High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on January 5, 2011 and posted on her blog on January 10, 2011.
Showing posts with label lawyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lawyers. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
"How I Met His Holiness the Dalai Lama Without a Passport" By Woeser
High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on January 5, 2011 and posted on her blog on January 10, 2011.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Letter of Appeal to the Authorities by Dolkar Tso, Wife of Karma Samdrup
High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a letter of appeal written to government officials on June 25, 2010, by Dolkar Tso after learning that her husband, Karma Samdrup, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for charges of alleged tomb-robbing and dealing in looted relics.
The letter of appeal was posted online on the blog of Karma Samdrup's lawyer, well-known Chinese civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang on this URL: http://puzhiqianglawyer.blog.sohu.com/155565868.html However, this post is now inaccessible. The letter can be read on Woeser's blog where it was re-posted in full on June 29, 2010.
High Peaks Pure Earth has posted several translations of blogposts by Dolkar Tso.
Read Full Post>>>
The letter of appeal was posted online on the blog of Karma Samdrup's lawyer, well-known Chinese civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang on this URL: http://puzhiqianglawyer.blog.sohu.com/155565868.html However, this post is now inaccessible. The letter can be read on Woeser's blog where it was re-posted in full on June 29, 2010.
High Peaks Pure Earth has posted several translations of blogposts by Dolkar Tso.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Dolkar Tso Thanks Karma Samdrup's Lawyers
High Peaks Pure Earth and JustRecently have translated a blogpost by Karma Samdrup's wife, Dolkar Tso, that was posted online on her blog on June 26, 2010. Most of the translation was done by JustRecently here on this blogpost and High Peaks Pure Earth is grateful to JustRecently for granting us permission to reproduce the translation within the full translation below.
Dolkar Tso's blogpost was deleted shortly after it was posted but it was re-posted in full on the same day on Woeser's blog and the screenshot below shows us what the posting looked like:
Read Full Post>>>
Dolkar Tso's blogpost was deleted shortly after it was posted but it was re-posted in full on the same day on Woeser's blog and the screenshot below shows us what the posting looked like:
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
"Praying" - A Blogpost by Dolkar Tso, Wife of Karma Samdrup
High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Dolkar Tso, wife of businessman and environmentalist Karma Samdrup, which was written on June 22, 2010 and posted on her blog on June 23, 2010. The blogpost is an account of the first day of the trial of Karma Samdrup which took place in Yanqi county, Xinjiang, but was online merely a few hours before being deleted.
The screenshot below shows what Dolkar Tso's blogpost looked like and was posted on Woeser's blog earlier today along with a full re-posting of the blogpost.
Read Full Post>>>
The screenshot below shows what Dolkar Tso's blogpost looked like and was posted on Woeser's blog earlier today along with a full re-posting of the blogpost.
Monday, July 27, 2009
"The Chinese and Tibetan Legal Contexts: Which is Worse?" by Woeser
High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser originally written for Radio Free Asia on June 26, 2009 and posted on her blog on June 30.
In this article Woeser re-visits the theme of her earlier blogpost titled 'Tibetan Lawyers: Why Don’t They Come Forward?' dealing with the issue of legal rights for Tibetans. In the weeks since the blogpost was written, Chinese lawyers have been in the news as Beijing shut down an independent legal research centre that, amongst other activities, published an insightful report and enquiry into the events in Tibet of 2008 that boldly spoke against official state narrative.
It has also since been reported that another Beijing lawyer, Li Dunyong, was barred from representing Tibetan amateur filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen who faces charges of 'inciting separatism' for making a documentary.
Finally, for more on the five monks from Labrang monastery who escaped to India, see this article from the New York Times published on June 20.
