ICJ calls for referendum on Tibet

The highly respected Geneva-based body which has for its principle mandate defence of law around the world, has said that the autonomy Beijing argues is enjoyed by Tibet is fictitious and the real power lies with China. ICJ’s reports known for their authenticity and impartiality are eagerly awaited in Geneva’s human rights circles including the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

“It is to colonise unwilling subjects that China has encouraged and facilitated the mass movement of ethnic Chinese populations into Tibet where they dominate the region’s politics and security as well as its economy,” the 365-page report entitled `Tibet – Human Rights and the Rule of Law’ said.

The ICJ, which has 80 national sections and is guided by 45 leading international jurists, said there had been an escalation of repression since the beginning of 1996 in the region which was absorbed into China in 1950. The body which has tracked developments in Tibet closely since the late 1950’s said only a UN-run referendum could establish what the Tibetians want.

Chinese officials were not available for comment. The report asserted that China’s leaders had declared “total war” on the exiled Dalai Lama who fled into exile in India after an abortive uprising against Beijing in 1959. Chinese authorities, the ICJ said, were also threatening to eradicate Dalai Lama’s influence in schools and villages and had launched a drive against some aspects of traditional Tibetian culture condemned as ”obstacles to development.”

China, irked by recent wide and vocal support for an independent Tibet including two American films which Beijing has condemned as anti-Chinese, is sending a team of experts on the region to the United States to argue its case.

China says Tibet was historically part of Chinese territory and that its 1950 takeover ended oppressive rule by the former Buddhist hierarchy.

The ICJ says the entire Tibetian diaspora should be eligible to take part in the elections which should be held in areas where Tibetians historically constituted a majority and among the large exiled community in India.

This referendum, the jurists say, could lead to the restoration of an independent Tibetian state, a form of “genuine internal self-govenment,” continuation of Tibet’s current status with China, or any other status the people might freely decide.