The arrests are part of a campaign aimed at suppressing freedom of expression in Tibet
– The Epoch Times
Mie, 18 Dec 2013
Photo: Tibetans forced to crouch as they are taken away by Chinese security forces in 2011. (Screenshot/Chinese Military Forum)
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Two popular Tibetan singers were detained as part of the campaign of repression and surveillance called “mass line.”” of current Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Activists suggest arbitrary detentions are intended to demonstrate deepening suppression of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) towards freedom of expression in Tibet.
Singers Trinley Tsekar and Gonpo Tenzin, arrested at the end of November, They are from Driru County., where the CCP implements a highly unpopular campaign to force Tibetans to show loyalty to China and hang Chinese flags on the roofs.
Both artists produced and distributed DVDs with lyrics about culture, Tibetan literature and language, and the sufferings of the Tibetan people under the command of the Chinese communist regime, declared the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (CTDHD, by its acronym in English).
The arrest of the singers adds to the recent arrests of Tibetan writers.
Tobden, writer and nomad 30 years arrested 28 October, He was sentenced to five years on 30 November, along with two other residents of Shakchu village in Driru county.
Tobden's writings on the suffering of the people of Driru, and his request to the world to “urge for justice for county residents suffering under unjust laws and regulations.”, are judged by the CCP as threatening, confided a source toRadio Free Asia.
At the beginning of October, Chinese police detained popular writer Tsultrim Gyaltsen, of 27 years, under the charge of “engaging in activities to destroy social stability and divide the Chinese motherland”, a source revealed to Tibet Post International(TPI).
During the last months, at least seven other Tibetan writers and musicians were imprisoned or sentenced, including those who were “disappeared”” and later found in detention.
'Massive line’
CCP says its 'mass line' campaign, carried out in Tibet, It is so that Party officials are closer to the people. According to CTDHD: “The reality of the campaign “is the policy that aims to put every Tibetan under direct surveillance of the party's human and technological surveillance machinery.”.
He 1 November, the top CCP official of the Tibet region, Chen Quanguo, wrote in a Party publication that he would “ensure that the voices of the hostile forces and the Dalai group are neither seen nor heard.”.
Quanguopromised that local officials will “ensure that the voices of the Party are heard and seen everywhere in these vast 120 million square kilometers of the region”.
Another recentCCP publication, ‘Annual Guide to Chinese Laws 2013’, declare: “We must resolutely combat the crimes of separatism, subversion, terrorism and all kinds of cult organizations according to the law, to maintain state security and social and political stability, consolidate the ruling position of the Party, and defend the socialist regime”.
any writer, artist, musician, blogger or religious figure expressing any term or example of Tibetan cultureis considered a “separatist”, “a threat to the CCP and therefore severely punished”.
Regarding the singers and writers who are under the spotlight, Some Fairy Tales, director del CTDHD, declared: “By daring to refute China's official narrative about the events surrounding the Tibetan uprising of 2008, “These brave Tibetans represent a significant new challenge to the Chinese authorities.”.
The Epoch Times is published in 35 countries and in 21 languages.
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