3 April 2008

More than 300 monks and hundreds more local Tibetans in Kardze staged a peaceful protest to demand the release of detained monks. The demonstrators were confronted by armed security personnel and live ammunition was fired at the crowd, killing at least 14 Tibetans. Further protests in other parts of Kardze included groups of monks protesting with Tibetan flags, shouting slogans such as “His Holiness the Dalai Lama should be welcomed back to Tibet” and “Tibet is an independent country.”

In Sog County very tight restrictions were implemented and locals were refused to leave the county; “patriotic re-education” were reported to be mandatory.

A large group of monks at Thang-kya Monastery, Chamdo, held a protest shouting slogans calling for freedom of speech and religion and demanding an independent Tibet. Many of the monks were detained. Chinese police used the detentions to intimidate other Tibetans, threatening that if more people protested they would also be punished.