Chinese troops parade handcuffed Tibetan prisoners in trucks

[sce56]

Source: From Times Online UK



The Chinese Army drove through the streets of Lhasa today parading dozens of Tibetan prisoners in handcuffs, their heads bowed, as troops stepped up their hunt for the rioters in house-to-house searches.As the midnight deadline approached for rioters to surrender, four trucks in convoy made a slow progress along main roads, with about 40 people, mostly young Tibetan men and women, standing with their wrists handcuffed behind their backs, witnesses said.

A soldier stood behind each prisoner, hands on the back of their necks to ensure their heads were bowed. Loudspeakers on the trucks broadcast calls to anyone who had taken part in the violent riots on Friday — in which Han Chinese and Hui Muslims were stabbed and beaten and shops and business set on fire — to turn themselves in. Those who gave themselves up might be treated with leniency, the rest would face severe punishment, the broadcasts said.

The worst violence in 20 years in the deeply Buddhist Himalayan region has drawn a tough response from the Government, facing severe embarrassment as the riots threaten to tarnish its image of unity and stability only five months before it plays host to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Claims and counterclaims from Chinese officials and Tibetan exiles over the number of casualties and a ban on foreign journalists in Tibet have resulted in much confusion.

Champa Phuntsok, the ethnic Tibetan governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said that the demonstrations had left 16 dead and dozens wounded. Unconfirmed reports from Tibetan exile groups put the death toll at 80 — a claim he denied.



Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3566647.ece

[sce56]

1. More photos

Body of Thawa Ghongma Tashi lays on a cardboard near a butter lamp. Tashi was among the 8 Tibetans shot dead by the Chinese People's Armed Police on March 16 2008 when thousands of monks from Ngaba Kirti Monastery led a protest march joined immediately by lay people.


A man lies injured in the street during street protests, Friday, March 14, 2008, in Lhasa,Tibet. Protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent Friday, with shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing through the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa. (AP Photo)Soldiers on foot and in armored carriers swarmed Tibet's capital Saturday, enforcing a strict curfew a day after protesters burned shops and cars to vent their anger against Chinese rule. In another western city, police clashed with hundreds of Buddhist monks leading a sympathy demonstration.

[ohio2007]

2. French lawmakers demand visas for Tibet

PARIS: A group of French lawmakers urged China at the weekend to grant them visas allowing them to visit the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, rocked by violence and protests.

The 62 members of a parliamentary task force on Tibet asked the Chinese ambassador to issue them with "the necessary visas so that the deputies of the Tibet group can travel to Lhasa as early as this week," said Lionnel Luca, president of the bipartisan group.
snip

"The bloody repression of peaceful marches by Tibetans and their monks reminds the world of the ugly reality behind today's biggest dictatorship," said a statement issued by the parliamentary group on Saturday.

Former Socialist minister and deputy Jack Lang separately said France should boycott the Beijing Olympics this summer to protest China's policies, in particular in Tibet.



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/China/French_lawmakers_demand_visas_for_Tibet/articleshow/2871698.cms

How deep are French national interests in Tibet ?
Maybe the French Olympic teams have few bronze medal potentials ?
;)

[debbierlus]

3. FUCKERS

[totodeinhere]

4. Boycott the Chinese Olympics!

[Critters2]

6. Boycott Chinese everything!

http://home.ioa.com/~vampire/index.html

www.boycottmadeinchina.org

[totodeinhere]

7. Right on!

[sce56]

8. Well start passing this page around and also this you tube

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x106736

[lanlady]

5. we should boycott

just as we did after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979/80. The Chinese government deserves no less.

But sigh. There are just too many commercial and financial interests involved; these will always trump the principles of human rights.

[merwin]

9. Fuck the commercial interestes.