Last month, two Tibetan monks were again punished by authorities because they took to the streets during the protests in March last year. The sentence was extremely harsh and they had to pay a tremendous price: Tsultrim Gyatso was condemned to life imprisonment while Thabkhay Gyatso was condemned to a fifteen-year jail sentence. In reality, these two monks from Labrang Monastery were not the only ones to receive this kind of harsh punishment. News coming from the whole Tibetan territory confirms that up till today, many Tibetans still remain in detention, and many Tibetans are still sentenced secretly. This was notably the case in Jomda County, Chamdo Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, where six monks have recently been sentenced to 12 to 15 years imprisonment.
Faced repeatedly with hard times, Tibetans can only accept their fate and endure adversity. For instance, since they were arrested and condemned, more than a year ago, Tsultrim Gyatso and Thabkhay Gyatso’s family have not been allowed to visit them in prison, or to attend their trial. In addition, the two monks have been tortured during their imprisonment so that they would confess, and have been compelled to take a lawyer appointed by the authorities for their trial. In the meantime, five monks from Labrang Monastery were able to flee to Dharamsala. Even though it was a very painful experience, this is extremely lucky since the monks would have otherwise run the risk of being detained and condemned to the same kind of harsh sentence.
Even though the main reason that his license to practice law was revoked was that he represented two Tibetans who had been detained during their trials, lawyer Jiang Tianyong, who has just been prevented from taking the bar examination for registration, still spoke bluntly to foreign media: “As Chinese citizens, Tibetan monks should enjoy legitimate legal rights that entitle them to an open and fair trial as stated in the law. Even if the Chinese authorities want to prove that China is a country of rights as they say, then they should provide the defendants with an open and fair trial, to show how China protects the legal rights of the defendents, instead of merely announcing the sentence.”
In recent years, in China, a group of courageous human rights lawyers have assumed safeguarding rule by law, defending human rights, protecting the citizen’s legal rights and safeguarding justice as their own responsibilities. They have been active in providing legal services for public welfare and for safeguarding citizen’s rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of belief, racial equality, human rights workers’ rights, ethnic minorities’ rights, rights of equality, the right to information, the right to participation, the right to supervision. However, they have been considered by the Chinese political and judicial system as well as by special interest groups as a challenge, and have continuously been attacked and criticized. Recently, authorities have acted very harshly towards these lawyers, and at once have revoked the license of more than a thousand lawyers, stating that they failed the bar examination for registration. This created a sensation in news around the world.
Even if lawyers face the risk of having their license suspended, such as Jiang Tianyong and Li Fangping, they still fight for the statutory rights of Tibetans who are not being treated fairly and speak on behalf of silent Tibetans. This already is very valuable. What is really moving is that when I sent an article that I wrote not long ago entitled ‘Tibetan Lawyers, Why Don’t They Come Forward?’ to lawyer Jiang Tianyong, he, who is in a difficult situation, said tolerantly, “I can understand my fellow Tibetan lawyers, they have no space or opposition margin, once they are hit, then it’s over, they cannot be lawyers any more.” In fact, when I heard these words, I was extremely sad. Thus it can be seen that the Tibetan legal context is far worse than the Chinese legal context.
It must be said that in real life, many of us do not understand at all, as citizens, which rights we are entitled to enjoy, or how many rights we have. Also, what does the legal system, often described as holy and sublime, eventually mean as far as citizens are concerned? I wrote in a previous article that many Tibetans have always lacked the consciousness of their rights and of how to safeguard their rights. Especially when there is high political pressure, because of extreme fear, they will not dare to fight for their own rights. However, whatever circumstances may be, we must understand what our rights are as human beings, even if under the system in this country, human rights have already been cut down greatly. We must not only understand, but also fight for and most importantly defend our rights. This is because human rights are strongly linked to human dignity and humans’ intuitive knowledge of what is right or wrong. Therefore, human rights are worth fighting for.
Beijing, June 24, 2009
Read Full Post>>>
In this article Woeser re-visits the theme of her earlier blogpost titled 'Tibetan Lawyers: Why Don’t They Come Forward?' dealing with the issue of legal rights for Tibetans. In the weeks since the blogpost was written, Chinese lawyers have been in the news as Beijing shut down an independent legal research centre that, amongst other activities, published an insightful report and enquiry into the events in Tibet of 2008 that boldly spoke against official state narrative.
