As more mountaineers go on the record, China tries to silence testimony about Nangpa Pass shooting

Posted by Matt on Oct 10, 2006 in China Watch | 0 comments

As time passes, more and more information is coming out about the fatal shooting of at least two Tibetans by Chinese forces as they and over seventy other refugees tried to escape to Nepal from occupied Tibet. The shooting was witnessed by between sixty and one hundred foreign mountaineers from an advance base camp near Nangpa Pass. Two mountaineers who witnessed the shooting of a group of Tibetans by Chinese forcers from the Cho Oyo base camp have come forward to provide their testimony as to what happened. The new testimony by climbers who have gone publicly on the record to speak out against China’s murder of these Tibetans is in line with previous anonymous reports. Every detail is being confirmed and all make clear that China must be held accountable for perpetrating this atrocity.

Also, the Chinese government is now tracking down mountaineers who witnessed the shooting and have made it to Nepal. They are trying to silence the testimony of those who witnessed this atrocity and would come forward to tell the truth.

Chinese diplomats in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu are tracking down and trying to silence hundreds of Western climbers and Sherpas who witnessed the killing of Tibetan refugees on the Nangpa La mountain pass last week.

But it looks more and more like the climbers will shine the spotlight of truth on the shooting at Nangpa Pass. Jeremy Page of the Times Online reports:

TWO British mountaineers described in graphic detail yesterday how they saw Chinese border guards shoot dead one of a group of Tibetans trying to cross the border into Nepal last month.

Steve Marsh and a British police officer who asked not to be identified were having breakfast at Advance Base Camp beneath Mount Chu Oyu, near Everest. “As we watched, first I heard a shot, then I saw one [guard] stop and there was a second shot and a third,�? Mr Marsh told The Times.

“The rearmost of the group fell to the ground. Someone helped them up and they continued for another 30 metres. Then there was another shot and someone fell and they left that person behind in the snow. Through the telescope we could clearly see it was a body.�?
…
“We were shocked,�? said the police officer, who wants to return to Tibet. “You expect to encounter death on the mountain. But you don’t expect to see someone shot in the back when they’re posing no threat to anybody.�?

The guards ran past the body as they pursued the group then returned to inspect it but did not remove it until 30 hours later, he said.

Still missing, though, is photographs Western mountaineers took during the shooting. This evidence must be brought public, to the United Nations, to the international press, to the Nepali government and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

The International Campaign for Tibet is reporting that China has captured ten Tibetan refugee children from the group of over seventy Tibetans that Chinese forces opened fire on on September 30th. This information comes via a British mountaineer who has gone on the record and told what he saw at Nangpa Pass.

Here is his account:

The British climber, police officer Steve Lawes, was among a group of climbers and Sherpas at Cho Oyu’s base camp who witnessed both the shooting on September 30 and the subsequent capture of the Tibetan children who were among a larger group of more than 70 Tibetans crossing the glaciated Nangpa-la pass en route to Nepal and exile. Mr Lawes said that approximately half an hour after he and others had witnessed the group come under fire, a group of about 10 to 12 children, who seemed to be aged between six and ten years old, were marched into advance base camp by three soldiers with assault rifles1. Mr Lawes said: “The children were in single file, about six feet away from me. They didn’t see us – they weren’t looking around the way kids normally would, they were too frightened. By that time, advance base camp was crawling with soldiers. They had pretty much taken over, and the atmosphere was very intimidating. We were doing our best not to do anything that might spark off more violence.”

The shooting happened at around 10.30 am that morning. Mr Lawes said: “I saw a group of between 20 and 30 people on foot heading towards the Nangpa Pass. Then those of us at advance base camp heard two shots, which may have been warning shots. The group started to cross the glacier and there were more shots. We were probably around 300 yards away from the Chinese who were shooting. This time it definitely wasn’t warning shots: the soldiers were putting their rifles to their shoulders, taking aim, and firing towards the group. One person fell, got up, but then fell again. We had a telescope with us but the soldiers took this. Later they used it to look at the dead body.” Approximately 20 minutes after the shooting, according to Mr Lawes and fellow climbers, two of the military personnel went to check the body, but it was left lying on the pass for around 36 hours before it was taken away by security personnel. New accounts indicate that that a young Tibetan boy may also have been killed. It is not yet known whether other deaths occurred.

Phayul has assembled a great deal of information on the backgrounds and places of origin of the Tibetan refugees who attempted to escape at Nangpa Pass. There are more details here.

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