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Tibetan Representative In Nepal Detained Following Press Conference
By KTM Metro Reporter
August 05 2011: The Nepal Police have detained head of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in Nepal, Thinlay Lama in Kathmandu for eight hours today after holding a press conference about the situation of Tibetans in Nepal and specifically refuting charges in the Nepal press that his office was involved in a recent case of two Tibetans attempting to leave Nepal with false passports according to the article posted on the Tibetcustom.com.
The Police released Thinlay Lama after he signed a commitment to inform local authorities before holding any formal program in the future and agreed on to officially register the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in Nepal.
President of the International Campaign for Tibet, Mary Beth Markey said, “Thinlay Lama’s comments at the press conference were responsible and measured, and an attempt to set the record straight on false allegations against his office that have appeared in the Nepalese media. He made sensible recommendations to the Nepalese government about addressing real issues in the Tibetan community that are fully consistent with those repeatedly made by foreign embassies and international organizations in Kathmandu. Once again, the Nepal authorities have departed from reasonable behavior to satisfy Chinese-driven paranoia about Tibetans in Nepal.”
Thinlay Lama returned to his office in the Lazimpat area of Kathmandu at 12:30 pm Nepalese time following the press conference at the Hotel Ambassador. He was detained from there together with his aide Jampa Dhundup by six police officers and taken to Hanuman Dolkar police station. The Nepalese police told him he had been taken there for questioning. During his eight hours in custody, Thinlay Lama was held in a private room with his Nepalese lawyer and a representative from the Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON).
During the press conference, Thinlay Lama said that he had held a press conference to “clarify some issues and also to tell the media world about the problems faced by Tibetan refugees”. Thinlay Lama refuted allegations made in the Nepalese media about his office issuing fake passports to two Tibetans. He talked about the historic and cultural ties between Tibetans and Nepalese, and called upon the Nepalese Government “to draft necessary law(s) to address the problems faced by the Tibetan refugees in Nepal for inclusion in the new constitution of Nepal.”
Thinlay Lama also said he had asked the government of Nepal to resume issuing the identity cards to Tibetans providing them with legal status and the right to stay in Nepal, to address the issues of all refugees uniformly in the new constitution, and to allow the Tibetan Diaspora to run businesses and obtain higher education. Thinlay Lama reiterated that his office was a “non-political, non-profit social organization” which is “not against any individual, society or any country”.
