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A Free Monthly Publication For Tibetan Issues & Community Information Rgd No. HPENG/2013/51798
Tibetan Filmmaker Released By Edward Janich Dhondup Wangchen, co-director of the documentary film “Leaving Fear Behind”, was released from prison on June 5. He was arrested in 2008 following the release of the film, which is a collection of interviews with native Tibetans living under Chinese rule. In the film, they openly share their views on Chinese occupation, the Dalai Lama, and the then-upcoming 2008 Olympics. In a show of bravery and defiance, most of the Tibetans filmed chose to show their faces. Some 108 interviews were recorded before the material was smuggled out of Tibet in 2008. The film has gained international acclaim and First picture of Dhondup honours for Wangchen after release Wangchen, Photo: filmingfortibet.org including the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2012 International Press Freedom Award, the Visual Art’s Guild’s 2013 Freedom award and The Human Rights Foundation’s 2014 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. These awards recognise the bravery of those willing to risk imprisonment and torture in order to share their stories with the world. “Leaving Fear Behind” was screened in Times Square in New York in March 2012, and for the European Parliament as part of its January 2014 review of the human rights situation in China. Continued on page 7
Volume: XVI Issue: 5
30 JUNE 2014
The US Puts Pressure on China By Michael Khabie-Zeitoune In two recent moves, the United States State Department has signalled growing impatience with China’s current policy on Tibet and their concern over the human rights situation there. The statements were made at a State Dept Spokesperson press briefing Marie Harf and in a new Photo: Tibet.net bill tabled in the House of Representatives. On June 6, US State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf stated that the US continues to urge China to engage unconditionally in “substantive dialogue” with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, address policies which are driving tensions in Tibetan areas and respond to requests for a US consulate in Lhasa. Following the stalemate in talks between Beijing and Dharamshala since 2010, China has continued to accuse the Dalai Lama and the government of seeking disguised independence. A recent statement from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson shows little change in this position, and confirmed that China would only speak to the Dalai Lama’s representatives “and only about his personal future, not anything to do with Tibet.” On June 12, US Congressman Jim McGovern introduced a bill to the US House of Representatives, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which would promote greater access
to Tibetan areas for US officials, journalists and citizens. Under the legislation, Chinese officials who have designed or implemented restrictions would be denied access to the US. Current restrictions on travel to Tibet are “more severe than for any other provincial-level entity of China”, according to McGovern. More than ten US requests for diplomatic access have been denied, and prolonged delays hindered US efforts to support Americans involved in a bus accident in Tibet in October 2013. Both Ms Harf and Congressman McGovern have voiced concerns over the effect of hardline Chinese policy on human rights for Tibetans. McGovern stated that restrictions force Tibetans to live in “virtual isolation from Congressman the world Jim McGovern community”, Photo: Phayul making it difficult to objectively assess the human rights situation there. These developments follow a pledge of support from the Obama administration for the Middle-Way Approach and come on the eve of a new global awareness campaign, “Umaylam: The Middle-Way Approach”, in which the Tibetan Government-in-exile has renewed its efforts to clarify its strategy to achieve “genuine autonomy” for Tibetans within China.