Chinese policies eroding foundations of Tibetan civilisation: Report

Geneva, Feb 6 (IANS) A new United Nations (UN) report has warned that Chinese state policies in Tibet are actively eroding the foundations of Tibetan civilisation and threatening the very survival of Tibetans as a distinct people, a report has detailed.

The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Nicolas Levrat, revealed the findings in a report presented to the UN Human Rights Council.

It identifies Tibet as a case where state-led policies are not only discriminatory but constitute what the UN expert describes as eradication in more subtle ways.

"At the centre of this warning is China’s vast boarding school system imposed on Tibetan children. The report states unequivocally that 'the boarding school education system implemented by China in Tibet is aimed at erasing the Tibetan language and identity'. Tibetan children are separated from their families and communities and educated in environments where Mandarin Chinese, state ideology, and cultural assimilation dominate daily life.

According to the report, this policy prevents the intergenerational transmission of cultural, linguistic or religious elements of minorities’ identities, a process that leads to the extinction of the minority as a distinct group in the State population," the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) stated which citing the contents of the report.

Levrat, CTA stated, mentioned that eradication does not require mass killing to meet the threshold of grave human rights violations.

He warned that targetting language, culture, and religion of people can be as destructive as physical violence. The report stated that such practices violate article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees minorities the right to enjoy their culture, practice their religion, and use their language in community with others.

According to the report, these policies are part of a broader political project. It stated that China has undertaken a nation-building process since 2012 that has caused the the "marginalisation of minority communities" resulting in "severe discrimination" against non-Han minorities, such as Tibetans.

The report noted that Tibetan identity is being subordinated to a single state-defined national identity.

According to the report, all religious groups are required to register through State-controlled ‘patriotic’ religious associations, and that communities not following the rule are "denied legal status, criminalised and subjected to surveillance and the closure of places of worship." This policy places monasteries, religious education, and spiritual authority under state's direct control.

The Central Tibetan Administration stated, "Crucially, the Special Rapporteur condemns assimilation policies that offer equality only on the condition that minorities abandon who they are. Such approaches, the report states, are contrary to the principle that states must recognise the existence and identity of persons belonging to a minority."

--IANS

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