チベットNOW＠ルンタ

2009年4月29日

サンフランシスコの法王／ナクチュで僧侶3人逮捕／リンポチェの判決延期

ダライ・ラマ法王のアメリカ訪問の様子は逐一ＲＦＡその他のチベット語放送を通じて本土に伝えられています。

そんな中、今日はアメリカからの電話であるチベット人が
「とにかくとこに行ってもすごい人だ。
バークレーでの講演のチケットは2日で売り切れたという。
キャンセルを狙って前の日から会場の前で寝て待っている学生もいた。
アメリカには有名な人は多いが、法王ほど常にどこでもすぐに会場を一杯にできる人は少ないと思う。
アメリカ側の警備も素晴らしい。
常に数台のパトカーが法王のお車を先導する。
チベット人として、誇りに思えた。
本土の人々にこれを見せて上げたいと思って涙がでました。

毎日快晴の上天気で、みんな広くて気持ちのいい会場の周りでくつろいでいた。
法王は快活でお元気そうだった」
と話されていました。

きっと中のチベット人もアメリカ人が法王を特別歓待してくれていることを知ってさぞ勇気付けられていることでしょう。

法王はお忙しくサンタバーバラで二度の講演、バークレーで一度の講演、ヒマラヤ・モンゴル・チベット地区出身者のための会でも講演、350人のお金持ちのパーティーに出席され
「お金持ちはどんどん困った人たちのために寄付すべきだ。
しかし、動機を正し、慈悲の心で、名前や見返りのために行ってはいけない」と話された。
今度は貧しいホームレスのためのキッチンに行かれて、
「ああ、私のいちいちの言葉にぶら下がろうとする、お金持ちたちから解放されて本当に、ここは居心地がいい」とジョークを飛ばされた。

その他、世界中から集まった慈善活動家たちを前にお話をされ、27日の朝サンフランシスコを発たれた。

ボストンに向かわれる途中、ミネソタのロチェスターに立ち寄られ、ミネソタに在住する600人のチベット人を前に話をされた。
http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=878&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews法王は当地のマヨ・クリニックにて一年ごとの定期検診を受けられるという。
今日29日、ボストンに発たれた。

ところで、アメリカのTIME誌は「世界でもっとも影響力のある人100選」の中に法王も
ノミネートされたという。
http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=880&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews
ランクは61番。
2006年TIME誌は、雑誌が創刊されて60年間の「アジアのヒーロー5人」の内の一人に法王を選んでいる。

気になってすべてのランキングを見てみると、
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1883644_1886141,00.htmlオバマ氏は37位でプーチンの二つ下。
オバマ氏の二つ下にシュワちゃんがいたりして、この番付は中々奥が深いです？
42番に日本人Shigeru Miyamoto
という任天堂のゲームソフトとか開発した人が日本人としては最高位として選ばれている。
一番はmoot氏　アメリカで4chan.orgという日に5百万ものアクセスのあるオンライン・コミュニティを始めた21歳の学生だそうです。

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

28日付ＴＣＨＲＤプレス・リリースによれば、

http://www.tchrd.org/press/2009/pr20090428.html

今月4月11日、チベット自治区ナクチュ県のナクチュ公安局は３人の僧侶を逮捕した。

シャプテン僧院の元僧院長ケンスル・ツプテン・タプケ47歳と経典指導師ゲシェ・ツルティム・ギェルツェン34歳は僧院からそのまま拘置所に連れて行かれたが、当局は二人はラサにゲシェ位の証書を受け取りに行っているだけだと家族たちに嘘を言っているという。

もう一人シャプテン僧院の民主管理委員会の長である僧ツンドゥ30歳も逮捕された。
逮捕理由など詳しいことはまだ分かっていないという。

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

裁判の行方が見守られているカンゼの高名なプルブ・ツェリン・リンポチェの判決は延期されることになったという。

http://woeser.middle-way.net/2009/04/blog-post_28.html

http://phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24548&article=Justice+Denied+for+Tibetans裁判の場所もカンゼを避け、カンディンで行われているし、本当に珍しく中国人の弁護士がつけられているなど、当局がこのリンポチェの地区のチベット人に対する影響力を考慮に入れている様子はうかがえる。
そして、今度は判決を遅らせた。

このリンポチェはカンゼに養老院や尼寺など5つの福祉施設を設立し運営されているという。カンゼでもっとも影響力のあるリンポチェと言われている。

もしも彼に濡れ衣の長期の刑を言い渡すなら、地元のチベット人の反感を煽ることになるのはまちがいないであろう。

このリンポチェについてはウーセルさんが何度も詳しいレポートをブログに載せられています。

以下、英語のままですが、ウーセル氏がWall Street Journal Asiaに投稿された記事です。

OPINION ASIA
APRIL 26, 2009, 4:55 P.M. ET

Justice Denied for TibetansThe ‘trial’ of a monk highlights Beijing’s repression.

