Excessive and Illegal Use of Force by Chinese People's Armed Police on Tibetan Civilians

That the Parliament notes with concern that on 30 September 2006 independent observers witnessed members of the Chinese People’s Armed Police fire on unarmed Tibetans attempting to cross into Nepal over the glaciated Nanga Pass, killing one of their number, Kelsang Namtso, a 17-year-old nun, before proceeding to arrest others including children and, having regard to the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and noting that video and photographic evidence from the incident shows that the Tibetan group was moving slowly away from the Chinese forces firing on them and did not approach nor represent a threat to those forces, condemns the excessive use of force by the Chinese People’s Armed Police in firing on unarmed Tibetan civilians, including children; strongly condemns the killing of an unarmed civilian who, being below 18 years of age, was also considered to be a child under international law; expresses its dismay at the imprisonment of Tibetan civilians of whom nine are children; urges the Chinese authorities to guarantee that the Tibetans detained during the incident will not be ill-treated in detention and that international human rights and humanitarian law standards will be respected; urges the Chinese authorities immediately to release all children detained during the incident; further urges the Chinese authorities to conduct a full investigation into the events at Nanga Pass and ensure that those responsible for any crimes committed there are brought to justice, and calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to continue the dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama in order to improve the respect of religious, cultural, linguistic and political rights in the Tibet Autonomous Region.