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China broke international law in Tibet riots - report
Ben Blanchard
Source: Reuters,22 July,2010

 BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese security forces broke international law when they used disproportionate force to handle riots in Tibet two years ago, according to a report released on Thursday that quotes eyewitness accounts.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Chinese forces "opened fire indiscriminately" on protesters in at least four cases when unrest hit Tibet in March 2008, and have conducted large-scale arbitrary arrests since and tortured suspects in detention.

At least 19 people died in the riots, which came a few months before Beijing hosted the Olympics and sparked waves of protests across Tibetan areas. Pro-Tibet groups overseas say more than 200 people were killed in a subsequent crackdown.

The government has repeatedly insisted it used minimal force. It has blamed exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for instigating the violence, charges he strongly denies.

Human Rights Watch said it looked at accounts from more than 200 Tibetan refugees and visitors, as well as previously unreported official Chinese reports to get a clearer picture of the unrest.

"International legal standards limit the use of force by states to that which is strictly necessary in order to protect life or to apprehend perpetrators of violent crimes," it said.

"In multiple incidents, eyewitness testimonies show that Chinese forces acted in contravention of these standards and broke international law -- including prohibitions against disproportionate use of force, torture, and arbitrary detention, as well as the right to peaceful assembly."

China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Beijing strongly rejects all accusations of human rights abuses in Tibet and says it respects local culture and has pumped billions of dollars into developing an impoverished region.

The Chinese government rarely lets foreign reporters visit, and keeps a close eye on them when they are allowed in, making it hard to assess competing claims about the situation.

TORTURE, LIVE FIRE

Tibetans who spoke to Reuters during one such recent trip described their fear at discussing the events of 2008. Tibet's capital Lhasa remains under heavy security.

But the report quoted numerous witnesses to deadly violence.

"The crowd thought they would not dare to actually fire and continued crowding inside the compound. At that point, the soldiers started to fire," said Tenpa Trinle, a monk from an ethnic Tibetan area of neighbouring Sichuan province.

There were also many accounts of beatings and torture in detention, some of which ended in death.

"For a whole month I was kept handcuffed most days and nights. During the interrogation, I was left hanging with my hands tied behind my back. They punched my face and chest," said a senior Tibetan monk Jigme Gyatso.

Human Rights Watch said China should permit an international investigation into the events of 2008.

"The need for an international investigation into the situation in Tibet is a great as ever," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

"Abuses by security forces are unlikely to quell, and may even aggravate, the longstanding grievances that prompted the protests in the first place."

(Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Sugita Katyal)
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