What happened to the Monks?

Missing: monks who defied Beijing

EXCERPT...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/
missing-monks-who-defied-beijing-800200.html
By Nigel Morris
Tuesday, 25 March 2008

"They were the 15 youthful Tibetan monks – three still in their teens – who sparked a rebellion by daring to speak out against China's repression of their homeland.

"Amnesty International called last night for their immediate release, along with all the other anti-Chinese demonstrators picked up in the past three weeks. The human rights organisation said they were at "high risk of torture and other ill treatment" and called on supporters to write to
Hu Jintao, the Chinese President,
with copies to the Chinese embassy in London.

"The monks – who were visiting Lhasa's Sera monastery – have not been seen since their arrest. Nothing is known of their condition or whereabouts.

With the province "locked down" by the police and army, and all foreign journalists and observers forbidden from travelling to Tibet, there is little firm information about the extent of the uprising. But unconfirmed reports suggest there have been more than 1,000 arrests in the province and about 100 deaths in clashes between Tibetans and the authorities.

Many other groups of monks have taken to the streets complaining that the authorities were increasingly restricting their religious freedoms. They were soon joined by groups of civilians protesting that their Tibetan identity was being eroded by a deliberately policy of flooding the area with the minority Han Chinese ethnic group.

The protests erupted into rioting four days later which Tibet's exiled government said claimed 80 lives.

Beijing appears to have quelled the unrest for the
moment by sending troops to Tibet and the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan. But pressure is mounting on China to begin talks with the Dalai Lama, whom it has
blamed for inciting the unrest. A group of 29 Chinese dissidents have signed an open letter calling for talks
with Tibet's spiritual leader and demanding a UN investigation into the situation. Support is also growing for a boycott of the Olympics if Beijing persists in its brutal treatment of dissent."


Steve Ballinger, a UK spokesman for Amnesty, said: "China's reaction to peaceful protests in Tibet and neighbouring provinces – detaining demonstrators, flooding the area
with troops and reportedly using violence – does not bode well for the Olympics.
Some protests may have turned violent and the Chinese authorities have a responsibility to protect the lives and property of people in the region. But locking up peaceful protesters and locking out journalists is totally unacceptable. These monks must be released immediately
and all those detained in recent weeks must be accounted for. If basic human rights are not respected,
China's promises to clean up its act ahead of
the Olympics will seem very hollow indeed."