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| - On September 30, 2006, 75 Tibetans, among them many children, and their two guides were leaving Tibet to join the Dalai Lama in exile (living in Dharamsala, India). The police opened fire on the group and killed Kelsang Namtso, a 17 year old nun. Kunsang Namgyal, a 23 year old man, was hit in the leg twice, then taken away by the Chinese border police. Although the group was not armed, the Chinese claimed that their soldiers fired in self-defense. 41 of the 75 reached the Tibetan Refugee Transit Center in Kathmandu, Nepal. Two weeks later they arrived at their destination in Dharamsala, India.
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| abstract
| - On September 30, 2006, 75 Tibetans, among them many children, and their two guides were leaving Tibet to join the Dalai Lama in exile (living in Dharamsala, India). The police opened fire on the group and killed Kelsang Namtso, a 17 year old nun. Kunsang Namgyal, a 23 year old man, was hit in the leg twice, then taken away by the Chinese border police. Although the group was not armed, the Chinese claimed that their soldiers fired in self-defense. 41 of the 75 reached the Tibetan Refugee Transit Center in Kathmandu, Nepal. Two weeks later they arrived at their destination in Dharamsala, India. Nangpa La Pass is a common traders route between Tibet and the Khumbu region of Nepal. It is visible from nearby Cho Oyu and its BC (basecamp) and ABC (advanced basecamp), used by mountaineering expeditions. It is about thirteen km northwest of Mt. Everest. Dozens of foreign mountaineers who were present that morning on Cho Oyu and witnessed the ambush. At least two tried to contact the outside world as soon as they could. In spite of an atmosphere of "intimidation", as some of them later described the situation in their BC. Thus the first, alarming newsreport could make it through ExplorersWeb to the outside world. Some of the foreign climbers eventually released photographs and films of the incident, and several of them gave eye witness statements either in private or in public. Images include the Chinese soldiers escorting those survivors through advanced base camp at Cho Oyu. Many were children since they were smaller targets and had greater difficulty fleeing through the deep snow. Video footage includes PAP-personnel sharpshooting civilians who were at a great distance and moving away from them. Several of the mountaineers are of the opinion that more than two refugees were killed in the incident, with some eye witnesses speaking of seven. Such a number has not yet been confirmed by the Chinese authorities. One climber officially stated that at least one member of Chinese security personnel present, filmed individual mountaineers who were at advance base camp at around the time of the incident. Following the arrival in India of the survivors of the shootings of September 30, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) held a press conference at the Press Club of India (PCI), New Delhi, on 23 October 2006. Reportedly the following media attended: Reuters, AFP, AP, Sydney Morning Herald, CNN-IBN, Infocell, Deutsche Welle, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Societe Radio-Canada, Swedish Radio, Press Trust of India, Pio TV, CBS News, Radio Free Asia, Voice of Tibet, Phayul and other media representatives. At the press conference one of the refugees said his reason for escaping from Tibet was to see, and receive blessings from, the Dalai Lama. It was confirmed, on October 23 2006, by Chinese authorities that another person - Kelsang Namtso, a 17-year-old Buddhist nun - was killed immediately during the September 30 shooting. Earlier China had stated one of those captured on Nangpa La died in hospital later from "a lack of oxygen". International law requires that the use of firearms by border patrols takes place only as a last resort, and when life is at risk. In accordance with eye witness statements, editors and politicians in many countries could not find confirmation of such a situation in the video footage. The incident received global media attention concerning the issues of "the Chinese occupation of Tibet" and human rights violations in Tibet. It also received serious attention from a growing number of governments worldwide.On November 30, 2006 at the meeting of the "UN Human Rights Council in Geneva" (Switzerland) 16 NGOs in a joint statement questioned the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the steps taken concerning the 30 September killings of Tibetans on the Nangpa Pass. However, the High Commissioner did not respond to question posed on the Nangpa Pass killings.
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