Sanity

Human Rights Watch calls for accountability and sanity in China following the murder of two Tibetan refugees by China’s People’s Armed Police (their paramilitary border soldiers).

The Chinese government should immediately permit an independent inquiry into an attack by a police unit on a string of Tibetan refugees that resulted in the killing of at least one girl near the Nepali border, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also rescind any orders that allow border troops to open fire on unarmed civilians.

I think the second sentence goes without saying more than any other sentence ever written on this blog. Only with China does one have to ask them to not shoot unarmed civilians. Though, with China’s history that’s clearly not so intuitive. But the need for an independent investigation is clear.

“Despite its pledges to the rule of law, China has never mounted a credible and transparent investigation into questionable actions by its security forces,” said Sophie Richardson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. “An inquiry undertaken by officials -who either implicitly or explicitly permitted this shooting - is likely to lack integrity, so the government must permit an independent body to determine what happened at Nangpa Pass.”

While the world condemns China for the murder of Tibetan refugees at Nangpa Pass, what will China do to police itself? Will the commanders and soldiers who perpetrated this specific act be brought to justice? Will the policies that allow this murderous conduct be repealed? Will China relax their crackdown inside Tibet following the Nangpa Pass shooting?

HRW has made two clear demands. I support them and hope China takes the responsible step and allows an independent investigation into those responsible for shooting at innocent Tibetan refugees. It goes without saying that China must end its policy allowing border police to shoot Tibetan refugees.