Video of Nangpa Pass Shooting, US Response, China Speaks, & Global Protests

As many readers know, I and other SFT staff members from HQ, SFT Canada, and SFT India are currently in Dharamsala holding the 8th Free Tibet! Action Camp. Unfortunately we do not have internet access on site, which is why we’ve had some delay in getting updates to the blog on the Nangpa Pass shooting. Much has happened in the last thirty-six hours and this post will touch on many important developments.

First, the Romanian climber Sergiu Matei has provided the world with a video of the shooting at Nangpa La. He was accompanied by a Romanian TV crew and their footage can be see at ProTV.ro. Here’s a description of the video from the editors of MountEverest.net:

The video clearly depicts that the Tibetans had their backs to the soldiers, were unarmed, and offered no resistance. The nun who died, Kelsang Namtso, appears to have been shot in the back. During the shooting, a mountaineer in the cameraman’s group can be heard saying: “They are shooting them like dogs.”

The video also shows a refugee hiding out in the expedition toilet tent, as described by Serguei in his earlier dispatch.

Serguei told International Campaign for Tibet: “He was terrified and shaking. I couldn’t think of what to say so I asked him if he was going to see the Dalai Lama, and when he heard those words he put his hands together in prayer. We hid him in the mess tent for several hours and when it seemed to be safe, I took him back onto the pass.” [Emphasis added]

The video is incontrovertible proof that the Chinese opened fire on the Tibetan refugees without cause or warning, a violation of international law and any standards of human dignity. Matei and his colleague Alex Gavan, as well as the film crew that shot and released the footage, have set themselves out to be the voices for truth and justice following this inhumane act. Between this video, Pavle Kozjek’s photographs, and the testimony of at least six climbers on the record, there can be no doubt as to the facts of this case. Chinese border forces opened fire, taking targeted shots of Tibetans as they walked away from them.

The international community is taking note. The United States embassy in Bejing demarched China on Tuesday (October 10th) – issuing America’s official objection to China’s shooting of Tibetan refugees.

Shockingly, though, China has admitted to its soldiers shooting the Tibetan refugees, but claimed that they were acting in self-defense. The video from Romanian TV completely refutes this claim. The Chinese soldiers acted like snipers, firing at the Tibetans backs as they tried to escape for freedom. The International Campaign for Tibet had some choice words for China’s flailing effort to shift the blame for the shooting onto the Tibetan victims:

In an unusual official account of the incident, China said that Chinese frontier soldiers tried to persuade the group of Tibetan “stowaways” to go home, but the Tibetans refused and “attacked the soldiers”, who were then “forced to defend themselves”. (People’s Daily, October 13, and Xinhua, October 12). The Chinese official account does acknowledge one death, but says that it was from altitude sickness. On the same day that the official account was released, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao denied knowledge of the incident.

Mary Beth Markey, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet, said: “The Chinese Xinhua statement belongs in the realm of fiction given the evidence confirmed in this powerful footage. It is deplorable that the People’s Armed Police act as if shooting Tibetans crossing into Nepal is a legitimate expression of their authority. ICT demands a full accounting by the Chinese government, and assurances of the safety of the children now apparently in the custody of the Chinese military.”

Absolutely right Mary Beth. China is peddling demonstrably false claims about the circumstances of their murder of Kelsang Namtso and another young Tibetan. The absurdity of their statements shows how dramatically they’ve been caught red-handed. They have no recourse after murdering an innocent nun and a young child other than flat-out lies. China’s alleged strength is belied by its straw-grasping attempts to defend indefensible actions that reveal the extent to which the Chinese, in the words of Matei, treat Tibetans like “dogs.”

Tibet Will Be Free commenter Tsewang had this profound statement in response to the Chinese soldiers’ refusal to treat these Tibetans like human beings:

We are not wild animals, neither are we any sort of object. We are human beings, we are Tibetans. We deserve all the basic human rights that people from other countries take for granted. This incident is sickening.

SFTers and Tibet supporters have staged protests around the world. Protests have happened in New York, London, and San Francisco and others are happening within the next week across Canada and the United States.
The editors of MountEverest.net also made this closing comment in their latest piece on the Nangpa Pass shooting:

One week ago a Tibetan nun was shot in her back as the world watched. No more excuses, China. There’s only one thing that will justify the blood on Nangpa La: Give Tibet back to its people.

I couldn’t agree more.



One Responseto “Video of Nangpa Pass Shooting, US Response, China Speaks, & Global Protests”

1. Eugen Matei says:

   October 15, 2006 at 9:38 am

   As you can tell by my name Sergiu is my brother and when i heard about what he did i had to search it ton the internet , and you guys have Explained the situation Wery well. THANK YOU