Kathmandu - Nepalese police on Wednesday broke up
demonstrations by Tibetan exiles near the Chinese embassy in
Kathmandu and detained about 35 protestors.
Small groups of protestors, including Buddhist monks, who were
carrying Tibetan national flags and placards saying, 'Free Tibet,'
were rounded up by police and taken to detention centres.
The protestors chanted, 'Stop killing in Tibet,' and 'Long live
the Dalai Lama.'
The protest was the latest in the series of anti-China
demonstrations by Tibetan exiles in Kathmandu that have occurred
almost daily since 10 March, the 49th anniversary of a failed
uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.
It was the second time that the Tibetans had attempted to picket
the Chinese embassy since Tuesday.
Nepal has come under severe criticism for its handling of the
protests. Police have caused a number of injuries.
On Tuesday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch jointly
wrote to Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala expressing
concerns about the treatment of Tibetan protestors.
The two international rights organizations said Nepalese police
had detained more than 1,500 people and pre-emptively arrested others
since the protests began.
'Police have further threatened Tibetan protesters with
deportation, which would also constitute a serious violation of
Nepal's international human rights obligations,' the letter said.
More than 20,000 ethnic Tibetans live in Nepal, concentrated
mainly in the Kathmandu Valley and the western city of Pokhara.
The figure does not include Tibetans who arrived in the country
after 1990 because the Nepalese government stopped registering them
then as refugees.
Rights groups said about 3,000 Tibetans arrive in Nepal each year,
crossing dangerous mountain passes and risking their lives to flee
Chinese rule.
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