China: community leader detained
Event- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2014
- Event Description
Chinese police opened fire to disperse hundreds of Tibetans protesting the detention of a respected village leader in Sichuan province, seriously wounding nearly a dozen people, exile sources said Wednesday, quoting local contacts. Many Tibetans were also detained and beaten in the violent crackdown in Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Tuesday, a day after police whisked away village leader Dema Wangdak from his home at midnight, the sources said. Wangdak, 45, was detained after he complained to the authorities over the harassment of Tibetan women by senior Chinese officials at a cultural performance the local community was forced to host during their visit to the county, the source said. "Hundreds gathered to call for Wangdak's release because he is innocent, but the Chinese authorities sent in security forces to crack down on the protesters," Demay Gyaltsen, a Tibetan living in exile in India, told RFA's Tibetan Service. "The security forces used tear gas and fired live ammunition indiscriminately to disperse the crowd during the protest in Loshu township," he said, adding that about "10 Tibetans were seriously wounded" by the gunshots. Among the injured were Wangdak's son and brother, both of whom suffered two gunshot wounds each, said Gyaltsen, who heads an organization in India for Tibetans from Sershul's neighboring Dege county. After dispersing the protesters, he said, the authorities sought reinforcements and stepped up security late Tuesday, when many Tibetans were detained and communication lines were cut off. "The village is now entirely surrounded by security forces and many of the adults in the village have gone to the hills to hide," Jampa Youten, a monk in South India told RFA. "Those who remained were the younger Tibetans and women, who have been interrogated and tortured by the Chinese security forces," he said, also citing local contacts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Sexual Violence
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Minority Rights
- Right to Protest
- Women's rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Event Location
Latitude: 32.97896
Longitude: 98.1029
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 11 August 2014 Dema Wangdak, a Tibetan village leader known for standing up for victims of state oppression, was arrested in a covert police operation late at night on charges of holding a Tibetan ceremony without state permission. The true reason behind his arrest, however, is thought to be his complaint to local Chinese Communist Party cadres about the harassment of several female community members by senior male state officials during an obligatory "cultural perfomance" for the visiting officials. Protests the day after Wangdak's arrest were suppressed with excessive force: police used live ammunition and injured more than ten people.