Kathmandu - Nepalese police Thursday broke up demonstrations
by Tibetan exiles near the Chinese embassy in the Nepalese capital
Kathmandu and detained about 30 protestors.
Small groups of protestors carrying Tibetan national flags and
placards calling for 'Free Tibet' were rounded up by police and taken
to detention centres.
The protestors, including monks and Tibetan youths, chanted 'stop
killing in Tibet' and 'Long live Dalai Lama.'
The protest was second to target the Chinese embassy since the
anti-China demonstrations by Tibetan exiles in Kathmandu resumed
earlier this week.
The protests were suspended on 4 April in view of Nepal's
elections.
Organizers said the protests will continue until their demands are
met, including human rights in Tibet, return of Dalai Lama to
Lhasa, investigations by UN and international bodies into recent
violence in Tibet, and greater autonomy.
They also said they remained undeterred by Nepalese government's
crackdown on the protestors.
Nepal has come under severe criticism for its handling of the
protests by Tibetans since 10 March that resulted in several injuries
during police actions.
According to the US based Human Rights Watch, Nepalese government
detained as many as 1,500 Tibetan protestors and pre-emptively
arrested others since protests began.
Nepal has more than 20,000 Tibetans concentrated mainly in the
Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara in western Nepal.
The figure does not include Tibetans who arrived in the country
after 1990 because the Nepalese government stopped registering them
as refugees.
Rights groups say 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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