By WOESER | From today’s Wall Street Journal Asia

Before dawn on the morning of May 18, 2008, the authorities cut off all forms of communications in the small rural town — telephones, mobile phones, the Internet and even roads in and around the area. At around 6 a.m., more than 1,000 members of the People’s Liberation Army, People’s Armed Police and local and special police units prepared to make their assault on a small house. Around the same time, more than 4,000 soldiers and police divided up to surround and take control of two nearby nunneries.

Their target? Buramna Rinpoche, a 52-year-old Living Buddha and head of Pangri and Yatseg nunneries in Kardze, a Tibetan county of Sichuan province. The story of this religious leader, who operated a home for the elderly and took care of orphans and handicapped children, is symptomatic of Beijing’s heavy-handed treatment of Tibetans. It also explains why the so-called Tibet question is not going to disappear any time soon.

The joint military-police unit easily forced its way into the house, where authorities say they discovered a rifle, a pistol and more than 100 rounds of ammunition hidden under a bed in the living room. The monk was arrested under charges of possessing illegal firearms and ammunition. He was also later charged with the illegal occupation of state land.

The arrest more likely is connected to an incident that had occurred four days earlier, when 80 nuns from the Pangri and Yatseg nunneries took to the streets to carry out a peaceful protest against the Chinese government’s “patriotic education” campaign, which pressured Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader who now lives in exile in India. These religious women peacefully handed out leaflets and shouted slogans criticizing the campaign, but according to an eyewitness with whom I’ve spoken several thousand military and police were mobilized to deal with the protest, in which many of the women were severely beaten and arrested.

The authorities apparently believed that the nuns had acted upon the instructions of Mr. Buramna, as he is responsible for both nunneries. So from that day on, his every movement was monitored.

Mr. Buramna was transferred after his arrest to the Luhuo County Detention Center. There, according to his lawyer, he was handcuffed to a railing for four days and kept awake day and night by two guards. During these four days, he says he was tortured and police threatened to arrest his wife and son if he did not sign a confession to possessing illegal weapons. Under such duress, Mr. Buramna signed and made a thumbprint on a confession admitting to the charges. He later recanted this “confession” in court.

Mr. Buramna’s family hired two Chinese lawyers from Beijing to defend him. The two, Li Fangping and Jiang Tianyong, are well-known human rights defenders. Mr. Jiang was one of 21 Chinese lawyers who signed a public statement on April 1, 2008, offering to provide legal defense to Tibetans who were arrested in connection with protests that broke out in March 2008 in Tibetan areas throughout China. The government has threatened to close the law firms, or revoke individual lawyers’ licenses, if these lawyers involve themselves in the Tibet issue, Human Rights Watch has reported.

On the morning of April 21, the trial opened in Kangding County, a one- to two-day drive away, rather than Kardze County, Mr. Buramna’s hometown and scene of the alleged crime, apparently to prevent local Tibetan monks and lay people from protesting outside the courtroom. Mr. Buramna appeared in court wearing the bright yellow and crimson red robes of a Tibetan monk. Seven members of his family, including his wife and son, were in the court, some crying throughout the trial. Speaking in Chinese, Mr. Buramna denied the alleged crimes, arguing in particular that the weapons and ammunition found at his home had been planted there to frame him.

Mr. Buramna’s lawyers say they were allowed only limited access to their client before trial and they were not allowed to access all the court documents related to the case, which limited their ability to cross-examine witnesses. Even so, they noted at trial that the court did not investigate the source of the firearms and ammunition, and even failed to check for fingerprints. They argued that the monk’s living room was a public place that saw a large number of people coming and going, and that anyone could have hidden the weapons there. They stated further that an examination of documents related to the land used for the elderly people’s home, which the government said was occupied illegally, showed the site was not state-owned.

The lawyers repeated the monk’s assertion that he was tortured for four days and was forced to sign the confession under duress, which would make it invalid for use as a basis for conviction. No verdict was handed down at the end of the hearing, the court saying it would announce the sentence at another date. If convicted, Mr. Buramna will face a prison term of between five and 15 years.

Yet Beijing would be wrong to think that will be the end of the matter. The incident has led to widespread anger among Tibetans in the area. On the morning of Mr. Buramna’s arrest, a number of monks and ordinary people in Kardze held a demonstration demanding his release; they were surrounded by the police and beaten, according to the same witness who saw the nuns’ original protest. The elderly residents in his welfare institution also tried to protest, but according to the same source, their home was surrounded by the police. In June, there were more protests seeking his release, and several people were beaten and arrested.

Mr. Buramna’s trial is the first of a major religious leader to be held since last year’s disturbances in Tibetan areas. It’s a sad commentary on the situation that one can say that at least this trial is being held in public. But such trials will not bring stability to the area. The nuns whose protest seems to have sparked this case acted spontaneously, and their protest had nothing to do with Mr. Buramna. They, and all Tibetans, want justice in their region. Putting Mr. Buramna in jail will only increase that thirst.

Ms. Woeser, a Tibetan poet, writer and blogger, lives in Beijing. This article was translated from the Chinese by Paul Mooney.