Tibet Action Institute

Last updated

Tibet Action Institute
Formation2009
Director
Lhadon Tethong
Website tibetaction.net
Lhadon Tethong leads a workshop for the Tibet Action Institute on 22 April 2010 Lhadon Talks about Tibet Action.jpg
Lhadon Tethong leads a workshop for the Tibet Action Institute on 22 April 2010

The Tibet Action Institute is an organization that uses digital communication tools and strategic nonviolent action to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of the Tibet movement in the digital era, co-founded by Lhadon Tethong and Nathan Fretias (also founder and director of Guardian Project) in 2009. [1] [2] The organization helps to identify, trace, and resist malware and other online attacks launched against Tibetan activists. [3]

Contents

Activities

Students for a Free Tibet Honors Beijing Olympics Activists at Victory Party in New York City on 19 February 2009 with special guest Palden Gyatso in robes, standing in center Students for a Free Tibet Honors Beijing Olympics Activists at Victory Party in New York Zi You Xi Cang -Tu Bo Xue Sheng Yun Dong Zai Niu Yue Qing Gong Yan Jia Xu Can Yu Bei Jing Ao Yun Xing Dong Ren Shi .jpg
Students for a Free Tibet Honors Beijing Olympics Activists at Victory Party in New York City on 19 February 2009 with special guest Palden Gyatso in robes, standing in center

In 2012, Lhadon Tethong, director of the Tibet Action Institute, explained self-immolations in Tibet as a response to escalating repression from the Chinese government. [4]

In 2013, Citizen Lab collaborated with the Tibet Action Institute to hold public awareness events in Dharamshala, India, for the exiled Tibetan community on cyber espionage campaigns. [5]

In 2018, Lhadon Tethong said there was a "crisis of repression unfolding across China and territories it controls." and that "it is shocking to know that Google is planning to return to China and has been building a tool that will help the Chinese authorities engage in censorship and surveillance." She further noted that, "Google should be using its incredible wealth, talent, and resources to work with us to find solutions to lift people up and help ease their suffering — not assisting the Chinese government to keep people in chains." [6]

The organization published a report titled "Separated from their families, hidden from the world" [7] in 2021. This report documents China's vast system of colonial boarding schools inside of Tibet.

The report reveals that roughly 800,000 Tibetan children from age six to 18 – 78% of Tibetan students – are living in Chinese colonial boarding schools, separated physically from their families, communities, and culture. Children leave their families to live on-site at these schools, their classes are taught primarily in Chinese, and the curriculum presented is "highly politicized" that is "intended to make [the students] identify as Chinese, instead of Tibetan. [7]

Recognition

In 2019, the group received the Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy. [1] In 2024, it was again nominated for this award. [8]

For her work exposing China's network of colonial boarding schools in Tibet, Tethong received the International Campaign for Tibet's Snow Lion Human Rights Prize in 2024. [9]

Related Research Articles

Human rights in China are periodically reviewed by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), their supporters, and other proponents claim that existing policies and enforcement measures are sufficient to guard against human rights abuses. However, other countries, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including Human Rights in China and Amnesty International, and citizens, lawyers, and dissidents inside the country, state that the authorities in mainland China regularly sanction or organize such abuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human Rights in China (organization)</span> International non-governmental organization

Human Rights in China is a New York–based international, Chinese, non-governmental organization with intentions to promote international human rights and facilitate the institutional protection of these rights in the People's Republic of China. HRIC is a member organization of the International Federation for Human Rights. According to Fang Lizhi, HRIC is committed to an independent, non-political, and intelligent approach

Free Tibet (FT) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1987 and based in London, England. According to their mission statement, Free Tibet advocates for "a free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected."

Tibetan Freedom Concert is the name given to a series of socio-political music festivals held in North America, Europe and Asia from 1996 onwards to support the cause of Tibetan independence. The concerts were originally organized by the Beastie Boys and the Milarepa Fund. The idea for a Live Aid-style concert for Tibet was conceived by members of the group during the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Campaign for Tibet</span> Non-profit advocacy of human rights and democracy for Tibet

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is a non-profit advocacy group working to promote democratic freedoms for Tibetans, ensure their human rights, and protect Tibetan culture and the environment. Founded in 1988, ICT is the world's largest Tibet-related NGO, with several thousand members and strong bases of support in North America and Europe. On March 15, 2018, the ICT completed 30 years of service to the Tibetan community and received a video message from the Dalai Lama. ICT also released its new logo. An event was also held in the United States Congress on March 6, 2018 to mark the event with Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Jim McGovern, ICT Chairman Richard Gere, Representative Ngodup Tsering and ICT Board Member Tempa Tsering making remarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan Uprising Day</span> Commemoration of the 10 March 1959 Tibetan uprising

Tibetan Uprising Day, observed on March 10, commemorates the 1959 Tibetan uprising which began on March 10, 1959, and the Women's Uprising Day of March 12, 1959, involving thousands of women, against the presence of the People's Republic of China in Tibet.

