Tibetans beaten and robbed in custody by Chinese police before being released

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, Apr 13: As many as 29 Tibetan government workers, apprehended on April 8 after a protest to be reinstated in Government jobs, were reportedly beaten and robbed by Chinese police in custody before being released.

They were taken into custody after they gathered outside the government offices in Machu County in the KanlhoTibetan Autonomous Prefecture in eastern Tibet, Radio Free Asia (RFA) quoted a local Tibetan as saying in its reported.

Tibetan government workers protest the loss of their jobs in Machu county, Gansu province, April 8, 2016. (RFA)
Tibetan government workers protest the loss of their jobs in Machu county, Gansu province, April 8, 2016. (RFA)

“The protesters were beaten up by the police, who also confiscated and damaged their mobile phones and took away their gold rings,” Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the RFA source said.

“The protesters suspect that their appeal to be restored in their jobs has been given an element of political twist and that the authorities are doing their best to damage their future prospects,” the source added.

Citing lack of qualification, Tibetans who held low-level posts for at least three to four years in various government departments, including the department of forestry, were fired from the government jobs to be replaced by under-qualified and people with connections to influential county officials from outside the County.

The protesters, numbering to 10 in earlier reports, pleaded for compensation on losses and damage incurred on their property but it fell on deaf ears.

It’s been reported that a second group of Tibetans staged a protest in their support on April 9; they were taken into custody as well.

Although all the protesters were released two days later, they were instructed to report later to the Machu County to express their concern.

The county officials have a lengthy history of bias and prejudice when it comes to allotment of government jobs which result in arrest and torture of The Tibetans.

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