Tibet: June 2007 Archives

By Zhang Liming | Radio Free Asia | The Epoch Times
June 14, 2007

On May 27, 2006, Sichuan Province officials sent armed forces to suppress a group of over a thousand Tibetans protesting the exploitation of the sacred Yala Mountain.

A local resident explained that the government had arbitrarily sold the mountain to a lead-zinc mining company. When the protesters gathered outside the offices of the company who had purchased the mountain, they were beaten and driven away by public security officers and armed police. At least ten Tibetans were injured in the assault and twenty individuals, including tribal leaders, were arrested.

"Many armed troops were called to the scene," explained one local resident who witnessed the event. "They jumped on and beat the protesters recklessly without giving a reason. Many protesters were injured and hospitalized. One in particular had to be put on a respirator."

According to one resident, public security officers and armed police have taken over a local school as their headquarters, leaving children without a school to attend for the past seven days. Officers have also been sent to search protesters' homes, destroying personal property and arresting about a dozen people in the process. The twelve tribal leaders who met with provincial party committee members to discuss the preservation of the sacred mountain are believed to have also been detained.

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