist teacher who was tried in April
2009 on a weapons charge - Tsering’s lawyers said
the case involved coerced confession and insufficient evidence.

"The Chinese Government has made economic
development a priority, and has lifted hundreds
of millions of people out of poverty," said
Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman of the
Commission, "but Chinese government policies and
practices continue to violate the rights of
Chinese citizens and fall far short of meeting international standards."

To view the Commission’s full report, click on http://www.cecc.gov