1. Chinese Birth Control in Tibet Discriminates Against Tibetan Women
In 1994 a draft law on birth control was submitted to the central legislator in Beijing under the title Mother and Child Health Care Law. This law came into effect in June 1995. Its underlying purpose was to "upgrade the general qualities of the new population" by limiting the number of "inferior births".
Evidence collected by T.I.N in 1994 confirmed exile testimonies that considerable force is applied to women, particularly in villages through the mechanism of impossibly high fines and administrative sanctions, to have abortions even though Chinese law does not specifically demand abortions or the use of surgical controls, confining its formal coercion to fines and other punishments. The implementation of the Chinese birth control policy in Tibet differs greatly from region to region. TIN establishes that in Ganze, Kham, there are reports of fines reaching 7,000 yuan (approx. US$830) in some cases: this amounts to five years income for an urban employee and about eight years income for an average peasant. Areas such as the TAR with more aggressive laws have lower fines. Since the majority of Tibetans are far poorer than Chinese the only conclusion can be that the implementation of birth control in Tibet is discriminatory.
2. Tibetan Women Harassed at the Beijing Conference
Beijing was host to the UN Fourth World Conference on Women from September 4-15, 1995 and as a result eight Tibetan-related groups were denied accreditation to attend the parallel NGO conference by ECOSOC. Only nine Tibetan women with international passports from countries such as Canada, Australia and Norway and the U.S.A attended the NGO conference. The nine Tibetan women were constantly under surveillance and harassed by Chinese security and the large group of Tibetans forming the official Chinese delegation. The open intimidation of exile Tibetan women led to diplomatic protests by several nations including the Scandinavian countries, Holland and Australia.
3. Tibetan Nun Prisoner of Conscience Wins Reebok Human Rights Award
Phuntsok Nyidron, a 27-year old nun from Michungri Nunnery, near Lhasa in Tibet, who is currently serving a prison sentence of 17 years in Tibet's most notorious Drapchi Prison, was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award at a New York ceremony on December 5, 1995. His Holiness's representative in New York received the award on her behalf. Phuntsok Nyidron's prison sentence was doubled after she sang songs in front of prison guards calling for Tibet's independence and worshipping His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
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