It has also since been reported that another Beijing lawyer, Li Dunyong, was barred from representing Tibetan amateur filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen who faces charges of 'inciting separatism' for making a documentary.
Finally, for more on the five monks from Labrang monastery who escaped to India, see this article from the New York Times published on June 20.
The photo shows a closed trial after the verdict has been passed, as broadcast on Gannan TV (TV of southern Gansu province), where two Labrang Monastery monks Tsultrim Gyatso and Thabkhay Gyatso were on trial. This is a photo of the television screen taken by a local Tibetan so it's not very clear.
The Chinese and Tibetan legal contexts: which is worse?
By Woeser
By Woeser
Last month, two Tibetan monks were again punished by authorities because they took to the streets during the protests in March last year. The sentence was extremely harsh and they had to pay a tremendous price: Tsultrim Gyatso was condemned to life imprisonment while Thabkhay Gyatso was condemned to a fifteen-year jail sentence. In reality, these two monks from Labrang Monastery were not the only ones to receive this kind of harsh punishment. News coming from the whole Tibetan territory confirms that up till today, many Tibetans still remain in detention, and many Tibetans are still sentenced secretly. This was notably the case in Jomda County, Chamdo Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, where six monks have recently been sentenced to 12 to 15 years imprisonment.
Faced repeatedly with hard times, Tibetans can only accept their fate and endure adversity. For instance, since they were arrested and condemned, more than a year ago, Tsultrim Gyatso and Thabkhay Gyatso’s family have not been allowed to visit them in prison, or to attend their trial. In addition, the two monks have been tortured during their imprisonment so that they would confess, and have been compelled to take a lawyer appointed by the authorities for their trial. In the meantime, five monks from Labrang Monastery were able to flee to Dharamsala. Even though it was a very painful experience, this is extremely lucky since the monks would have otherwise run the risk of being detained and condemned to the same kind of harsh sentence.
Even though the main reason that his license to practice law was revoked was that he represented two Tibetans who had been detained during their trials, lawyer Jiang Tianyong, who has just been prevented from taking the bar examination for registration, still spoke bluntly to foreign media: “As Chinese citizens, Tibetan monks should enjoy legitimate legal rights that entitle them to an open and fair trial as stated in the law. Even if the Chinese authorities want to prove that China is a country of rights as they say, then they should provide the defendants with an open and fair trial, to show how China protects the legal rights of the defendents, instead of merely announcing the sentence.”
In recent years, in China, a group of courageous human rights lawyers have assumed safeguarding rule by law, defending human rights, protecting the citizen’s legal rights and safeguarding justice as their own responsibilities. They have been active in providing legal services for public welfare and for safeguarding citizen’s rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of belief, racial equality, human rights workers’ rights, ethnic minorities’ rights, rights of equality, the right to information, the right to participation, the right to supervision. However, they have been considered by the Chinese political and judicial system as well as by special interest groups as a challenge, and have continuously been attacked and criticized. Recently, authorities have acted very harshly towards these lawyers, and at once have revoked the license of more than a thousand lawyers, stating that they failed the bar examination for registration. This created a sensation in news around the world.
Even if lawyers face the risk of having their license suspended, such as Jiang Tianyong and Li Fangping, they still fight for the statutory rights of Tibetans who are not being treated fairly and speak on behalf of silent Tibetans. This already is very valuable. What is really moving is that when I sent an article that I wrote not long ago entitled ‘Tibetan Lawyers, Why Don’t They Come Forward?’ to lawyer Jiang Tianyong, he, who is in a difficult situation, said tolerantly, “I can understand my fellow Tibetan lawyers, they have no space or opposition margin, once they are hit, then it’s over, they cannot be lawyers any more.” In fact, when I heard these words, I was extremely sad. Thus it can be seen that the Tibetan legal context is far worse than the Chinese legal context.
