Monks and the March 2008 Violence in Tibet

Human Rights Watch has released the most comprehensive report I've seen so far on the March 2008 demonstrations and riots in Tibet.  "I Saw It With My Own Eyes" can be read online, or you can download a PDF. The report document far more human rights violations by China than were known before.

Very basically, the March 2008 demonstrations began on March 10, the 49th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile, when monks in Lhasa engaged in nonviolent protests of government control of their religious practices. Chinese police broke up some of these demonstrations by beating monks with batons and arresting several of them. Eyewitnesses said monks also were thrown to the ground and kicked.

But rather than subdue the demonstrations, the sight of monks being beaten and kicked enflamed more demonstrations. On March 14, the demonstrations in Lhasa turned into riots. Mobs of Tibetans targeted ethnic Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. Shops owned by non-Tibetans were burned, some with owners and employees still inside.  Chinese news media reported that between 13 and 22 non-Tibetan civilians were killed in the riots.

More than two years later, questions linger about March 2008. Among these -- Were monks involved in the riots? and How exactly did China respond? At the time, as the situation spun out of control, foreigners were hustled away and Tibet was effectively cut off from the rest of the world. Further, China has not permitted any sort of independent investigation into March 2008.

Human Rights Watch says its report is "based on more than 200 interviews with Tibetan refugees and visitors conducted immediately after they left China, as well as fresh, not previously reported, official Chinese sources." The report documents the use of "disproportionate force" even against non-violent protests, the indiscriminate shooting of Tibetans, and the torture of suspects in custody.

The number of Tibetans killed and "disappeared" remains hard to pin down. However, at the time of the worst violence in Lhasa, monks not in police custody were under "house arrest" inside their monasteries, unable to leave.