Commemorating the 110th anniversary of Tibet’s Declaration of Independence, Tibet has called for an independent fact-finding mission from the United Nations (UN). According to Tibet Rights Collective(TRC), the request was to hold China accountable for mistreating Tibet’s people and culture.
The 13th Dalai Lama proclaimed that Tibet had been independent for over 1000 years in his announcement of the country’s independence on February 13, 1913. This incident marked an end to the period of domination by China’s Qing (Manchu) dynasty. However, the period of self-rule and independence ended very soon for Tibet, as in 1949, China unlawfully occupied Tibet.
According to the report by Tibet Rights Collective, a Delhi-based research institute, the United Nations, as an institution, has largely failed to hold China accountable for the ongoing crisis in Tibet. Referring to the last human rights commissioner’s visit 24 years ago in 1985.
According to the Tibet Rights Collective report, no meaningful investigations have been made into the instances involving the mistreatment of Tibetans that are occurring in Tibet. Arbitrary detentions, prison deaths, self-immolation incidents and enforced disappearances continue to happen in the area.
The fact-finding and investigative missions from the UN must consider the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) harmful “environmental policies” in Tibet and question CCP about the whereabouts of Tibet’s Panchen Lama, who was abducted in 1995.
The report also emphasises the CCP’s active efforts to Sinicise Tibetan religion, language, culture, tradition, and education, as well as control narratives surrounding the 14th Dalai Lama’s rebirth.
However, recently UN experts have expressed how around a million children of the Tibetan minority were being affected by Chinese Government policies aimed at assimilating Tibetan people culturally, religiously and linguistically through a residential school system. The report also made the case that whenever there is a discussion concerning Chinese actions, such as the Uyghur genocide and threats against Taiwan and Hongkong, Tibet’s situation must be brought up.
The report called upon the policymakers to exhaustively address Tibet’s problems and demand an investigation into Tibet’s human rights situation.
It is time that the UN sends an independent Fact-Finding Mission to Tibet, the world’s Third Pole. Let us urge the UN to stay true to its commitments and avowed aim of standing up for Human Rights as we celebrate the 110th anniversary of Tibet’s Independence Day.
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