It must be said that in real life, many of us do not understand at all, as citizens, which rights we are entitled to enjoy, or how many rights we have. Also, what does the legal system, often described as holy and sublime, eventually mean as far as citizens are concerned? I wrote in a previous article that many Tibetans have always lacked the consciousness of their rights and of how to safeguard their rights. Especially when there is high political pressure, because of extreme fear, they will not dare to fight for their own rights. However, whatever circumstances may be, we must understand what our rights are as human beings, even if under the system in this country, human rights have already been cut down greatly. We must not only understand, but also fight for and most importantly defend our rights. This is because human rights are strongly linked to human dignity and humans’ intuitive knowledge of what is right or wrong. Therefore, human rights are worth fighting for.
Beijing, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
"Tibetan Lawyers: Why Don’t They Come Forward?" By Woeser
High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser originally written for Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 8th 2009.
Since the protests in Tibet that started last year in March, some Chinese lawyers have emerged publicly in support of Tibetans. As Woeser has written below, high-profile cases such as the case of Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche in Kham and of Labrang monk Lama Jigme have benefitted from their involvement.
Amnesty International also reports that amateur Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen "now has legal representation of two family-appointed lawyers" but the outcome of his case is still unknown.
For more background, please read this article from the Washington Post of June 26, 2009 and this article from February 20, 2009, presents the official Chinese position.
The top photo shows arrest warrants that were put up on the streets of Lhasa last year on March 26, 2008. The photo below shows arrest warrants that were put up in May 2008 in the northern part of Kham in a small town called Mani Gango. No such warrants have been seen in Amdo as yet.
Tibetan Lawyers: Why Don’t They Come Forward?
By Woeser
On May 31st, more than 20 Chinese lawyers were running the risk of ceasing their professional activity temporarily or indefinitely. After the “Tibet Incident” last year, among them, 8 lawyers, together with 13 other lawyers, had jointly signed a petition which openly stated that they would provide such legal service as representation and defence for Tibetan people who were being detained. These 8 lawyers are: Jiang Tianyong, Cheng Hai, Li Xiongbing, Li Dunyong, Li Jinglin, Liu Wei, Peng Jian, Wen Haibo. At that time, the 21 signatory lawyers received a tough warning from the authorities, and have been prohibited from interfering in the Tibetan legal cases; all the law firms where the lawyers work have been forbidden to accept the entrust of the Tibetans by the Bureau of Justice, and they also received a warning stating that they would be temporarily prevented from taking the annual examination for registration. Lawyer Teng Biao has had his lawyer’s licence suspended; Jiang Tianyong has been temporarily prevented from taking the annual bar examination for registration; the President of the Bar Association of the municipality of Beijing has said: “We must use our wisdom to take the means of livelihood of the signatory lawyers away”.
In addition, one of the reasons stated by authorities for preventing signatory lawyers from participating in the trial of Tibetans was that “lawyers were in sufficient numbers in Tibet and that there was no need for the help of lawyers from other regions”. This is true because in the Tibetan areas, for the Tibet Autonomous Region alone, according to the report by Tibet TV of December 20, 2008, there were 94 practicing lawyers and 17 law firms. However, what really is a shame is that during the ‘Tibetan incident’ last year, those Tibetan lawyers not only did not sign the petition but did not provide genuine and meaningful legal aid for Tibetan people who had been arrested either.
