The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the cases of the Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Academy and Ilham Tohti.
The text adopted in plenary was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, Greens/EFA and EFDD groups.
Members recalled that the Larung Gar Institute, the largest Tibetan Buddhist centre in the world founded in 1980, is currently facing extensive demolition by the Chinese Government with the objective of downsizing the academy by fifty percent, evicting around 4 600 residents by force. They urged the Chinese authorities to stop the demolition of Larung Gar and to respect the freedom of religion.
They urged the Chinese authorities to initiate a dialogue and to engage constructively on developments in Larung Gar with the local community and its religious leaders.
Members deplored the sentencing of ten Tibetans by the Intermediate People’s Court in Barkham to different terms ranging from 5 to 14 years in prison for taking part in an 80th birthday celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lana in Ngaba County.
Tibet and minorities: Members are deeply concerned by the deterioration of the human rights situation in Tibet and the increasingly repressive regime faced by different minorities, in particular Tibetans and Uighurs in China.
They called on the Chinese Government to resume the dialogue with Tibetan representatives, which was ended by China in 2010, in order to find an inclusive political solution to the crisis in Tibet.
Parliament is worried about the adoption of the package of security laws and its impact on minorities in China, particularly the law on counter-terrorism that could lead to the penalisation of peaceful expression of Tibetan culture and religion. It urged the Chinese Government to provide and guarantee a fair and safe environment for all NGOs and human rights defenders to operate freely in the country.
Lastly, Parliament strongly condemned the imprisonment of Ilham Tohti who is serving a life sentence on alleged charges of separatism and called for his immediate and unconditional release as well as his supporters.