Gu-Chu-Sum commemorates International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
DHARAMSALA, August 30: Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet today called on the Chinese Communist regime in Tibet to end legalised practice of enforced disappearance of Tibetans in Tibet on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Commemorating the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Dharamsala-based Tibetan NGO formed by former Tibetan political prisoners demanded the Chinese government to end the legalised practice of involuntary or enforced disappearance the regime often subjects Tibetans in Tibet simply for practising their basic human rights by voicing their dissent against the Chinese government policies in Tibet
In addition, the Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet demanded the communist regime in Tibet to respond positively to the demand of international community to allow independent bodies to verify the fate of the 11th Panchen Lama without surveillance and government minders.
The NGO formed by former Tibetan political prisoners has also organised a signature campaign at the main square in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala today while the posters of the victims of enforced disappearances in Tibet were pasted across the walls of the town.
“China must honour its Human Rights Human Rights Council membership pledge to uphold the highest international human rights standards by signing and ratifying key international human rights treaties, including the International Convention for the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance,” the NGO said.
Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet further issued a four-point appeal to the China stating;
1)China must allow Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance to verify whereabouts of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet,
2)China Must urgently repeal its “residential surveillance at a designated location’ which is systematically and brutally practised across the entire three traditional regions of Tibet.
3)China must immediately sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
4)China should honour its commitments to the Human Rights Council.
International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances was established by the UN General Assembly resolution 65/209 of December 21, 2010, and observed since 2011.
Enforced disappearance is frequently used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. The feeling of insecurity generated by this practice is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared but also affects their communities and society as a whole.
Though China is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination since 1981, China is a leading country that resorts to enforced disappearances to silence minorities’ attempts to speak out for their rights.
The United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has expressed serious concerns over these mass violations of the rights of Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians.