Ordinary Tibetan people have always lacked the consciousness of their rights and of how to safeguard their rights. Especially when there is high political pressure, because of extreme fear, they will not dare to fight for their own rights. Conversely, authorities excel in having tribunals appointing barristers. In other words, the authorities claim that Tibetans in custody have defence lawyers, in reality, these lawyers exist in name only. For instance, last year on May 2, Chinese official media released an article referring to the procedures of Tibetans being tried in the ‘March 14 Lhasa incident’. The article stated that there were 31 lawyers defending 30 accused. In fact, they were all barristers designated by the tribunal. In addition to the local Tibetan lawyers appointed, they also nominated two Beijing lawyers who had not signed the petition. No one would be fooled by the outcome of such a trial. A good example is the description made by Tibetan lawyer Migmar Dolkar of her meeting with the defendant Lobsang Samten: “When I entered the prison, two doctors were examining suspects who were detained. At that time there were more than ten suspects waiting to see a doctor, and in addition there were two people who were on a drip.” It sounds as though Tibetans in custody received quite good medical care. However, according to polls carried out on some people who had been released, all the Tibetans in custody have suffered different degrees of beatings and abuse. Some monks and ordinary people were injured or even died or lost their minds following beatings. Some Tibetans who became critically ill as a result of beatings were sent to hospital for treatment but were threatened by the local police who prevented them from telling anyone that they had been tortured to extort confessions.
The 21 lawyers from Beijing and other places, who signed a petition to support Tibetans who were in custody, not only had to face pressure from authorities, they also had to face pressure from netizens. A few Chinese radical nationalists sent messages to the general mailbox of the supportive lawyers, insulting and threatening these lawyers: “… wait until I catch you animals, see how I’ll punish you, go ahead and be in the limelight. Whoever comes forward to defend Tibetan terrorists, I want your life or the life of your family members…” It is really a pity, even if one would seek the limelight, it should be the local lawyers in Tibet to do so. But where are they? Why is it that Tibetan lawyers could not do what lawyers from Beijing and from other places achieved? Was it because the latter had more courage? Or was it because authorities were watching Tibetan lawyers more closely, and all lawyers are not on an equal footing? Though they are all lawyers, when Tibetan lawyers were informed about the fact that lawyers from Beijing and other places used the law in order to preserve the rights of the Tibetan people, was it with peace of mind or with shame?
In fact, many Tibetans really need to cooperate with lawyers, and obtain their legal aid. Recently, two trials taking place in Amdo and Kham, namely the trials of Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche and Lama Jigme, have had excellent results, thanks to the brave participation of two Beijing lawyers, Li Fangping and Jiang Tianyong. Let us pay tribute to them! We should also pay tribute to other human rights lawyers who are willing to assist Tibetans. We also look forward to seeing the rise of other similar genuine human rights lawyers who would become involved in cases of Tibetans enduring biased treatment.
Read Full Post>>>
Since the protests in Tibet that started last year in March, some Chinese lawyers have emerged publicly in support of Tibetans. As Woeser has written below, high-profile cases such as the case of Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche in Kham and of Labrang monk Lama Jigme have benefitted from their involvement.
Amnesty International also reports that amateur Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen "now has legal representation of two family-appointed lawyers" but the outcome of his case is still unknown.
For more background, please read this article from the Washington Post of June 26, 2009 and this article from February 20, 2009, presents the official Chinese position.
The top photo shows arrest warrants that were put up on the streets of Lhasa last year on March 26, 2008. The photo below shows arrest warrants that were put up in May 2008 in the northern part of Kham in a small town called Mani Gango. No such warrants have been seen in Amdo as yet.
Tibetan Lawyers: Why Don’t They Come Forward?
By Woeser
On May 31st, more than 20 Chinese lawyers were running the risk of ceasing their professional activity temporarily or indefinitely. After the “Tibet Incident” last year, among them, 8 lawyers, together with 13 other lawyers, had jointly signed a petition which openly stated that they would provide such legal service as representation and defence for Tibetan people who were being detained. These 8 lawyers are: Jiang Tianyong, Cheng Hai, Li Xiongbing, Li Dunyong, Li Jinglin, Liu Wei, Peng Jian, Wen Haibo. At that time, the 21 signatory lawyers received a tough warning from the authorities, and have been prohibited from interfering in the Tibetan legal cases; all the law firms where the lawyers work have been forbidden to accept the entrust of the Tibetans by the Bureau of Justice, and they also received a warning stating that they would be temporarily prevented from taking the annual examination for registration. Lawyer Teng Biao has had his lawyer’s licence suspended; Jiang Tianyong has been temporarily prevented from taking the annual bar examination for registration; the President of the Bar Association of the municipality of Beijing has said: “We must use our wisdom to take the means of livelihood of the signatory lawyers away”.