The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) is an international non-governmental organization that advocates the independence of Tibet from China. With around 30,000 members in the Tibetan diaspora, it is the largest of the pro-independence organizations of Tibetan exiles with 87 branches in 10 countries listed on the organisation's website. The current president of the Tibetan Youth Congress is Gonpo Dhundup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibetan diaspora</span> Communities of Tibetans living outside of Tibet

The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Tibet</span> Overview of human rights in Tibet

Human rights in Tibet are a contentious issue. Reported abuses of human rights in Tibet include restricted freedom of religion, belief, and association; arbitrary arrest; maltreatment in custody, including torture; and forced abortion and sterilization. The status of religion, mainly as it relates to figures who are both religious and political, such as the exile of the 14th Dalai Lama, is a regular object of criticism. Additionally, freedom of the press in China is absent, with Tibet's media tightly controlled by the Chinese leadership, making it difficult to accurately determine the scope of human rights abuses.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is a Tibetan non-governmental nonprofit human rights organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibet Post</span> Online publication focused on Tibet

The Tibet Post is an online publication founded by a group of Tibetan journalists with the primary goal of promoting democracy through freedom of expression within Tibetan communities who are both within and outside of Tibet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vietnamese democracy movement</span>

The term "Vietnamese democracy movement" comprises any of various isolated efforts to seek democratic reforms in Vietnam. There is not a major movement in Vietnam to reform the current political system. Opposition to governance has been characterised by sporadic calls for reform by minor groups and rare, small protests. Vietnam was ranked 37th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.157 out of 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950</span>

Protests and uprisings in Tibet against the government of the People's Republic of China have occurred since 1950, and include the 1959 uprising, the 2008 uprising, and the subsequent self-immolation protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-immolation protests by Tibetans in China</span>

As of May 2022, 160 monks, nuns, and ordinary people have self-immolated in Tibet since 27 February 2009, when Tapey, a young monk from Kirti Monastery, set himself on fire in the marketplace in Ngawa City, Ngawa County, Sichuan. According to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), "Chinese police have beaten, shot, isolated, and disappeared self-immolators who survived."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chen Quanguo</span> Chinese politician (born 1955)

Chen Quanguo is a Chinese retired politician who was the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region from 2011 to 2016 and of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from 2016 to 2021, making him the only person to serve as the Party Secretary for both autonomous regions. Between 2017 and 2022, he was a member of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and was also Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps concurrently with his position as Xinjiang Party Secretary.

<i>Tibet on Fire</i> 2016 book by Tsering Woeser

Tibet on Fire: Self-Immolations Against Chinese Rule is a book written by Tsering Woeser, published by Verso Books in 2016. The book is a contemporary look at a major social and human rights problem caused by the forced integration of Tibetan and Chinese societies, and due to empirically repressive policies of the Chinese (PRC) government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antireligious campaigns in China</span>

Antireligious campaigns in China are a series of policies and practices taken as part of the Chinese Communist Party's official promotion of state atheism, coupled with its persecution of people with spiritual or religious beliefs, in the People's Republic of China. Antireligious campaigns were launched in 1949, after the Chinese Communist Revolution, and they continue to be waged against Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and members of other religious communities in the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lhadon Tethong</span> Tibetan-Canadian political activist

Lhadon Tethong is a Tibetan-Canadian political activist, co-founder and director of Tibet Action Institute, and former executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Transnational repression by China refers to efforts by the Chinese government to exert control and silence dissent beyond its national borders. This phenomenon targets groups and individuals perceived as threats or critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The methods include digital surveillance, physical intimidation, coercion, and misuse of international legal systems.

References

  1. 1 2 "DEFENDERS OF HUMAN AND RELIGIOUS RIGHTS IN CHINA TO RECEIVE 2019 DEMOCRACY AWARD ON 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF TIANANMEN MASSACRE". National Endowment for Democracy. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. "2019 DEMOCRACY AWARD RECIPIENT: TIBET ACTION INSTITUTE". NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  3. Sumandro Chattapadhyay (19 August 2015). "Civil Society Organisations and Internet Governance in Asia – Open Review". Centre for Internet and Society (India) . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  4. Simon Denyer (30 October 2012). "China powerless to prevent rising tide of Tibetan self-immolations". The Washington Post . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. "Tibet Action Institute: Safe Travels Online Tech Meet". 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014 via Internet Archive.
  6. Ryan Gallagher (11 December 2018). "RIGHTS GROUPS TURN UP PRESSURE ON GOOGLE OVER CHINA CENSORSHIP AHEAD OF CONGRESSIONAL HEARING". The Intercept . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Separated From Their Families, Hidden From The World – Tibet Action Institute". web.archive.org. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  8. "2024 Democracy Award". NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  9. says, Ten Lhamo (20 March 2024). "Tibetan activist awarded Snow Lion Human Rights Prize". Phayul. Retrieved 7 June 2024.