The Chinese government that is controlling over Tibet against the proclamation of Tibet being an inseparable part of China has been manhandling the Tibetans within Tibet. Especially, the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, right to peaceful assembly and religious rights have been highly restricted.
According to a report on Human Rights Watch, the authorities deployed a team of 21,000 officials in 2011 to carry out intrusive surveillance of Tibetans in villages. The surveillance includes questioning the villagers about their religious and political views. The report has described the scheme to have subjected thousands to political indoctrination. The teams monitor the villagers behaviour and the database could be used to lead to detention or such punishments.
The motive behind this scheme is to force the Tibetan villagers to publicly show support for the ruling communist party and oppose the Dalai Lama.
This scheme was enforced after 2008 Tibetan uprisings and they designed this scheme that was aimed at sending around 4-5 officials living in each of more than 5000 Tibetan villages for a period of four years. These officials were deployed to suppress any form of dissent or criticism among Tibetans against the authorities. The teams were assigned to carry out five duties which were mainly political education about the Communist Party.
Chinese authorities have indefinitely extended this scheme which was due to end in October, 2014. This indefinite extension of the “village-based cadre teams” (zhucun gongzuodui) scheme, which is unprecedented in China, is an indication that it will become permanent.
“The Chinese government’s decision to extend its Tibet surveillance program indefinitely is nothing less than a continuous human rights violation,” said Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch China director. “The new normal is one of permanent surveillance of Tibetans.”
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