In addition, one of the reasons stated by authorities for preventing signatory lawyers from participating in the trial of Tibetans was that “lawyers were in sufficient numbers in Tibet and that there was no need for the help of lawyers from other regions”. This is true because in the Tibetan areas, for the Tibet Autonomous Region alone, according to the report by Tibet TV of December 20, 2008, there were 94 practicing lawyers and 17 law firms. However, what really is a shame is that during the ‘Tibetan incident’ last year, those Tibetan lawyers not only did not sign the petition but did not provide genuine and meaningful legal aid for Tibetan people who had been arrested either.
Ordinary Tibetan people have always lacked the consciousness of their rights and of how to safeguard their rights. Especially when there is high political pressure, because of extreme fear, they will not dare to fight for their own rights. Conversely, authorities excel in having tribunals appointing barristers. In other words, the authorities claim that Tibetans in custody have defence lawyers, in reality, these lawyers exist in name only. For instance, last year on May 2, Chinese official media released an article referring to the procedures of Tibetans being tried in the ‘March 14 Lhasa incident’. The article stated that there were 31 lawyers defending 30 accused. In fact, they were all barristers designated by the tribunal. In addition to the local Tibetan lawyers appointed, they also nominated two Beijing lawyers who had not signed the petition. No one would be fooled by the outcome of such a trial. A good example is the description made by Tibetan lawyer Migmar Dolkar of her meeting with the defendant Lobsang Samten: “When I entered the prison, two doctors were examining suspects who were detained. At that time there were more than ten suspects waiting to see a doctor, and in addition there were two people who were on a drip.” It sounds as though Tibetans in custody received quite good medical care. However, according to polls carried out on some people who had been released, all the Tibetans in custody have suffered different degrees of beatings and abuse. Some monks and ordinary people were injured or even died or lost their minds following beatings. Some Tibetans who became critically ill as a result of beatings were sent to hospital for treatment but were threatened by the local police who prevented them from telling anyone that they had been tortured to extort confessions.
The 21 lawyers from Beijing and other places, who signed a petition to support Tibetans who were in custody, not only had to face pressure from authorities, they also had to face pressure from netizens. A few Chinese radical nationalists sent messages to the general mailbox of the supportive lawyers, insulting and threatening these lawyers: “… wait until I catch you animals, see how I’ll punish you, go ahead and be in the limelight. Whoever comes forward to defend Tibetan terrorists, I want your life or the life of your family members…” It is really a pity, even if one would seek the limelight, it should be the local lawyers in Tibet to do so. But where are they? Why is it that Tibetan lawyers could not do what lawyers from Beijing and from other places achieved? Was it because the latter had more courage? Or was it because authorities were watching Tibetan lawyers more closely, and all lawyers are not on an equal footing? Though they are all lawyers, when Tibetan lawyers were informed about the fact that lawyers from Beijing and other places used the law in order to preserve the rights of the Tibetan people, was it with peace of mind or with shame?
In fact, many Tibetans really need to cooperate with lawyers, and obtain their legal aid. Recently, two trials taking place in Amdo and Kham, namely the trials of Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche and Lama Jigme, have had excellent results, thanks to the brave participation of two Beijing lawyers, Li Fangping and Jiang Tianyong. Let us pay tribute to them! We should also pay tribute to other human rights lawyers who are willing to assist Tibetans. We also look forward to seeing the rise of other similar genuine human rights lawyers who would become involved in cases of Tibetans enduring biased treatment.
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